Dwarves vs. Zombies

Well, I made it. 30 consistent uploads, one every day, for the entire month of November (Even Thanksgiving) and I've reached the final day. I'm considering continuing this, but I probably won't do so every day. But I'm not just going to write about how happy I am that it's all over. Let's talk DvZ.
Dwarves vs Zombies (DvZ) is a minecraft minigame that has been modified so far from vanilla minecraft that it's almost unrecognizable (Aside from the graphics, of course). There are two teams in DvZ. The Dwarves (AKA Jimmies), whose goal is to protect the shrine for as long as possible, and the Zombies, whose goal is to take the shrine as fast as possible. At the beginning of the game, everyone playing is dropped into the map as a dwarf. Their job is to get blocks to create a defence, mainly walls, archer towers, proc halls (A hall where you proc), ect. They also must find lots of gold in order to survive. You see, dwarves have little health and can only die once in comparison with their... relentless friends. As a result, dwarves need a quick way to heal. So, they have their juice. By drinking their juice, they instantly heal to max health and, depending on the juice, can even get boosts. But their juice only stays as long as they have mana. Once they lose their mana, they lose their juice. Mana constantly regenerates as long as their armor stays healthy, and their armor stays healthy as long as there's gold. Hence why gold is important. No gold creates a ripple effect that inevitably causes death. So mine that gold, jimmies.
After a 2 (Minecraft) day build period, someone is killed. When someone dies they becomes a zombie, and their new job is to to kill his friends. There are many different types of zombies, each with their own specialty. Some are good at destroying walls and defence, some are good at killing, and some are good at damaging armor (Called armor damage. This is the most important form of damage. Dwarves won't die because of their juice, so armor damage is the best way to kill them as it depletes their gold and in turn, their juice.) There are boss zombies that come come in and wreak havoc upon the jimmies, and some are great at killing heros.
Heros are on the dwarven team, and they're the power house of the dwarven side. They keep the dwarves alive. There are three of them: Nisovin Illusion- A gnome who specializes in casting spells, Romain the Paladin- His flamethrower kills zombies incredibly quickly, and the most important dwarf of them all, without whom the jimmies would die immediately, BruceWillakers- The almighty proc master. Bruce has a horn that gives a proc to all the jimmies, and is masterful at getting procs himself. What's a proc? A proc is when a dwarf gets green sparkles around him, giving him lots of power. This only lasts a few seconds. When a jimmy is on a proc, he will insta kill most zombies in one hit, and if you have the default kit, you proc will stack, meaning that every time you kill a zombie, you proc will last longer. BruceWillakers can proc off any zombie, unlike your ordinary jimmy.
There are multiple kits, but non of them are worth mentioning here. There's your basic archer, bruiser, and others, but there is the ability to create custom kits which is incredibly useful. At the end of the day, the dwarves won't win. The game won't end until all the jimmies are dead and the zombies take the last shrine. So no, the jimmies will never win. In that sense, what is the point of playing? Well, it's fun. Try it for yourself and see, but before you do check out the Wiki. It will explain how to actually play. Games typically take from 30mins to an hour, so only play if you have time. Here's the IP:
dvz.buffalowizards.com
Enjoy! Thank you for reading, if anyone actually did. I'll try to continue to update this everyday. Until then...

Don't forget to drink your juice!
-GIR

To build a computer

I've been looking into computer parts so that I could build, well, a computer. I don't intend to play that many graphics intensive games, but I do intend to video edit and play a few games like Rivals and DvZ. I've been writing for 28 days now, and I'm running out of stuff to write. So, I thought to myself, why not write about computers? Here's a breakdown of all the components of a computer.
The CPU (The processor) I'm using AMD X4 860k
This is the powerhouse of the computer. It gives the processing power to actually get stuff done. It is important to have a good processor for anything that needs a lot of processing power to perform, such as video and audio editing. For any gamers though, the CPU won't matter all the much. What will matter for gamers is...
The GPU (Graphics card) I'm using ZoTac GeForce GTX 750TI
This is what creates the images you see on your screen. It translates the code into images. It is important to have a really good GPU if you intend to play games, and even if you're not going to play games the GPU will likely be the 2nd most if not THE most expensive component of the computer.
The Motherboard (MoBo) Undecided
The MoBo holds everything together. It is where the CPU is located, and almost all code and information goes through here at some point. This will also limit the OS as well, and it's important to chose one that will get the version of the OS you want.
RAM (Memory) I'm using 8GB Crucial Balistic Sport
This is what allows you computer to handle multiple tasks at once. You probably know that even when a computer is idle, it is still doing things internally. RAM lets it do multiple tasks as well, along with doing some things that require lots of space (EX. Video editing). More ram means smoother multitasking.
Power supply I'm using 430 Watt supply
The GPU and CPU both require power to operate. While desktops are always plugged in, a power supply is still necessary. And if you have spec'd out CPU and GPU's, they will actually need their own power supply.
Storage(HDD and SSD) I'm using a 500GB HDD with a 160GB SSD
This is just your mode of storage. HDD stands for Hard Disk Drive. It is your conventional form of storage, being a spinning disk writing form of storage. SSD stands for Solid State Drive, and almost anyway you slice it, they're better than HDD's. SSD's are chips that store information instead of spinning disks. SSD's are faster at loading content saved on them, and they allow your computer to boot faster and open programs faster. They're also safer, as if you shake an HDD, you can risk losing documents and files. The only downside to this is price. 1TB HDD- 60$. 1TB SSD? Upwards of 300$.
The Case(The thing you'll actually see) I'm using the Stantey GS-6008 V2
The case holds the computer in one piece. It's what you see when you look at the tower. It doesn't matter what case you get as long as your case supports the MoBo you're using.
Aside from the wires that connect everything, that's actually it for the tower. After that, there's the display, mouse keyboard, and speakers, but I won't be covering that, mostly because I have no idea what I'm going to use.

MmmmmmmMmm That's some goooood juice.
-GIR

Rivals of AEther (Again...)

I only got Rivals an hour ago, so I haven't got to play it much yet, but I have a few things I want to talk about now that I've at least used it more than I had previously, which was none. Since than I've gotten some info on the new character, Absa, and I have a few gripes about the controls. It is important to note that the game is still very much in development. It's only early access, and it's only been released to the public for about a month, so all of these things will likely change.
The game hasn't officially been released, yet there are already some obvious top tier characters. These two characters are Kragg and the newly introduced Absa. Kragg has an incredible amount of tools, and Absa is the same. Kragg has his pillar which is not only great for recovery, but it also has great combo potential. There's an easy kill combo involving down smash. Absa has amazing set up opportunities involving her specials. Any character can become very dangerous once mastered. But I have a problem.
As I've spoken earlier, I know that Rivals and Smash are different. But these games are far more different than I imagined, in ways I wouldn't imagine. For example, I knew that there wasn't any grabbing or shields, but that changes the game far more than I thought. I found myself holding the "Dodge" button trying to shield, and I found myself trying to grab. With this, it is annoying that settings can't be saved. So if you change your color or strong attack setting, you'll need to re-input them every time you play. But the hardest part to get used to (Which I still haven't gotten used to) is the fact that tilts and aerials have been separated from the smash attacks. I'm really hoping that they will create an option to do this in later updates (And if there already is, please tell me how to do it.) Update: This feature has been implemented. It's been there since I made this post, and I actually saw it but I just now found out that it works. It can be found by entering a battle and pressing the settings icon by your player icon. There you will see a "Strong attack" option. Turn this on, and you're set.
I've been playing a lot of Orcane, and I'm really enjoying him. But I hope to pick up some other characters too, but before I can do any of that, I have to learn how to play in the first place. Tips in the comments are appreciated.

I believe Avirella is the dwarven word for... Oh crud, I'm falling off the keep from this lightning bolt.
-GIR

This is even more beyond ridicoulus

As you know, I've been in the mountains for a while. I just got back now, this writing is the first thing I'm doing. And I want to sleep. But I need to write this. I don't want anyone else to have to do this, so here are some ways to avoid actually writing.
First, you could just not write. If you're in my situation, lets evaluate our options. 1: You could just write, or 2: You could just not. Think about this. You have 30 writing samples. As long as you miss less than 2, you'll still get an A. Along with that, it's one assignment. It can't be worth that much.
Next, you could just write a lot of garbage to make it look like you wrote a lot. Think about this, there are probably around 30 people in you're class each with 30 pieces of writing. Do you really think he's going to read all of them? Heck, odds are he won't even see this. Come to think of it, I don't think anyones going to see this. SO....
Or you could just make a list of all the ways you could avoid doing what you're doing and use it as proof that you did what needed to happen.

Wait a minute...
-GIR

This is just riduculous

I hate everything.
For the uninitiated, the reason I'm writing to this blog in the first place is because I have to create a small writing sample everyday for the month of November. All has been fine, and I enjoy writing to this blog. But today is Thanksgiving (Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.) And on Thanksgiving, I want to sleep in and enjoy time with my family and friends. But I've been forced to write this paper. This paper doesn't take much time to write, but this is a national holiday for giving thanks. The logical thing to do would be to write a paper about what I'm thankful for, turning this blogpost into an exemplification of this holiday. But I'm going to do the thing any logical American would do. Complain. And then I'm going to do the thing I've done in the past. Explain why this is pointless.
Yes, as I said, I could use this blogpost to exemplify the holiday. But what would that matter? It would have no meaning. I suppose this is my fault, because I wouldn't be willing to write about what I'm truly thankful for to the internet. But if I want to actually talk about what I'm thankful for and have it have meaning, I'm going to talk about it with the people I know and love, not with the internet. And writing this is only taking away time from me in which I could be doing this therefore VIOLATING THE PURPOSE OF THIS HOLIDAY! But with this it could be argued that on Thanksgiving many people do what they enjoy. And as I stated earlier, I do enjoy writing to this blog but, not today. Today I wish to relax and enjoy time with my family as previously stated.
This assignment was created to get me in the habit of writing. It's done a good job, and I hope to continuing this after the month of November. But, I doubt I'll be able to keep this up daily. I simply won't be motivated. In that sense, it's failed. But along with this, it is proven that if you do something consistently for as little as 5 days, you can get into the habit of doing it, making it something you do everyday. And sure, while stopping in the middle isn't a good thing, the amount of days I've spent making this habit should override the one day I don't write. As stated, I likely won't continue this daily after the month of November, meaning that this assignment has already failed, making it pointless to care whether I miss a day. I could easily just say "To heck with it, I'm just gonna not." and then go back to my life. But if I were to do that my grade will drop. Now, if my grade meant that much to me you'd think I wouldn't be complaining. But that's not what I'm upset about. What I'm upset about is the injustice being served here. I'M BEING PUNISHED IF I DON'T WORK ON A NATIONAL HOLIDAY! This is beyond ridiculous!
I'm to lazy to write a proper conclusion. I've made my point. And no, I can't think of any more DvZ quotes for the day.

Happy Thanksgiving, Jimmies!
-GIR

"If" statements

In C++ the most basic for of camands are If statements. Unlike loops, which obviously loop, if statements sipmly complete a command once a condition or multiple conditions are met. It's the most simple way to get soething done, and without it C++ would be very difficult to do anything. If statements (Using the example from yesterday) look like this:
if(int MP==4)
{
bool parity=true;
}
Here it is broken down. The if(int MP==4) is first stating that this is an if statement, and everything inside the parentheses are conditions that must be met for the if statement to take effect. int is creating an integer and MP is giving the integer its name. The ==4 is setting the condition. In this case, that condition is when MP equals 4. YOU CANNOT WRITE MP=4, AS THAT WOULD MEAN SOMETHING COMPLETLEY DIFFERENT! Everything inside the curly brakcets is what will happen once the if statement activates. So, this if statement is saying "If the integer MP equals 4, than the bool parity is true."
So that's if statements, but their exsistance is dangerous. Unexperienced programmers often abuse the if staments. Instead of writing a while or for loop which is simpler and more effiecent they will code many MANY if statements instead. This is commonly refered to as "hard coding" and it's not a good thing to do. It takes up much more time and despite looks, it also gives you less control over your code. That's not to say you shouldn't use them. If statements are important and ther are many things that can only be done with if statements. So if statements aren't bad. You just need to use them properly.

No! I was just a little boy of a Nisovin *cough cough cough* I think...
-GIR

Squan parity

Parities can occur in may types of cubes, yet parity doesn't actually have a definition in cubing. In this post, we will define parity as a situation in which the cube is unsolvable using the method you had been using for the solve. For example, without the parity alg for squan, the cube would be unsolvable. In this case, the parity alg is a different method which is introduced in order to solve the cube. But while most cubing parities occur due to swapped or rotated pieces, squans have defined orientations and permutations for all of its pieces, so this isn't possible. So why does it occur?
Squans are capable of shapeshifting/jumbling* which allows you to switch corners with edges. The first part of the solving process involves making the squan into a cube. However, when you make it a cube you can accidentally put edges in a position that would be unsolvable. It goes in a pattern. That's confusing, so here's an example: If two opposite edges are swapped on a 3x3, it is unsolvable. But if 4 opposite edges are swapped, well, we call that H-Perm. This translates to squan as when you are making it into a cube again, you have to place the edges. But it isn't possible to tell if your placing them in a solvable position. You might misplace two edges, which would result in a parity. But if you misplace four edges, it would be like you didn't misplace any edges at all. If the amount of misplaced edges is divisible by four, there won't be parity. If not, than there will be parity. There's two easy "If" statements. Maybe I'll cover those tomorrow...
Now, with this discovered, you might ask yourself "So, we can't tell how to prevent parity?" No, of course we can. This is America. With this much time on our hands we can do anything. When doing corner permutation (CP) you have to shapeshift the cube. By the time you reach CP, you can tell if you have parity. You can than recognize if you have it, and then modify your CP alg to accomadate this very easily, quickly eliminating parity. It is also technically possible to tell if you have parity as soon as you get cubeshape, but because whether or not you have parity can change as you solve (Like all parities), it's simply not worth it.
So in the end, Squan parity is an avoidable thing if you know how to deal with it. While this isn't as important to get fazt as other things, like cubeshape and EP, it is incredibly helpful as parity algs are long and take lots of time. So if you want to get fazt, better get started. Because weather you learn how to avoid parity or not, you have many algs ahead of you.

Of course I eat baby dwarves. How do you think I get this strong?
-GIR



*Again, neither of those have exact definitions and jumbling is only specified as shapeshifting that causes bandaging which is often voluntary. By voluntary I mean that it is possible to scramble the cube without jumbling. Jumbling also often switches pieces with other pieces that shouldn't go there. Example: An edge switching with a corner. This is exemplified in the curvy copter and helicopter cubes. But I digress. The point is, as squans meet all definitions for jumbling yet people call it shapeshifting, I don't actually know which one it is. In this post, I will simply call it shapeshifting.

The Ranch- The Hollow Tree

So, I'm in the mountians now. It's nice up here. It's gonna snow soon. We've got a nice cabin so we don't freeze and we're up here with some friends. But there's one problem. Something we've noticed for a long time. There's  hollow tree. And its still alive.
We've called it the hollow tree. The trunk along with several branches have been completley hollowed out by something. We don't know what hollowed it out, but that's not the inportant thing. The important and most confusing thing is that the tree is still alive. Every spring it gets new leaves and every Fall it loses them. Despite this, the trunk and branches are hollow, and we often climb in them. This was incredibly confusing to me as a smaller jimmy, but now it somewhat makes sense. The tree likley stays alive through the part of the trunk that remains. Regaurdless, it is still fun to go up to and see, although we can no longer fit inside of it.
Sorry this post isn't longer, but there isn't much more to talk about. I'll have a better post tomorrow.

Don't forget to drink your juice!
-GIR

QiYi Squan

Once, there was a squan. It wasn't a great squan, but it was what we had. But then more squans came into existence. These squans improved upon the earlier squan, but still were far from perfect. Then, there was nothing. That's it.
Sounds about right.
But wait, what's that? It looks like a squan, but not just any squan. It has what looks like MoYu shads. COULD IT BE?! A MOYU SQUAN!?!?! Wait, no. It's a QiYi squan. Whatever. I'm gonna go to CalTeh Fall. Oh look, there's a QiYi squan. It looks nice. Oh, it feels nice too. Wait, is that an anti-popping mech? It corner cuts? It's fast? It doesn't pop? What?
It's beautiful.
Up till now, there wasn't a squan that could function that well without having some major drawback. Mainly, cubes had trouble with corner cutting and pops. All of the squans had these problems. Until now, it was unheard of to have a cube that could resist pops. But the QiYi squan changed all of that. Unlike other cubes, it had an anti-popping mech. It had two sticks crammed in the middle for added support. This rods help keep it from popping VERY well. So much so that in two days of intense use, I haven't got a pop. It could be said that I keep it to tight, but even if I did it wouldn't matter. You might say that's because squans don't corner cut, but you'd be wrong. This one does. And it does it in every way, normal, reverse, in the way that happens due to overshooting that always causes a pop, and so much more. It seems like the perfect squan, and it is.
For the most part.
You see, the mechanism consists of two halves each with three pieces. These pieces are the external pieces, the core itself, and the anti-pop rod. The issue arises here, as the separation of the anti-pop mech and the core causes the edges to be very... fragile in positioning. You see, if you push on the edges they can pop up, causing turning quality to fall down. Luckily, this can be fixed by glueing the anti-pop rod and core together, but it would have been so much simpler if QiYi would have just had them together from the start. There is no reason to have them separate. Regardless, it is an easy fix, but it could have been avoided altogether, and this is the only thing stopping it from being perfect.
At the end of the day, there's one prominent message: The QiYi squan is the best squan. Whether you're casually solving or trying to speedcube it, the QiYi should be your one and only option. Until MoYu makes one.
This is going to be interesting.

Romain, just... don't... put th-... ugh.
-GIR

CalTech Fall 2015

I'm at  the CalTech Fall open Cubing competition today, so the post is going to be short. But im gonna briefly talk about the comp, because why not?
I've been a judge for most of the day, but I did get around to buying a new squan. I got the QiYi squan and I must say, its the most beautiful cube there ever did was. There's no competition. If you want a squan, get the QiYi. So far I haven't  competed, but I hope to get a sub-20 average in 3x3 and a sub-6 average in 2x2. Hopefully that will happen, but only time will tell.
We're in the middle of OH round 2, and after this there'll be a lunch break and then 3x3 round one. I hope to make it to round two, but that's unlikely. But hey, its happens before. Let's just hope my squan practice hasn't screwed up my 3x3 times.

Where'd all my juice go?
-GIR

Coding Languages

Once you learn a coding language you should be able to code in it efficiently. However, just because you can code in one language doesn't mean you know them all. This is a mistake non-technologically minded people can make, and it results in people who know HTML to code a video game by friends. Coding languages can be vastly different, and here I'm going to use the example of C++ vs HTML.

HTML is essentially the coding of the web. In most webpages there is a combination of multiple kinds of coding languages, mainly being HTML and Javascript. HTML is used to give the page its structure, while Java creates functions. But we aren't comparing those two right now. C++ is derived from Objective C, and C++ can be used to solve problems and/or to create basic programs to accomplish certain tasks. I already talked about the for loop in an earlier post, and in that post I was talking about the for loop and how it works in C++. C++ can be used to create programs to solve certain types of math problems. for example, I coded a program to find out if a number is prime. These sorts of programs can be useful for many reasons, including using them to solve problems you don't want to solve on your own.

These two coding languages don't only function very differently, they are also written very differently. For example, to write text in HTML, you write <p>This is text.</p> whereas in C++ you write std::cout<<"This is text."; This alone demonstrates the difference between the two quite well, but the functional differences play an even larger role. For example this:

int i=0;

while(i<10)

{

std::cout<<i;

i++;

}

in C++ would create a function that counted to ten, in HTML it would be gibberish, and the document would likely simply display it as text out of sheer confusion. Whereas, in HTML you can write:

<p>Click <a href=="www.google.com">HERE</a>  to be redirected.</p>

to create a link, and that wouldn't work in C++.

This is only the beginning. There are many more coding languages and all of them are at least slightly different from the rest. SO while knowing one doesn't make you a coding master, it can still be useful. Hone your skills in that one language, and then branch out. Today, HTML. Tomorrow, C++. The day after that, a pizza. Then, about a week later, the WORLD.

Of course I think it's worth it! What better way to honor the dead than turning them into a runeblade.

-GIR

Rivals of AEther

Rivals of AEther (For future reference, i shall call it simply "Rivals") is a new Smash-inspired game available on steam as early access. Some people may think "Isn't it just Smash?" and not buy it. But they'd be wrong. I already talked about how each individual smash game is different. So now, I'm going to compare Smash and Rivals. (Smash 4 vs. Rivals early access version 0.0.8, to be exact.)
/*DISCLAIMER: I haven't played Rivals as of now, however I have seen lots of gameplay and I intend to purchase it soon. Just hear me out.*/
In Smash, there are very concrete rules as to what can be in a moveset. The most different kind of moveset we have would be Ryu, and his "Do a different input for weaker or stronger attacks" gimmick pales in comparison to the ridiculous kinds of movesets found in Rivals. In Rivals, anything goes. Moves can terraform, they can instantly warp to players, they can extend smashes, clone themselves, and even release smoke to block view of the screen. In Rivals, characters have some pretty ridiculous moves that would break the game, accept everyone has them. So all is still good.
In Smash, some characters have gimmicks. Pac-Man has some ridiculous projectiles, Villager has his own different kind of projectiles, Ganon and Bowser are heavy, and so on. But in Rivals, everyone has a gimmick. And unlike in Smash, a characters gimmick all but DEFINES THEM. Orcane has puddles which need to be placed properly to secure kills and a safe recovery. Malpul needs to seed her opponents in order to recover and kill-combo. Wraster can use smash attacks IN THE AIR. All of these can be used to give yourself a distinct advantage.
Many of Smashes old and retired features have been implemented into Rivals. Wave-dashing, the old way to air-dodge, and more are in Rivals, but not Smash. Along with that, Rivals has no grabable edges and allows you to wall-jump once your in free-fall. Because of all of this, Rivals plays very different to Smash, specifically Smash 4. In this sense, Rivals relates more to Melee than Smash 4.
It may seem like I'm saying Rivals is better than Smash, but that's not true at all. They're both different games that play very differently. Rivals has a smaller roster, but larger diversity of movesets. In the end, it's a matter of preference, which I can't answer now. But I'll get Rivals soon. Then, I'll be able to.
Also, can you guys tell me if Logitech controllers work with Rivals? I really need to know.

Fall back Dwarves! Fall back now!!
-GIR

Pac-Man in Smash

In all honesty, I was confused as to how Sakori intended to create a moveset for Pac-Man. But he did. OOH dang he did. And it's beautiful.

Pac-Man isn't so much representing himself, but more of Namco as a whole. He has many attacks that don't necessarily belong to him, such as Mappy's trampolines and Galiga's ship. But that doesn't change things. Pac-Man isn't top tier, but he is most certainly interesting. He's the kind of character that's hard to master, but when you do, it can be beautiful. I personally love playing as Pac-Man, but I'm far from mastering him. But I do know the Pac-Man meta, and to my understanding, here's what it looks like.

Pac-Man's moveset has a huge emphasis on his specials. As a matter of fact, most of your moves will be specials. His grab is bad, and his smash attacks aren't much better. But his specials give him all the tools he needs to create mass confusion. As Pac-Man your goal should be to launch an endless amount of projectiles to create confusion, and then go in yourself to limit your opponent's options. He doesn't have any spikes, and his nair and fair are bad at gimping, which limits your offstage options. But he does have an amazing recovery if done rights, so you can go in deep for what it's worth. It's important you use your side-B for recovery as its safer than his up-B. This also allows you to charge your neutral-B off stage for a very long time. His neutral-B changes as it charges, so sing its different properties can give you a huge advantage. For example, the apple and key can kill, the bell can stun, the Galiga ship can be used to wrack up damage and be used in combo with his down-B. Pac-Man's down-B is the fire hydrant. The hydrant shoots water which pushes people back, and once it receives enough damage you can send the hydrant flying, doing damage and killing if at at high enough percent. If Pac-Man can catch his neutral-B, he can juggle the item to damage the hydrant and his opponents to get them high enough to die from a key or apple. In short, you should be sending you hydrant and neutral-B around while attacking your opponents to deal damage, then finish off with a hydrant, apple, key, smash attack, and possibly a side-B.

This is just my opinion as to how to play Pac-Man, and I'm not actually that good at Pac-Man in comparison with others. Make sure you check other places for better tips.

When you hear me blow my horn, boys, make sure you charge!

-GIR

Macs

//This isn't against anyone who likes or uses Macs. I actually used a Mac to write this in particular //post, unlike usual where I use my Windows laptop. This is just my opinion and thoughts.
Apple makes some pretty cool stuff. I've used their products for much of my life, and my entire school is filled to the brim with them. And while their mobile devices are pretty cool and useful and have many advantages over Android, their computers simply confuse me.
This is because I grew up with windows, but even now they make no sense to me, even after one full year of using them at school. I, personally, dislike them. I STRONGLY dislike them. I actually see no reason to use them above Windows, and here are my reasons why .
Windows is more unlocked. Unlike Macs, in windows you simply have access to more usable and changeable features. I'm think it might also be open source, which only makes it even better. Now, this argument could be turned the other way around. Because of their less-changeable nature, Macs can be easier to use for non-technologically minded people, and because they are so locked down they make for great school computers. This isn't to say that if you use a Mac that you don't know tech, but it is true that you can simply do more with Windows machines.
Windows is more common. This actually has a variety of benefits. Because it's so much more common, more applications are made for it. A good example of this is games. There is a MASSIVE games library in Windows whereas Macs have close to none in comparison. It also has more 3rd-party support than Macs. Macs do have more 1st party support, Apple loves up its computers with a ton of accessories, but the ones they release (Mainly their mice) are actually quite bad. Again, the the other side to this is the fact that MANY viruses are coded for Windows, but very few are coded for Macs. This is why not many Macs get viruses.
Windows machines are cheaper. There's no getting around it. You can get a decent Windows laptop for about $400 to $500. A decent Apple made Macbook? Upwards of $800. Yes, you could compare things like the new Surface Book and a Macbook, which would be far more even. However, you can get comparable performance out of computers much cheaper than a Macbook.
Lastly comes the most bias part of all, I just like Windows more. It may be because I've grown up with it, but even after learning how to use Macs I still just like Windows more. There's nothing wrong with liking Macs, and they aren't outright inferior. Much like all comparisons, there are good things and bad things to both sides, and the Macs of the world definitely beat Windows Machines in many rights. But if you ask me, Windows all the way.

Hey, smell this. Does this smell like buttered pancakes?
Man, Dragons are weird.
-GIR

Discworld (pt. 1)

//WARNING: DISCWORLD SPOILERS

I don't know much about Discworld. I've only read one of the books, and I had trouble understanding it initially. But after finishing that beautiful first book I realized how amazing it was. Now I can't wait to get my hands on some more of these brilliant novels, and hopefully I won't have to wait long.
Discworld is a book series consisting of 41 books which were written by Sir Terry Pratchett. Why SIR Terry Pratchett? Because he was knighted for his services in literature. Yes, that's right. He was knighted for how amazing he was at writing. Needless to say, he was REALLY good at writing. The Discworld series is about Discworld. That seems simple, but that's the truth. All 41 books are about certain characters and events, but it all correlates to tell the story of Discworld itself. If you were to "study" all 41 novels you could create one singular book that treats the entire series as history and write a legitimate history of Discworld that could be modeled on real world history text books. (Someone should do that...) That being said, there are many recurring characters in the books, such as Death, the Librarian, Captain Sam Vimes, and more. There are also many subplots in the books, but in order to fully understand the subplots you must read all of the books Unlike other series, Discworld novels aren't released in any particular order. The only way to tell what book comes when is to read the book and try to use whatever context you can find to place it into a timeline. THat being said, many people have done this, and you can find timelines online. Like the one above, which also details some of the subplots in the novels. It is important to note that I haven't actually read all the books and I haven't looked through the timeline above to avoid spoiling things for myself. Try not to spoil things for me in the comments (If anyone actually reads this, but hey. Precautions.)
With 41 different books written, some may be wondering if Sir Terry Pratchett intends to write more. Sadley, he will not. For on March 12th of this year, Sir Terry Pratchett passed away. It is most certainly sad. But his works and influence will never be forgotten by his readers, and I am happy to say that I am one of them.
For those wondering why it says part 1 in the title, that is because I've only read one of the books, and I want to re-visit this multiple times in the future as I read more. So I'll come back to this. Soon.

Discworld Book count: 1

Ah, I remember old Yavender. That's why we dye everything blue after all!
-GIR

Competitive cubes

WCA (The World Cube Association) hosts cubing competitions worldwide for a specific group of puzzles which have been appropriately dubbed "WCA puzzles". There are about 10 WCA puzzles in existence, but several of them have subsets such as OH, blind, and... 3x3 with feet? Wat? Amongst all of this though there are many cubes that have been dropped from WCA after they were in the system for a while. Cubes like the rainbow cube, rubik's magic, and more (I think). With this, many people want more cubes to be included in comps. WCA does bring new cubes into competitions regularly, normally at the beginning of the year, but they don't always. Skewb is the most recent event added, which was added n 2014.
WCA competitions must follow WCA regulations. Regulations can change, and occasionally do. A good example of this was when stickerless cubes were banned from WCA competitions a while back, and in the summer of this year they were brought back. With this change in regulations came a regulation requiring devices to be put in place to prevent squans from moving during transport to the competitor.
WCA regulations also mandate a certain kind of timer. Competitions always use Speed Stacking timers. It is slightly confusing seeing as cubing companies do make timers, yet we don't use them. It makes sense when you realize that Speed stacking timers are much higher in quality, but regardless, it's still confusing.
Competitions are few and far between in many places. Here in California they happen regularly, but in many places cubing competitions don't happen at all. So if you cube and you hear of a competitions happening near you, make sure you go. You'll love it. Trust me. If you're a cuber, that is.

Venomburners! They eat your mana in the darkness, Jimmy!
-GIR

When one needs to rant...

/*This post is incredibly bias, and in no way reflects weather Cloud should be released as DLC or not. It's great that more characters are coming, but I would rather see someone else join the fray aside from him. I also give my argument for my opinion below. If you disagree that's fine. This is not meant to insult Cloud as a character, nor the games he comes from which I, admitadley, have not played. This post is just my opinion.*/
Cloud was recently announced to be coming in smash 4 as DLC. Now, it's great to see more characters coming to smash, and I know that Nintendo probably intends to announce more characters in December as stated in the end of the Nintendo Direct, but I personally believe cloud wasn't the best choice for them to spend their time on. There won't be any hate here, but let me present my argument.
By Nintendo's perspective, it's not going to be as profitable. By putting a character in Smash you inadvertently promote the game the character comes from. Final Fantasy isn't a Nintendo exclusive, so they aren't helping themselves as much as they could be. Along with that, while the Final Fantasy games on Nintendo consoles are popular, they aren't as popular as other games. Because of this, some people might not buy Cloud as paid DLC. While the people who don't know about Final Fantasy and buy Cloud anyway, as many will still do, may enjoy him and purchase the game he comes from, earning them sales. But at the same time, they might buy non-Nintendo Final Fantasy games, and it's just more of a risk over all.
In terms of what we're receiving, there are better options. I'm not saying that Cloud won't be an awesome addition, I'm saying there are better options. While I'm sure there was demand for Cloud, there was definitely a far larger outcry for other characters. Logically, they should release the character with the most outcry behind it as that would earn them the most money, and give the fans what they want. With all of this, it appears that Cloud has a very intense moveset, like Ryu. This is a good thing, as it will represent his character properly and create a fun to play character. But it will also take a lot of time. Time they could be spending on other characters with more outcry.
Cloud is a swordsman. Is this an issue? Yes. Smash has many swordsmen already, and while some do operate differently (Link and Robin have a large focus on projectiles, Marth and Roy have sword sweetspots that play a factor, and Lucina and Ike are just kinda swords people.) they still have a huge presence already, and diversifying the lineup would be appreciated by many. Because it's likely that Cloud will be a mid-weight, characters such as the much wanted King K-Roll would be better as he his a heavy-weight, a minority in the cast.
In the end, I think Cloud will make a fine addition to the roster, and I'm looking forward to seeing where he places in the tier lists and how he'll be used in competitive play. Despite this, I won't be buying him. And although I'm excited to see his moveset, his announcement was overshadowed by the announcement telling me of what's to come.

Oh don't mind him, Jimmy. That's Nisovin. He's a Gnome!
-GIR

The "Hoo-Hah'

Yes, I'm talking about it. And yes, I'm done with the 3x3's. Moving on.

The Hoo-Hah is a term used for a Diddy Kong down throw combo that was incredibly overpowered before it was nerfed. It was known for it's terrible presence in the competitive scene, and it bumped Diddy up to the top of the tier lists. He stayed up at the top of the tiers for quite some time, but after the Hoo-Hah was nerfed, he fell down the tiers and is now in the A category instead of the S category.

But almost all characters have down throw combos. What makes Diddy's so special? Well, unlike others, Diddy's Hoo-Hah can combo into itself. A lot. Not only does it wrack up loads of damage, but because it involves Diddy's U-Air it is also capable of killing. This amazing combo was used by many, but the big one to note here would be ZeRo, who sub-mained Diddy during the age of Hoo-Hah. Again, Diddy's Hoo-Hah has been removed. But is there another?

Yes. The robotic Hoo-Hah. R.O.B.'s U-Air is already amazing for damage and for killing, but with his down throw combo-ing into it, it makes me wonder why R.O.B. isn't higher on the tier list. That isn't R.O.B.'s only powerful moves. He has his top and head-lazer... thing... His neutral B can give him stage control with his top. His Dair is also very good at spiking and his recovery is brilliant. With all of this, I really wonder why R.O.B.'s competitive presence is tiny.

This was short. I'm sorry. I'm tired. Nezzelmeh.

Wolves Jimmy! Don't fight'em alone!

-GIR

The ZhanChi

The ZhanChi is Dayans 5th and final cube. What? You say there was another Dayan cube? No. No there wasn't. This was Dayan's exit from designing 3x3's, and it was a good one. While the GuHong and other cubes were definitly good, the ZhanChi was the beginning of what is now considered "modern 3x3's".
The ZhanChi had no outstanding flaws. All cubes before this had some issue. The Alpha cubes couldn't corner-cut as well, the GuHong had block corner-cutting and pops, and Rubik's brands were, and still are, just bad. The ZhanChi, on the other hand, had none of these problems. It had rounded and smoothed curves on the corners and edges which resulted in all around better corner-cutting, and the torpedoes held the cube together. With all of this was Dayan's signature buttery feel, and sticker-less options. The ZhanChi was the first cube to have such large gaps between the corner stocks and edge wings, which gave it a customizable factor. It could be as fast or as slow as you want it to be, based on how you lube it. The gaps also helped internally for reverse corner-cutting.
I've talked about Dayan a lot this week, but there's a reason for that. Dayan released some of the most important 3x3's of all time. They created speedcube 3x3's as we see them today. And while they have ceased creating new 3x3's after the release of the ZhanChi (Directly after the release of the ZhanChi. The Dayan 5 ZhanChi was the final 3x3 created by Dayan. There was never another. Never.), Dayan will always be remembered for their service to our community.

I'm not scared of anything. Well, accept glass. I'm kinda scared of glass...
-GIR

The GuHong (V1)

I've referenced the GuHong numerous times already, so today I'll be covering it more. The GuHong is the Dayan 2, being the successor to the Dayan Taiyan. The GuHong was the cube that made Dayan's name and set it apart from other cubes, such as the popular Alpha series. The GuHong was the first, and in my opinion only, major performance spike. The GuHong was the first cube to have 45 degree corner cutting and turning at its quality. The GuHong is the divider between older and modern 3x3 design.
The GuHong was released when the only really viable speed cubes out there were Rubik's brands and Alpha cubes. All these cubes were great, but when the GuHong dropped, EVERYTHING THAT WASN'T A GUHONG BECAME OBSOLETE. The GuHong simply out-performed all the competition. Nothing could contest with it. The only cubes that would compete with the GuHong would be other Dayan cubes for quite some time. Even though the GuHong had a popping problem, its benefits far outweigh that one con for the time. Nowadays, the GuHong is still considered a viable option, and I personally used one as my main only 6 months ago. Not to mention the GuHong got a re-release called the GuHong V2 which had torpedoes to prevent pops.
However, as all incredibly good things are (Or at least very often), it was met with controversy. VCubes stated that the GuHong violated their 3x3 design patent. In reality, the GuHong looked nothing like their 3x3 patent, and the lawsuit was resolved (However, we don't know who won, nor how it was settled). Despite this, many people have noticed and announced that the VCube 6 and VCube 5 resemble the GuHong when certain pieces are glued together. I would dive deeper into this, but doing so would involve me in the ever growing (And in my opinion unnecessary) VCube controversy, which I don't want. It's ridiculous enough as it is.
The GuHong created a huge performance increase in 3x3 performance. And while today 3x3 design has improved, the improvements to performance has been incredibly small in comparison to the performance increase seen in the release of the GuHong. Not only that, it also solidified the Dayan name which would continue to dominate the 3x3 market for quite some time. Without this cube, 3x3 performance would be very different than it is today. This was definitely a very important 3x3, and it will never be forgotten.
Something else that will never be forgotten is today, Armistice day. Today, at 11:00 AM, the fighting in the Great War stopped. I dedicate this post to Armistice day. That sounds stupid, but hey. That's life. It means something.

What's in the juice? All my wealth and power! Infused with pink lemonade.
-GIR

The FangShi

/*Note: I'm reffering to the FangShi ShruanRen in this post. Whenever I say "FangShi, know that I'm referring to the ShruanRen. I'm to used to calling it "The Fangshi" amongst friends. My bad*/

The Fangshi was a first for a lot of things. It was the first 3x3 to be accepted as a legitimate competitor to Dayan, it was the first cube to introduce an edge piece wing design that linked under the center for added support, which alone brought upon a revolution that would completely change 3x3 design, and it was the first cube to introduce a vastly different fell in comparison to other cubes. The Fangshi, created by Funs Puzzle, was the beginning of a new 3x3 generation. OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. But the Fangshi did pave the way for many 3x3's, including MoYu's 3x3's which are today considered to be the best 3x3's around. The Fangshi brought about another 3x3 design revolution.
Ever since the release of the GuHong, Dayan was at the top of the 3x3 market, and it had no viable competition. It remained this way until they released the ZanChi, considered by myself and many others to be their best cube yet. But after the ZanChi's release, a competetor came up that, for the first time, matched their quality and, in some instances, surpassed them. This cube was the FangShi, and it blew up in popularity. More people switched to a cube that wasn't Dayan than ever before. Unlike the Dayan cubes, the Fangshi didn't have torpedoes. Instead, it had a mechanism that linked the corners and edges together, and linked the edges through the center to create a tight fit of the pieces which prevented pops very well.
Its name translated to "Frosted Blade", which made sense. Its pieces were frosted over with a certain type of plastic, giving it a feel like no other. Most cubes up to this point felt smooth and "buttery". The FangShi on the other hand felt rough and "sandy". This was due to the layer of frost on the pieces. As you broke the cube in, the frost layer comes off, drastically changing its fell while in use, becoming "crispy" and "clacky" (Those last two were my opinion, but anyone who has a FangShi can agree, it clacks).
Since its release, many other manufactures have used a similar wing design to the FangShi, and it is now widely considered standard anti-popping measures. If it wasn't for the FangShi, odds are cubes would be popping more than they are today.

Of course I've caught a storm dragon, Jimmy! I even turned him into a dwarf!
-GIR

The LunHui

//For no real reason, this week I'm going to list some 3x3's I think made 3x3 design what it is today, //and commend them for their service to our community.
The LunHui is a 3x3 created by Dayan, and is also known as the Dayan 4. So what? I haven't heard of the LunHui. Just another Dayan cube. Whatever. Well, this cube brought the modern speedcube into being, as it introduced something revolutionary. Something that is incredibly important to modern 3x3 design. The torpedo. (It might be debatable whether torpedos are important nowadays, as modern 3x3 design now has many other forms of anti-popping mechs other than the torpedo. But regardless, it was definitely important, and is still used today.)
The torpedo is a simple thing. Just a small add-on for cubes that linked corners to edges to prevent pops. This was, arguably, the first anti-popping mechanism in a 3x3 ever, and it was very efficient. Since their introduction, torpedos have made an appearance in every Dayan cube since, and the GuHong and LinYun were re-released with torpedos later. Nowadays, almost all cubes have a torpedo, or something based on a torpedo. Sadley, the LunHui never got all that much attention when compared to its brothers, and instead the GuHong and Zhanchi (Which now both had torpedos) rose up as Dayans most famous 3x3s.
In their favor though, both of those puzzles are much better. (In my opinion, which is shared by most.) The LunHui seems to have been designed with the main focus being anti-popping. The corners have two stocks, the edge has an interlocking mech that looks similar to an older version of Fangshi's wing design, and the center anchors the edges down. in all, it seems this was Dayan trying to make an unpoppable cube. It worked, but not completely. I have a LunHui (Although I can't find it at the moment.) and it still popped from time to time. They likely wanted an unpoppable cube because of the performance of their other cubes. The GuHong and LinYun were both considered the best speed cubes of their time, and the only thing holding them back was the simple fact: They still popped. The LunHui was likely a response to this. Dayan making one of their best cubes, and now it wasn't pop-prone. But in making the design so pop-resistant, they sacrificed some performance. It gained a blocky feel due to its sub-par corner-cutting, and the way it interlocked kept it fro popping regularly, but when it did pop, the mech also caused many other pieces to pop with it, causing bigger pops.
So in the end no, the LunHui wasn't perfect (No, perfection wouldn't occur until 2014and 2015.). But it did introduce a piece of hardware that would be used as standard for years to come, and definitely helped the speed 3x3 designs of today to become as great as they are. For that, I believe it deserves to be commended. So TY Dayan. We'll see you later this week.

Take these beans and shove 'em up their nose! Dragons hate beans!
-GIR

Batteries

Good news: I got the villager amiibo! The store was smart enough to keep them behind the counter, so there were still enough left, even though I came later than most. Sadley, this post will be short, as I have much homework. But hey, it's still here, right?
So, how about those batteries? Specifically lithium Ion batteries.  Many people are under the impression that LI batteries can get what's called a "memory". A battery memory is basically when a battery life continues to get worse due to the fact that it is charged to much. This, to my knowledge, isn't true. A memory is actually the result of crystal formation inside the battery. Because of this, there is less room for energy to be stored, resulting in less battery life over time. While this can occur in some batteries, LI batteries function in a way that makes this a non-issue. This isn't to say that LI batteries can't get worse battery life over time though. Battery life will get worse as a battery is used, as it is being worn down over time. The simple solution to this is to swap out your battery once every 1 or 2 years. I'm doing this with my Nexus 5, as the battery life is terrible (I don't use the thing during the day because I'm at school, and it comes out at 50% at 3:00 in standby.) So yeah. Batteries. They help life.

I'm just glad it's the undead we're fighting and not Trolkin!
-GIR

Life is interesting

Well, I went to get a Villager amiibo only to discover it comes out tomorrow. I guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow. Also, this post is being done on mobile, as my computer is being ridiculous. These weekend posts are going to be much shorter, and will basically be me talking about life, so sorry if that's disappointing. But hey, life interesting. Mostly because we know nothing of it.
Note: The following is my opinion and outlook on life. If you disagree, that's good. That's what life's about. Just saying, if I sound crazy don't judge. Because I am crazy.
Life is arbitary. What parts you ask? All of it, I say. We all look at the world and see it in our own way that will always be different from each others. There isn't a right or wrong way. There is only the way you see it, and the way others see it. You have to believe what you say, otherwise its pointless. Believing in you're way is good. It's what makes you, you. But no matter how much you believe in your way, there will always be someone who disagrees. So until we can find a way to explain life and how you should live it that everyone is happy with and agrees on, then in my opinion, there is no right way for anything.
All of this is worded terribly, but I'm bad at explain things. Sorry about that. And I know this isn't the kind of posts I said I would do, but its all good, right? We're still in friendship land.

Friendship land? Hah! Try getting Etho to sing.
-GIR

Am(ii)bo(s)

When Nintendo announced that they were releasing a toy-to-game concept to some of their games, nobody thought they would be as much of a success as they have been. The novelty of having smash amiibos specifically has caused this market to skyrocket. Some amiibos have gone up in price tremendously, while others have stayed the same 12$ their entire life thus far. And while it makes sense for certain amiibos to go up in price, (The 30th anniversary Mario figures, and the gold and silver Mario figures) some amiibo have gone up in price for no other reason than demand. Amiibos like the smash series Marth, Littler Mac, Ness, and even to a degree villager have gone up in price tremedously. None of these characters are particularly better than the other characters, and some such as Little Mac are seen by many to be worse than many other characters. So why have they gone up in price?
A good reason for this is a new hobby called amiibo hunting. Amiibo hunting is essentially amiibo collecting. Because so many people want to get all of the amiibo though, on the day of new amiibo releases there are often huge lines before the store opens. Stores often sell out in minutes, so many people traverse to different stores in order to get the amiibo they're looking for, warranting the name "amiibo hunting". But why do stores sell out so quickly? With this huge audience, you'd think Nintendo would produce a TON of amiibo in order to make some quick cash and satisfy the market. Well, that's not the case. The fact is, initial sales of amiibo was much, much larger than Nintendo thought it would be. When Nintendo realized that there was huge demand for amiibos, they promised to produce more in the future. And while they have re-released certain amiibos many times in order to give the people what they want, it's never enough. They don't produce enough amiibo during the re-releases, and the re-releases are few and far between. This is what's caused the hobby of amiibo hunting to become widespread. People amiibo hunt because they have to in order to find the amiibo that they want.
This all combined has created a huge demand and little supply simultaneously, which has led to the drastic increase in price. I personally am not one to amiibo hunt, but Villager is re-stocking tomorrow, and I want me some of that. Wish me luck.

It does more than just that Jimmy. I sharpen my sword with this beard!
-GIR

The "For" Loop

//In this post, I'm referring to the for loop as it functions in C++. It might function differently in other //languages, so I can't touch up on those.
For loops are beautiful yet complicated things. If you understand it, the for loop can be your best friend. If you don't, it'll be your worst nightmare. I want to help as many people as possible to understand it, because once you do, THE WORLD OF C++ WILL BE YOURS TO CONTROL.
//Definitely not exaggeration
To start, its important to note that the for loop is, well, a loop. It will keep going as long as the requirements are met. What differs this from a while loop is the ways you can word your requirements. Here's an example of a for loop.

for(int i=7, i>10, i++)
{
cout<<i<<"This is the value of i.";
}
Now what does all of this do? Here's a breakdown:

The "for" at the beginning registered it as a "for" loop.
Everything inside the parentheses is a requirement for the for loop to run, or setting up an escape route. The loop will run as long as the requirements are met, but stop when when the requirements stop being met.
The "int" is stated the creation of an integer. If you have a integer you want to use in the for loop requirements, you can simply put it where the "i" is and not write "int".
The "i=7" is stated what the integer is called (i), and what the integer is equal to (7).
The "i>10"  is stating the limitations. In this case, the loop will continue until the integer "i" equals at least 10, when it will stop.
The "i++" is stating that at the end of one cycle to add 1 to the integer "i".
Everything inside the {} is what is done during to loop.

Now, what can for loops be used for? For loops can be used for many things, but I find the most useful way to use it is for simple math programs. Because with it, you can create programs to solve the most annoying math problems.
And who doesn't want that?

Romain, stop purifying the dwarves!
-GIR

Smashing across the ages

There have been 4 generations of smash thus far, and all of them have had very different play styles. Because of this, if you get good at one version, you probably won't be good at any of the others. In Melee, many advanced techniques (Abbreviated as "Techs") were introduced, including wave-dashing, unlimited ledge invincibility, and hard aerial combos. Brawl removed these techs, and introduced features like the dreaded tripping and multiple air dodges. The latest iterations of smash created ledge-trumping and grab limitations. But these aren't the only changes. The games all fundamentally play differently.  Melee is very fast paced and its hard to escape combos once their started, due to the limited air dodging. Brawls removal of advanced techs and the introductions it made caused many to consider it a "casual" form of smash, and it has since been almost completely removed from competitive smash being replaced by Project M. Smash 4 has found somewhat of a balance between these. Many people play casually, but it also has a huge competitive scene. It is also the easiest game to get competitive at, in my opinion.
Tier lists are seen by people as either brilliant or garbage. However, there is no denying that they're here, and constantly changing. For the uninitiated, a tier list orders the characters in smash in a best-to-worst format, showing you the best characters, and worst. Some say they don't measure anything, and that they have no logic behind them, but based n what I see, they definitely mean something. I haven't seen any tier lists for smash 64, but in melee the top characters were Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon, Peach, Jigglypuff, and Marth. You might expect the tiers to remain somewhat the same, but you'd be wrong. Marth and falco stayed on top, but all the others dropped, some significantly. Peach and Fox fell into the middle, and Captain Falcon and Jigglypuff fell to be some of the worst characters in the game! The new best character (By a landslide) was newcomer Meta Knight. In smash 4, the characters are far more balanced, so even if some characters are considered "The worst", they're still pretty good. However, a distinct top tier emerged who were undeniably more powerful than the rest, and that character was Diddy Kong. He had an incredibly powerful combo, good for racking up damage and killing. Although he was later nerfed, he still has a large competitive presence, being towards the top. However, the new top tiers are Sheik, Rosaluma, and Zero Suit Samus.
With all of this being said, it's clear that smash has changed a lot over its generations, and that's a good thing. With all these changes, it gives us all games we can enjoy. Some love Brawl, others hate it. But either way, we can all find a smash that we can enjoy, and it's because of this that I say as we approach the one year anniversary of smash 4's full release, good job smash. Just keep changing for everybody.

And remember, if you see Kryongor...
Just run.
-GIR

The squans be squaning

Somewhere, in the US (And many other countries) there is a twisty puzzle called a square-1 (Abbreviated as "squan" which is pronounced scw-u-an). Squans are a very interesting puzzles. To start, they are the only WCA puzzle that..

-Shapeshifts

-Bandages

-Has defined layers

-Uses number as a main source of annotation

Along with being a special WCA puzzle, it also holds its own in the sea of all puzzles. It is one of the only (If not THE only) puzzles that NEVER requires a cube rotation. Also unlike other puzzles, the main way you'll get faster is by learning new algs. The only way to improve your times is to learn new algs, and perfect finger tricks for said algs. Because of this, squans are mainly seen as a bunch of algs, much like high level 2x2 (Although unlike 2x2, squans aren't universally hated). Because of this, not many people pick up squan, and I don't blame them. Squans are the only puzzles I know that can't initially be solved by pure determination. There are some fundamental functions of a squan that I personally didn't understand for the first week of squaning, which kept me from solving consistently. It's also really intimidating, I mean, look at this alg!

/(3,-3)/(-3,0)/(0,3)/(0,-3)/(0,3)/(0,-3)/

Now, with all of this crazy stuff, how can anyone be expected to learn squan? Well, I'm going to try to compile a few issues I had while trying to learn. Hopefully this will help you.

-There is a certain way you must hold it! You should hold it so that (Once cubeshape is attained) you can perform the move (1,0)/ and still maintain cubeshape. If you have cubeshape and you can't do this, flip the cube over and you'll be set.

- The way you hold the cube doesn't matter as long as you have a / layer on front, and the right layer on top (Referenced in previous note).

-Certain algs will require shapeshifting the puzzle. This shapeshifting does cause bandaging. If, somewhere in the alg, you try to make the next move and you can't, check the pieces to see if that move has been bandaged. If it has, then the alg is impossible, or you screwed up. You'll just need to solve it to where you were and try again.

-And if you're having trouble with the parity alg,

No one can help you.

Luckily for you Jimmy all dwarves get health care! Well, juice anyway...

-GIR

But wait, there's more!

Hey'O Jimmies! Today I'm going to build off of a few other hobbies mentioned in the last post. Hopefully you'll enjoy it!
Now, last time I mainly talked about why you should persist to learn to solve a 3x3. But what if you haven't started learning yet? Why should you? Well, as I said last time you can learn a lot from this hobby, including mathematical thinking and problem solving. But it can also be a lot of fun. I know it may seem like something only some people enjoy, but I never thought I would get into this, and here we are now. I would say that everyone should try getting into it, and that most people will get into it once they try.
In smash stuff, I've noticed recently that there have been a large amount of diddy kong players on for glory as of late. Recently, there was a patch nerfing him, so I'm confused as to why more diddy players came around now as opposed to earlier. I'm also seeing many more fire emblem characters. Then again though, this is for glory. Who knows what people are doing there? In smash news, villager amiibo restocks are coming to Toys R Us this Saturday, so if you're dying for a villager amiibo like I am, make sure to get over there early.
That's all I have for today, but more ideas are appreciated, so if anyone reads this, tell me about something I could write about tomorrow.

Blue them walls Jimmy, blue them good.
-GIR

Let's get started

I'm not entirely sure if you can see my name, so hello there. I'm GIR. Well, that's the screen name I'm going with anyway... Welcome to my blog! Here, I will post all sorts of stuff about the many hobbies I follow. I'll try to cover news, interesting discoveries I and other people I know make, and tips, tricks, and more! I also intend to try to make it as easy as possible for people to get into these wonderful hobbies I have, and (If anyone actually reads this) feel free to give me tips, and help me out with what I can write here. The main hobbies I'll be covering here are cubing (Rubik's cubes), Smash bros, some tech and coding, yoyo's, and possibly a few others. I'm going to try to post at least once a day throughout November, and I might go beyond if I'm given a reason to. Today, I'll just be covering a few things about each of these hobbies, and I'll be covering them each in depth individually in later posts, but for now, let's get started.
Cubing is an interesting hobby that I personally have been loving for about 2 years now, and I've picked up a few things over that time. The hobby itself is really fun, but unlike some other hobbies, it sort of has an entry requirement: You need to be able to solve a Rubik's cube. This seems like no easy feat, and it isn't at first. It can be confusing, and many people learn most of the solution, but give up at the most complex part: The last layer. I understand that its difficult, but like all good things, it comes in time. It took me one full day of dedicated solving, but by the end, I could consistently solve the cube. Don't worry about your speed, and certainly don't worry about finger tricks (If you don't know what those are, again, don't worry. It all comes in time.). Just concentrate on learning the method. At first, it is going to be memorization. You're going to wonder how people learn how to solve other puzzles without help, and wonder how people learn more complex methods. That's ok, don't worry about any of that now. When you get to it, it will turn out to be MUCH easier than learning how to solve the cube at all was. In the end, I would say that if your having trouble learning how to solve, keep trying, and ask for help. I'm here to help, along with the rest of the community. And if you don't know how to solve yet, you should learn. It honestly just takes dedication and time. If you start to cube deeply, it will also teach you a lot. Trust me. I know.
Smash is easily (In my opinion) the best nintendo game out there right now. It also has a huge community following, and getting into it is as easy as owning the console and the game! (That can actually be quite difficult. The game is still about 60$. Just do what I did and get the 3DS version if you're short on cash.) It may be difficult at first if you go online, as the people there are ruthless and the biggest, most sore losers one ever did see, but if you practice against CPU's and locally with friends, you'll find the online community much more tolerable, as you can now kick them so hard that they rage quit. Now there's something to strive for. In news, and I know this is old, Nairo beat ZeRo, ending his huge tourney streak. So, there's that, if you didn't know.
There isn't much as far as tech and coding goes, but I'll give you what I've got. Remember the <marquee> tag in HTML, and, if you don't already, learn how to properly use "for" loops. They will become your best friend.
That's all I have for you today. This was a slightly larger post, future posts will likely be smaller. But as a first post, I needed to give you a taste of what's to come. Hopefuly, someone will actually read this, that way I'm not just talking to myself all the time, but hey, that's fine if I do. It's not like I'd do anything else anyway. Thanks to anyone who actually read this.

And remember Jimmy, more than 5's a waste.
-GIR