Traffic

This is just a quickie and I need to get this point across. People at school DO NOT know how to WALK. It's so simple, just WALK FORWARD. Like, I have to go to class or go somewhere and mind you, some people are going at a reasonable speed but others are taking their sweet ass time and there's no way to get past them because the halls are so jam packed full of people. But they're not the worst, there are some that just decided to stop DEAD right in front of you, causing you to come to a screeching halt and somehow find a way to move around them. On one incident, I had 3 different groups of people stop dead in front of me in the SAME hallway. Geeze, we need to fix this or something.

Animals, Animals Everywhere.

For a school trip, we went to the Zoo yesterday. Why? Well, why not?

We left school at about 8:30 and arrived at about 10:00. There were about 5 classes from our school going and I could see other schools there but even with all these people, the zoo was DESERTED. At some points, I felt like I had snuck in or I was in areas that were restricted, it was that empty. Me and my friend decided not to go to the Canadian section for it was too far away or the Eurasia section (Camels and what not) for it was too big for only a handful of animals. So besides those two, we checked out everything else. One of the high points for me was where the penguins where only because there was one swimming underwater and we would tap on the glass and move our hands around, and it would follow our hand therefore resulting in excellent pictures. The other highpoint was the Australia section. KANGAROOS EVERYWHERE, ENOUGH SAID. Oh and there were JELLYFISH and WALLABIES and KOMODO DRAGONS and ECHIDNAS. AUSTRALIA! AWWWW YEEEEEAAAAHHH!

Double the Speed, Double the Fun!

Okay, I've been waiting for this moment for years. It's Sonic the Hedgehog's 20th Anniversary and to celebrate, Sega has released a game titled "Sonic Generations" where "Classic Sonic" and "Modern Sonic" world's collide.

The game features levels derived from 20 years of Sonic history, ranging from the Sega Genesis era, through the Dreamcast era, to the Modern era. There will be a level taken from each Sonic game to represent the different times. Each level can be played with either Classic Sonic or Modern Sonic, each taking their own routes throughout the level. Classic Sonic's levels are strictly two dimensional side scrolling stages, using classic moves like the Spin Attack and the Spin Dash. Modern Sonic's levels, on the other hand, carry on the modern 2D/3D game play of recent titles such as Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors, featuring Homing Attacks, Combo Tricks in the air, Drift, the Stomp Attack, Light Speed Dash, and Speed Boosts. As well as classic power-ups such as Invincibility and Speed Shoes, certain levels have unique power-ups, such as skateboards in City Escape and Wisp powers in Planet Wisp. Each zone consists of a main act for each Sonic, as well as several side-missions with various challenges such as beating an opponent to the goal. A Skill Shop allows players to use points earned from high scores to unlock upgrades such as abilities, shields, and even the original Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis game. Completing challenges, as well as finding Red Star Rings hidden in each of the main Acts, unlocks additional skills, as well as bonus artwork and music.

 I already own and have beaten the game and I must say that Sega has done a fantastic job. A round of applause for them if you will.

Spooky Scary Skeletons

So two weeks ago was Halloween and it was a pretty fun night for me.

I'm at that age were I can't and don't go trick-or-treating so that night I just decided to walk around the neighborhood to see what was going on. As I expected, there were tons of kids running around knocking on doors for candy. And as all ways my neighbor was in his classic costume, the great pumpkin, a giant inflatable pumpkin suit. I felt obliged as I do every year to go give him a few jabs in his giant inflatable stomach. So after that I decided to head over to my friend's house to see what he was doing. We both suggested that we should check out Nightmare on Elmore Street, a giant annual haunted house. I've never been on the street itself so as we tried to make our way over there we got lost. I knew the where it was generally and we got so close (about one street away). We decided to give up and back home to give out candy. After about an hour or so, we heard a man talking on a megaphone and we instantly knew it was from Elmore street and that we had to try again. So we finally made our way there, but we couldn't go in since the line was all the way down the street. However, it was a fantastic show with people in amazing clown costume walking around and scaring people around the area. Overall, it was a really fun night.

What a Scoop!

The other day a new Dead Rising game came out, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record. This is the 3rd game in the series and it combines both the elements of Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2 into the game.

In the first Dead Rising, the player is Frank West, a photojournalist who sneaks into the fictional town of Willamette, Colorado, which has been quarantined by the military. The main objective of the game is to investigate the Willamette Parkview Mall and complete "Case Files", missions that advance the storyline and reveal the cause of the zombie outbreak. The player has three days to do this, at which point a helicopter will arrive to retrieve him. If a player fails a mission, it does not end the game, but different actions result in different endings at the end of the 72-hour period. In addition to the Case Files, the player is offered the opportunity to rescue other survivors of the zombie outbreak, either from the zombies themselves, or from "psychopaths", boss characters who have either been driven insane by the zombie attacks, or are using the outbreak as cover for their own purposes. Alternately, the player can ignore all missions and play as a sandbox game; wandering though the mall (modeled on stereotypical American shopping malls, trying outfits and food, and killing zombies with a variety of objects. Dead Rising is notable for the hundreds of weapons that the player can find in the mall and use against the zombies. There are over 250 items that can be used as weapons, ranging from powerful to near-useless. Weapons will break down or run out of ammunition with use, and will break or be discarded (some of which break into usable pieces). Others can be changed by the environment, such as frying pans, which can be heated on a stove to both increase damage and gain access to a special move.

Dead Rising 2 takes place five years after the events of Dead Rising. Former motocross champion Chuck Greene is in the fictional casino town of Fortune City, Nevada, to take part in Terror Is Reality, a sports entertainment game show where contestants kill zombies. Chuck needs the prize money to buy Zombrex (a daily medication that suppresses the zombification process) for his daughter Katey, who was bitten by her zombified mother during a previous outbreak in Las Vegas. While backstage after the show, the show's supply of zombies is released; Chuck rescues Katey and makes his way to an emergency shelter, which is sealed after their arrival. Ray Sullivan (the only security guard to reach the shelter alive) is initially reluctant to let the infected Katey in, but Chuck promises to keep her supplied with Zombrex until the military arrives in three days. The game includes several new objects that can be used to attack the zombies. Up to 7,000 zombies can be seen onscreen at the same time.
Dead Rising 2 allows players to manufacture their own custom weapons at various points in the game by collecting items and combining them together in maintenance rooms scattered across the game map. The player also has the ability to unlock "combo cards" that reveal weapons that can be combined together. Such combinations include the "Hail Mary," a hand grenade duct taped to a football, "Dynameat," a stick of dynamite duct taped to a piece of meat, the "Paddlesaw," two chainsaws duct taped to a kayak paddle, and "Spiked Bat" which is a baseball bat with nails hammered through the item.

Now take all that, and put it into one massive game. It's going to be a bloodbath.

Oh Lawdy Dem Zombies

Past few weeks have been dull, but the Season 2 Premiere of The Walking Dead at the end of the week made up for it.

The first season of The Walking Dead starts off with Sheriff Rick Grimes waking up in an empty hospital after weeks in a coma where he finds himself utterly alone. The world as he knows it is gone, ravaged by a zombie epidemic. The Walking Dead tells the story of the weeks and months that follow after the apocalypse. A survivalist story at its core, the series explores how the living are changed by the overwhelming realization that those who survive can be far more dangerous than the mindless walkers roaming the earth.The season on ends with the characters in the middle of a struggle to survive, escaping the CDC as it burst into flames. In Season 2, they are still on the move, facing more threats and obstacles than ever.

This show is just fantastic. The acting is amazing, the makeup is realistic, the sets are beautiful. It is my favorite show as of now and I highly recommend it.

Dissappointing Thanksgiving

So Thanksgiving was *checks watch* like forever ago and I have a little dandy story about it.

So on Thanksgiving day me and my folks along with my grandpa headed down to my uncle's for a good ol' Thanksgiving dinner. Now normally, my cousin's usually piss me off so this wasn't going to be a happy go lucky occasion to begin with. So we get there and we're chatting it up and what not until my parents ask what's for supper. My uncle's girlfriend says: "Oh we're having Greek tonight". Now that right there was the first strike to the major problem, but what was next was much worse. My dad asks what that entails and she says that we're having L A M B, P O T A T O E S, and M O U S S A K A.

Now for me, when I think of Thanksgiving I think of Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes with Gravy, etc. But when I hear we're having Lamb not even the size of my palm, boring potatoes (not even salted), and eggplant lasagna a little voice inside me says "That's it, I'm done with this family". The main reason I'm mad is because I haven't had turkey all year and when I finally get to the moment where I can and it's given, I don't. The only saving grace was that there was pumpkin pie but even that had problems with it.

1. It went along with other pies and desserts
2. It was completely shunned except for me having a slice or two
3. The only reason it was there was because we bought it, knowing that I would be the only one who would eat it.

I just hope there will be turkey at Christmas, or you can just count me out at other family gatherings.

Let the Bodies Hit The Floor

So I've gotten back into playing a little game called "Killing Floor" and as the name suggests, it's pretty deadly.

It’s a co-op survival horror game. Up to 6 players in online co-op mode, or just you, playing the Solo mode. The aim – cleanse each area of zombies, in waves, until you get to the last one. The Big One. The Patriarch. Then exterminate him, too. Actually, they aren’t “zombies”. They are the left-over “specimens” from a cheap and dirty government program to clone soldier-monsters.

But, in the typical way these things go, the program didn’t want to be shut down. The specimens got loose. No-one was left alive to turn off the specimen-cloning equipment. And now they are running amok. The police were sent in, but that wasn’t even a challenge for the specimens. And now, there is just you. And a few friends. The few survivors from the first police and army units thrown in.

As for "Zombies" let's say the go a little something like this.

• The Clot is one of the weakest and most common specimens. It possesses the ability to grab players.
• The Crawler is the weakest and most agile specimen. It often travels in groups and can spawn in unusual places.
• The Gorefast is a moderately powerful specimen with the ability to charge at people at short range.
• The Stalker is a weak specimen with the ability to render herself invisible.
• The Bloat is a large and slow specimen with a high amount of health and the ability to spew corrosive bile at its targets.
• The Husk is a moderately powerful specimen with a ranged fireball attack.
• The Siren is a moderately powerful specimen with an area of effect attack, a scream, that does not affect, and is not affected by, body armor.
• The Scrake is a very durable specimen that has a chainsaw in place of its hand. It charges people when it has low health.
• The Fleshpound is a very powerful and dangerous specimen. It's prone to fits of rage, and can charge without provocation.
• The Patriarch is the Big Bad, appearing in the final wave, equipped with a mini-gun, a rocket launcher and equipment to heal and turn himself invisible.

In short, it is a very fun co-op game and I think it's good for relieving stress as it's just simply killing.

The Great Outdoors

So the other day me and my dad went ALLLL the way up to Cayuga area to set up his beloved tree stand that he uses for hunting.. We get all the way up there (a 45 minute drive) and start to unload the truck. Now, the parts we use are as follows: The tree stand which comes with 4 parts (The seat, two sets of steps that link together, and a bar to prop it to the tree), a 40 foot chain that's coated in rust, shears, a padlock, and what looks like a bike lock.

Usually we carry everything but the actual tree stand parts in a backpack but we somehow forgot the backpack and ended putting it in a small blue box. Now that's fine but there's only two of us and we would carry all the parts as so: Me with the backpack that has the chain, pad-lock, etc. and the two ladder parts and bar for propping while my dad carries the huge and heavy seat. So instead of that simple method we resorted to somewhat constructing the ladder there and placing the various pieces in a pile as we carried it to the location 100 yards away like a stretcher.

So after we get there, my arms are killing me and now I have to help set it up. So as we put it against the tree that's hidden in grass up to your waist, he climbs up it to fasten it down. In the midst of all this, we are just getting eaten alive by the mosquitoes, getting bitten in places we didn't even know they could locate.

The funny thing is after all that, we both had to get in the car, just filthy, while the night before, my dad had vacuumed and cleaned the car, so we couldn't touch ANYTHING, and my hands where RUST covered.

There's my outdoor experience for the year.

Websites. That is all.

Okay so in Web Design we're starting a project where we have to edit an existing page on the school website. We had to split into groups and choose between the Library page, the Religion page, and the Languages page. Me and my partner decided to do the Library page.

We got a Flash Template off of Flashmo and got to work. The template is great and works nice. When the menu buttons are hit the squares of information on the right side shoot up or down depending on the order of the button you pressed compared to the other buttons. Good lord is the code confusing. There's so much that we don't even know where to begin. We have to take .xml files and put them into notepad and change that around and then put it back into flash then do this and that and this and that. Not only that, but we have to take pictures of the new library, as the staff and equipment has changed.

Overall, it'll be a fun project.

First of the Season

So this weekend I was battling a cold. Yes, a cold in the middle of September. Not only that but I had tons of homework to do that weekend so I was totally out of it and just barely managed to get it done.

So it started off like any other cold. First the tingle in your throat, followed by the scratchy throat. Then after that, it slowly but surely travels into your head and slowly drips into your nose, practically suffocating you. Then the stuffy nose starts to recede, and just when you think it's over, it's not. Then, for no reason, you just start coughing, uncontrollably might I add. That's the stage I'm on, COUGHING.

So all in all this week has been "fun" I guess.

Tragedy Hits Paradise

So I've recently purchased a game called "Dead Island" and let me say, it's fantastic. It takes place on the fictional island of Banoi, located just off the coast of Papa New Guinea, as an unexplained and sudden outbreak of zombies is in effect. Your only mission is to survive this apocalypse and escape the island.

There are four main characters to play as each with their own unique attributes and abilities. Sam B is a one-hit-wonder rapper who was hired by the Palm Springs Resort for a show, he's an expert with blunt weapons. Xian Mei is an undercover policewoman working at the Palm Springs Hotel, spying on high profile tourists, she is an expert with sharp weapons. Logan is a former NFL star from Texas that shattered his career and his left leg during a reckless street race, he's an expert at throwing weapons. Purna is a half-Aborigine bodyguard that blew her police detective job by firing on a well-connected businessman that had sexually abused his underage daughter, she's an expert at firearms.

The game features four player co-op with the four main characters as they try to escape the infected island with the help of some newly met friends. Almost everything can be used as a weapon from wooden planks, to pipes, to axes. Weapons can be modified/ upgraded to be more useful in combat such as adding a battery and some wires to a machete to make it electric and shock zombies.

As for zombies there are seven different types of zombies.

"Walkers" are your common zombies, decayed bodies that limber around waiting for their next meal. They are typically weak but are strong in groups.

"Infected" are the newly bitten zombies, they run faster and deal more damage then Walkers, but have much lower health.

"Thugs" are what you would get if a bodybuilder or a really tall person where to get bitten. They are quite big and deal tons of damage which will knock you down in the process, although they are very slow and will ignore you most of the time.

"Suiciders" have a rare string of infection where it cause their body to swell up and have enormous tumors engulfing it's body. They're main attack is to slowly walk up to you and explode, killing them and you in the process.

"Rams" are massive zombies in straight jackets who are extremely angry. Since they don't have use of their arms, their primary attack is to simply charge toward you, knocking you down. The only way to damage them is to attack it's exposed backside.

"Floaters" are water-logged zombies. They've become so bloated that their skin is stretched and you can see some internal organs through it. They attack by puking toxic slime at you.

"Butchers" are zombies who's arms from the elbow down have been torn off, leaving only the exposed bone. The Butcher uses these sharp bones to it's advantage by slicing you with them. They have extremely high health and agility and will kill you if you're not careful.

Overall, this game is fantastic and a must buy, as it sets it's own genre in the video game world.

The Table of Time

Once again hello,

So the other day, the guidance department calls me down in the middle of class to say that "I'm not allowed to have two spares in one semester simply because I'm not supposed to". Not only that, but it took them this long to figure out I had two in one semester, even after I saw them for the past two days. So I had to figure out what to put into my fifth period. All of the courses offered during period five I didn't like so i just choose the one that was "Somewhat good", Geography. So now I have period 5 Geography. Alls well that ends well, right? No. Apparently today, 1st and 5th period were switched so I guess I accidently skipped 5th period. Now, how was I supposed to know that they were being switched? None of my friends even mentioned that it was going to happen. Gee, thanks guys...

School Problems

Hello again readers.

So these past two weeks have been chaotic at the school. It's a bloody free-for-all with the lockers, as I've moved through at least three lockers in the past few days. Not only that, the Guidance Department has been hectic as well. The lines are huge and so many changes need to be made to the system. Like maybe, having a box were students put forms in, and on the forms are what they want changed. That way, they don't have to wait in line twice and they can go on with their lives. As for me, they told me that it's against the rules to have two spares in one semester. So now I have to change it and put in a useless class in it's place like Geography, oh well.

Stay tuned next time for the answer to everyone's question, "WHO GOT LAURA PREGNANT?!"

The Great Return

*Fanfare*

Well hello there people, TIS I, MASON.

Yeah so welcome back to this blog o' mine for Mr. Chiarelli's web design class. Let's start things off with school, 2 spares - 1 semester. I have 1st spare, 2nd lunch, and 5th spare. In short, go to school at 11am, leave school at 1:30pm. Now, I think that's a pretty solid deal and I thank the Guidance Department for giving me such a time table. I'm really enjoying the extra sleep in the morning instead of having to wake up at 7 all the time. Plus getting to go home early is a nice touch, I'm really going to enjoy this semester.

So, see ya later boys and girls.

We Can Have Fun, With Science

Mason Chandler here, and I have some news for you.

Date: Tuesday, April 19
The long awaited Portal 2 is released.

AW YEAH HERE WE GO!

Date: Wednesday, April 20
Mason beats Portal 2

OH DEAR LORD THAT WAS AMAZING.

Portal 2 in a nutshell:  A first-person physics puzzle game were the player can shoot "Portals" which enables you to walk through them (Eg. You can walk through a wall if there's a portal on each side). The sequel adds new items and mechanics for the player to tamper around with in order to solve the puzzle such as Prepulsion Gel: A paint like substance that's spread on a surface which enables faster speed while walking on it, or Excursion Funnels: A long tube of energy which enables the user and objects to float around inside it, going in one direction.

Seeing the ending put me in a good mood as it hints to the first game and to a different series made by the same people. The entire game revolves around a theme of dark humor and the ending has a sad yet happy tone to it and I like that.

Easily the best game I've played in a LONG time. I give it 20/10.

Mason Chandler, we're done here.

Well, what do we have here?

Oh hey blog... Long time no see.
>Blows dust off of blog

So, events that have happened between last post and today? Well nothing much really, some near perfect test scores and mainstream school work. Caught up on a lot of sleep during the March Break, and laughed when we had a snowday the following Wednesday, which followed inot next week consisting of only three and a half days.

Until next time my friends.

My Fluids Are Escaping Me

Hello again viewers.

I can't believe March Break is next week, oh how time flies. I plan on lseeping like a baby all week, I've been so tired lately.

So today in Art class, I had to pose for the class as they drew me. At first I had a simple pose then the teacher had me point in one direction, now that's fine except it was for 5-10 minutes. So as I was sitting there, arm twitching and all, the blood started to escape my arm and travel downwards. After the posing my stomach was killing me. I guess that pose pushed everything downward.

In BTA today we're were doing slideshow presentations and I have to say that Prezi is a really cool program but also complicated. I may or may not use it for my asignment but it would be really neat if I did.

Poor Kitty...

WHAT!? POOR KITTY!? WHAAAAAAAT!?

Calm down. Take a seat. Listen for a second.

Ok so, in BTA we're continuing our Publisher assignment. Today, I had to draw the cat for the flyer, oh boy here we go. First off, drawing on a computer is hard. Second, I don't like cats, period. So anyways, I'm drawing this cat and it's looking fine and all until I get to the body. Now, the front half looks fine, but as I came to the other half I screwed up and didn't want to fix it so i just left it. Now it looks like my cat got ran over by a semi and just crawls on it's two front legs.

Oh god...

...What have I done...?

Two's Company?

BE FOREWARNED VIEWERS. THE FOLLOWING POST WILL BE QUITE SHORT.

There's not much to say today.

In BTA we've started Microsoft Publisher. Piece of Cake, but we already have an assignment that we can do in partners which I refuse to. Why? Proven fact as seen today. I'm already past halfway done while an unnamed pair are at the very beginning. Game set and match broski. Now I gotta draw that damn cat. Oh lord.

To be continued...

I Hate Candy

Welcome back to my blog folks. Now you're probably wondering, "MACE, WHY DO YOU HATE CANDY!? CANDY IS AWESOME! I'M GONNA KILL YOYIEJBSGPISHR-". Stop right there, I'll tell you.

Okay so, in programming we had to make a working gumball machine that dispensed up to three gumballs at the click of a button. Seems easy enough. It's not. Sure, I got it to look pretty and got my opening to work, but I cannot for the life of me program a damn button to give me gum. Honestly, I spent a whole period trying to figure out layers alone and then by the time I came to programming the button I had a headache. I hope this next assignment won't be as hard.

In BTA, I got perfect on my final assignment and test. Wait, what? PERFECT ON THE FINAL ASSIGNMENT. OH GOD. I swear I didn't do half of it right but I still got perfect. Oh well, not like it's a bad thing (Please do not change my marks, thanks).

That's all I have to say at the moment. Ta ta for now.

Welcome To The Show

>Taps Microphone

Is this thing on? Ya? Alright.

Welcome one and all to my blog! I am your host, Mason Chandler. We have an amazing show here for you tonight. Go and see the amazing beared lady! (Ooohhh). Or the fearless trapeze artists! (Aaahhh).

>Applause

All jokes aside though. This is the blog for Mr. Chiarelli's ICS201 and BTA301 classes. Here you will find weekly postings about class and school and all the other "Goings-On" here and there.

So let me start off by saying programming is amazing. PERIOD. Sure the wordy stuff may be a bit tricky but everything else is like BAM! IN YOUR FACE! Honestly, Flash so for is the best thing I've layed hands on. The sheer fact taht you can animate anything and practically DO anything with it is phenomenal. I look forward to doing more things with it.

Webpage design is pretty neat as well. At the moment it's kind of slow paced in my opinion but that's only because I've taken BTT and I know what I'm doing with word. Other than that, I'd say it's cool, plus we got an awesome class to go along with it.

I think that's all for now folks. Stay tuned for future updates.
And don't forget to tip your waitresses.
Goodnight.