Laboratory of Mathematics and Writing

Early Y2K Subdivisions I will reiterate that I defined the Y2K era to be the years 1995 to 2005. I've written an article as to why I believe that is. We can decide on different years, but I feel this is appropriate. We can further subdivide this era into smaller subdivisions. I feel like declaring that 1995-1997 are the early Y2K, 1998-2001 is peak Y2K, and 2002-2005 the decline and subsequent descent into irrelevence due to the internet and Iphones. From 1995 to 1997, we started seeing an increased interest in the internet, 3D graphics, and technology in general. I distinctly recall starting in 4th grade discussing the Y2K bug. I started 4th grade in 1998. In 1999 it really ramped up along with the culture surrounding it, which crept in to the new millenium. In 2001, the 9/11 tragedy struck and changed the world forever. It was a steady decline from then on. This is obviously completely from my perspective. I still managed make some historica...

Halo We played the shit out of Halo growing up. My tiny circle of nerds where eager for Xbox since middle school when it first came out. All of us ended up acquiring an Xbox eventually. I bought mine in the summer of 2003 right before entering high school. Once we all had our Xboxes, we would endlessly play Halo on multiplayer using system link. Those where the days of LAN parties. They don't exist anymore because they are unecessary. Actually, they only existed for a brief period of time in the early 2000s. Once Xbox Live and online gaming became the standard, there was simply no need for system link. I am getting old. Story Summary We played through the campaign in co-op and had a blast. The story is really interesting. It involves humans warring against an extra terrestrial race known as "The Covenant". They both discover a strange and enourmous space ring they would both call "Halo". One views Halo as a weapo...

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Solid I typcally ignore hype. However, I grabbed this game on sale for $35 instead of the usual $50 sticker price. It is a price worth paying. I'm a cheapskate. So, fifty bucks is too much for me. I can still recommend this game even at it's fifty dollar price point, especially if you're into turn-based RPGs. I am personally not into turn-based RPGs. I tried Evolution: World of Sacred Device and, though charming, it was slog to get through. I played through Super Mario RPG, which is generally regarded as one of the best on the Super Nintendo, and I would be okay with never playing it again. Now I am working my way through Clair Obscur and I can safely say that I would rather play this game than the other two I mentioned. However, it still doesn't move my needle towards appreciating turn-based combat very much. Just like with Super Mario RPG, it was an entertaining game that I have no intention of ever pl...

New Millennium: Y2K Era Those of you that are ready to hit middle age, or even already there and even past it, will instantly associate "Y2K" with the global bug of doom that was supposed to occur the moment we entered the year 2000. Hence, Y2K for the year 2000. Nothing happened. We even tested this theory as kids by typing "2000" into every date field just to see if anything will crash. Not exactly the most scientific expirement, but it did assuage our fears a bit. The year 2000 arrived and no major global catastrophe happened. There where a few important incidents that caused financial problems[1], but no planes fell out of the sky because of it. Aside from that scare, growing up during the Y2K era was a whole lot of fun. Credit is Due First, let me give credit to a Youtuber that goes by the name of "Life of Slice". He developed a brilliant v...

The Prince of Darkness When I was a young lad, I got into nu metal. It started off with KoRn, then Slipknot, System of a Down, Kittie, Powerman 5000, Static-X, it was awesome. Then, the Osbournes reality telivision show came on. It was centered around John "Ozzy" Osbourne and his family and all the crazy antics they did. They frequently refered to Ozzy as a rock and heavy metal legend and that he was "the Prince of Darkness". I thought that was cool, so I went out and bought the first Ozzy album I could get my hands on. It just so happens that the first album is the "Randy Rhoads Tribute" live album. I was instantly hooked. I went out and listened to Black Sabbath and Ozzy albums and songs. Anybody that's into rock or metal will tell you that the genre of heavy metal was founded by Black Sabbath, with Ozzy as the singer. I don't need to say anything further on just how legendary Black Sabbath and Ozzy are. For my ...

Jade Empire I remember purchasing this twenty years ago. As I was purchasing it, the guy at the register wholeheartedly recommended it saying "I really like this game!". It made me eager to play it. As soon as I got home and placed the disk in the drive and began playing, I was very well pleased. Jade Empire is an enjoyable action/adventure game with some RPG elements in a setting that doesn't take place often enough in video games. Teenage Tragedy I played this game to the very last mission. Then tragedy struck. My Xbox console died and could no longer play anything. I don't recall what caused its death, maybe the cpu just simply expired. In any case, I was no longer able to continue playing Jade Empire or Splinter Cell (I was playing them concurrently) and see those games to the end. Talk about a case of blue balls; double, in fact. Now, twenty years later, I am able to finish what I started all those years ago. I still...