Now You're Thinking With Portals

Cave Johnson here!

After quite a few years of waiting, the highly-anticipated sequel to one of the best games of the early 2000s finally arrived on Tuesday, April 19th. It was met with very high reviews from several professional review sites. Many fans have also voiced their approving opinions on the game, especially after the intense ARG (Alternate Reality Game) that led up to the release of Portal 2.

The great thing about Portal is that it's a puzzle game from a first person perspective. The humorous dialogue and intensely creepy robot villain GLaDOS keep the game moving along at a nice pace. The voice acting in the game is superb. Cave Johnson, the ever-enigmatic, somewhat`disheveled former CEO of Aperture Science may be the best part of Portal 2.

Portal 2 is not just a well-written game but a well-designed one too. The environments are similar to the last game but feature more dynamic lighting. Since it's been a few years after the end of the first Portal, the test chambers have become somewhat overgrown. The design of each test chamber is incredibly well-thought out and unique -- it's not something you'd see in most futuristic first-person-shooters. The archaic lower-depths of the testing facility are also beautifully eerie.

My advice?

Buy it.

Dem Leads

Dialogue:

When most people are asked what their favorite teaching moment was, they usually reply with some big teaching triumph. Amanda Walker, however, thinks differently.

"The moment I remember most of all in the classroom was I had a kid who suddenly just vomited on another kid in class."

Startling Statement:

"The first time I ever stepped in to a public school was my first day as a teachers."

Descriptive:

The parrot squawks in it's cage as students hurriedly copy notes down from Ms. Walker's chalkboard. She lectures sternly, but with a calm and understanding undertone. All the students pay their utmost attention. By the end of a class, all of the kids have learned an entire new concept from their favorite teacher.

Interviews

So, this week we conducted our interviews for our feature pieces. For mine I interviewed Ms. Walker, a biology teacher at our school. That wasn't the hard part. Unfortunately, the first two people I contacted to interview (Cory Doctorow and Scott Westerfeld (hallowed be their name, would be more hallowed if they actuallyresponded. But I digress) have still not responded. So, I settled for a boring old teacher. Or so I thought.

It turns out that Ms. Walker is a very interesting teacher. She had her parrot on her shoulder during the interview, which was entertaining. to be honest, I was fairly intimidated, interviewing a teacher of such incredible prestige.

Anyway, back to the other two people. I emailed Cory originally because I love his books. He also provides them for free in multiple formats. So, I sent my email off, excited. And then, I waited. And waited. And waited.

I kept waiting until the weekend before the interview was due. Since I hadn't heard back, I emailed another author (Scott). He didn't respond either. The day before due date, Mister Pip had the idea to interview Ms. Walker. And so I did. I interviewed her the day the interview was due during lunch. It was awesome!

Iraqi Air

Courtesy wired.com

The gunfire rattles overhead as you hear the blades of a helicopter turn in swirls of angry diligence. Grenade shrapnel stings the air with shards of fiery metal, and smoke exhaust from tanks and other motorized vehicles fill your senses with foul matter produced by machines.

This is a problem with the air in Iraq. The fights and skirmishes here involving heavy artillery are filling the air with pollutants like metal fragments and other bad particles. The soldiers are breathing these in, and report "increased wheezing, coughing, allergy symptoms and chest pain."

Another large contributing factor to the air pollution is the fact that Iraq still uses a lot of leaded gasoline, which produces many pollutants and small particles. The natural dust storms (which occur about twenty times per year) also raise buried/settled particles from the ground and throw them near or into the soldiers.

We need to be protecting our soldiers. The wounds they get (if any) should be from enemies, not their environment. They're brave enough to risk their own well-being for us, and the least we could do would be to protect their respiratory system as well.

For more on this subject, check out the article on Wired here.

-Cambium

War of the Worlds

In the famous book by H.G. Wells, Martians come and attack the earth, and the world as the humans know it ends forever. Now, the humans are trying to find the Martians before they find us. In 2007, The Odyssey spacecraft discovered several large holes in the planet's surface. Unfortunately, the craft was too big to explore the caves. Now, NASA scientists are contemplating sending swarms of smaller robots to explore the caves in search of extraterrestrial life. These robots (called Jallbots) would be sent in groups of 40-60. Jallbots would sense caves by the sharp decline in temperature caused by the change in elevation.

I think this is a good idea. Science, and space in particular, is an amazing area of study that we have yet to explore fully. There's no telling what would happen if wedid discover life on Mars. It could be a dangerous mission, but that's the benefit of using robots instead of humans - robots' lives are dispensable. While they cost a lot of money, they don't cost nearly as much as a larger spaceship, a rover, or a human life. We have amazing technology, and we should use it to learn of and explore the greatest parts of our universe.

For more information, see the Wired article on the subject.

Discovery's Final Hour

Photo credit Wired

At about noon on Wednesday, March 9th, the space shuttle Discovery touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. The shuttle has carried many unique people, such as the oldest person and the first member of Congress in space. Discovery had a twenty-seven year career.

While I think it is wise of the space program to discontinue the shuttle - otherwise flights may become dangerous for astronauts- it is certainly sad that this shuttle will no longer carry the important explorers of a new age into a vast, dark frontier. However, the Discovery served many purposes. This shuttle helped the space program achieve many things. The final landing of the Discovery signifies the end of an era. The people who have traveled on this ship have seen and traveled places you and I won't ever see. With the final landing, the sun sets on a period of exploration. However, the shuttle will be displayed in the Smithsonian as an emblem of "discovery" for everyone, even people from different nations to see. Space travel binds the world together, and while this final landing is sad, we will eventually push space travel even further, and expand the limits of our minds and imaginations.

To read more about the Discovery's journeys, refer to this article on Wired.

Cambium's Leads

Contrast and Compare:

A few hundred years ago, America was a frontier for the Europeans. The plains were vast and rolling, the food plentiful, and horizons limitless. Fast-forward to today. We now have a new ‘frontier’ to explore. It’s not space, however, as Star Trek would have you believe. The human race is about to begin a new life in the ocean.

Rhetorical:

How do you solve the world’s environmental and over-population problems? By building an underwater complex. That may be a little over-dramatic, but with enough work, it could be possible/plausible.

Direct Address:

You’ve always wanted to live underwater. And now you finally have the chance. There are currently plans to build an underwater living complex. Soon you will be able to move under the surface of the sea. You can swim with fish, and farm seaweed. We hope you enjoy it.