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Category: History

I had always associated the word "Java" with the programming language or a cup of coffee. It only occurred to me tonight that it is indeed a name for an island as well. Upon reading this Wikipedia entry on Java, I also discovered Java coffee is coffee made from the beans on the island. Java is a long, narrow island in the East Indies. It lies between the Sea of Java and the Indian Ocean. It is one of the largest islands of the Republic of Indonesia.

The island of Java has an area of 48,763 square miles, which is about the size of the state of Louisiana. Though Java is not very big, it is one of the most crowded places in the world. Fifty-eight million people live there, more than 19 times as many as live in Louisiana! Part of the island is too mountainous for people to make their homes, and near the coasts there are swamps and thick jungles, so that all of the people are crowded into a very small place.

The People of Java

The people of Java are Malays. They are small and handsome. They have dark skin and eyes and straight black hair, and they are very graceful. Groups of dancers from Java have traveled all over the world and delighted thousands of people with their strange and exciting dances. The Javanese people are also known for a special kind of shadow play in which they use puppets that they hold behind a screen, so that shadows appear on the screen. This is a favorite entertainment in Java.

There are many skilled artists here too. They make beautiful jewelry or silver and gold. They also make a special kind of fine cloth that is called batik. It is dyed in patterns of bright colors.

Most of the people of Java are farmers and raise rice, rubber, sugar, coffee, and many other crops. Things grow so well in Java that the people are able to grow more than enough food for themselves, so their crops help feed people of other countries. They also send quinine and teak wood to other parts of the world. The people of java buy machines and iron and steel and cloth from other countries, and they use these things to build up their island.

Some people in Java work in coal and silver and gold mines, while others raise kapok trees. Pod from these trees contain a soft, fluffy down that is used to stuff pillows and mattresses, to make life jackets, and for other purposes.

Some Chinese people and Arabs also live in Java. Most of the people are members of the Mohammedan religion. They speak a Malay language called Bhasa Indonesia.

What Java is Like

The level lands of Java are very fertile and have a lot of rain. There are many volcanic mountains and some of these great volcanoes are still active. Sometimes they explode and send forth lava, fire and smoke. Many people of Java have lost their lives in these eruptions. The weather in Java is warm, with a temperature of about 80 degrees all year round; though high up in the mountains it is much colder.

Panthers, tigers and other wild animals make their home in the jungles near the coasts of the island. There are many enormous insects and gorgeous birds and flowers.

There are many small streams on the island. The Solo River is the most important waterway. Boats can travel on this river from one part of the island to another. Roads lead from Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, on Java Island, to nearly every part of Java, and there are several railroads and airports.

The people in most parts of Java live very simply, but the city of Jakarta is quite modern. The University of Indonesia is there. It includes colleges of law, medicine, and agriculture.

Java in the Past

Men have lived on Java for many thousands of years. This was proved over a century ago when Eugene Dubois, a Dutch scientist, discovered the bones of a primitive man believed to have lived between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago. Dubois named this early man Pithecanthropus Erectus, which means that he stood erect as men do today. This early man is usually called the Java Man.

Almost two thousand years ago, Java was occupied by Hindus from India. In Java you can still see the ruins of some of the magnificent religious monuments and palaces built by Indian princes.

About 550 years ago Mohammedan invaders conquered Java. Later it became the property of the Dutch.

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Category: Rants

Many times, I hear the phrase "grow up kid" and find it really ironic when it comes from the mouth of a child, especially over the internet. For example, when I intentionally troll kids on a Minecraft server, they always cry about my "your mom" jokes and "no u" replies. One of the benefits of being an adult is that you are smarter, obviously, and it usually is advantageous when dealing with funny kids.

An adult is a person who has reached maturity in bodily growth, mental development, or age--in other words, who is "grown up." Physiologically, the person must have achieved full growth and strength, and the age may vary with sex, race, and culture. Laws usually set the age at twenty-one and the effect is that the person attains to certain rights, such as voting, legal right to make contracts, etc. The age at which a person is considered adult has varied greatly among different people. In the United States, where the definition of an adult is made by the states, there has been much agitation since World War II to lower the age to 18 and some states have done so.

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Category: Games

Smite is a very popular multi-player online battle arena game (MOBA) that lets players use different gods in battle. While everything is all good and fun and nothing out of the norm for the role-playing world; some of their choices about which Gods to include have created a controversy, and the companies response promises to bring more.

Hindu Gods

 smite kali gameplay

Smite choose to include the options for players to role play as depictions of Kali, Vamana and Agni; three of the major deities within the traditional Hindu cosmos. While Smite’s creators have shown quite an interest in researching accurate depictions of the Gods they include as characters some questionable creative choices were made about how to show Kali in action. Kali appears in numerous guises and forms and the clothing chosen to show Kali in the game is considered to be offensive by Hindu leaders. In fact, the leader of the Universal Society of Hinduism has come out and said that the inclusion of any of the Hindu gods is offensive to the religion.

More: http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/06/27/hindu-leader-requests-removal-of-dieties-from-smite-hi-rez-declines/

How Can a Game Character be Offensive?

To understand how a game character could offend someone you have to think beyond just visual representations. For a devout Hindu, the visual image of one of their Gods is sacred and revered; to see it casually used for entertainment is an act of disrespect for them, and for their religion. Many of the other religions that could possibly be offended by their God characters won’t be as their religions are all but “dead” in the real world. The Hindu religion is very much alive and well, and the choice of its Gods as characters in a game reveal a uniquely Western and monotheistic lack of sensitivity.

No matter what you believe if you grew up in the West you were influenced by the Judeo-Christina traditions and belief systems. One of the greatest of those traditions is the admonition not to worship idols. Images as an object of sacred veneration are not present in the overall Western culture. However, in many of the world’s largest religions – the visual image or icon of a god is very important to the belief system. It was most likely casual thoughtlessness that resulted in the choice to begin with.

Potential Problems with New Gods

It what can only be considered a public relations mistake, Smite’s creators released a statement that since their game was about the combat between gods of all religions, and they plan to roll out more gods than less. This opens the door to offending even more religions – including Judeo-Christians and Muslims. Can you imagine roleplaying Jesus Christ or Mohammed in battle? The backlash for this statement, even without the actual implementation of the expanded character roster could very well bring down what was a promising game to begin with. Understanding that not everything is open for your entertainment is a crucial key to learning what it means to communicate with people in the world. Looks like the creators of Smite may have missed that lesson.

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Category: Games

Wii U offers the Miiverse as a dedicated gaming network for members playing on the platform. There are a lot of advantages to using Miiverse. With the recent release of Camp Miiverse, the experience has gotten even better.

 

Dedicated Social Network

If you are a gamer and you want to be social, then chances are you are going to have a lot more fun talking to other gamers. This is one of the benefits of using Miiverse. Unlike other social media networks where some of you friends might be gamers, but your great aunt is too – you don’t have to worry about having to either stop and explain everything you are posting, or having a newsfeed that is full of posts that have nothing to do with the game you are currently in.

Closed Social Network

Miiverse is a closed social network. That means that you must be a member of Wii U to have an account. This has several different advantages, for one it means that other members are already there for the same reason. This will make for a better community environment. The other main advantage is it makes it easier to monitor behavior within the network. Wii U can be more responsive to player reporting than other companies who host more open networks.

Camp Miiverse

Camp Miiverse was introduced into the second year of the release of the console. It takes the concept of Miiverse and puts a specific structure on it that will help integrate it better into your games, and make your game play more exciting. One of the main features of Camp Miiverse is that it has a central area where challenges and contests are posted for different games. You then go to a delineated area reserved for that game to participate in the challenge. You can post your results, your profile; keep your favorite profiles up, share screen shots and more. Camp Miiverse also makes use of the ability to turn off Yeah! This makes your keeping up with your contest related posts easier to do.

Other Social Media Platforms

Nintendo isn’t as foolish as to think that Miiverse is going to replace any of the prominent social media networks for their members, so they did something very intelligent with the design of the Wii U. One of the dedicated channels available reaches out and integrates with the major social media platform such as Facebook and Twitter.

The idea isn’t to remove their members from other networks, but to give them a network that they can call their own and use as gamers. You won’t have to deal with any posts you don’t want to see or remarks and comments from non-gamers on your achievements. Miiverse gives you a place to be serious about your gaming with people with similar interests. You can meet up with everyone else on the other networks, but you can do it right from your console.

 

 

 

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Category: Games

I bet a lot of you guys don't know that Yoshi, the cute green dionosaur that eats enemies and throws eggs, has a "real" name. Being one of the most lovable characters in the Mario franchise, I had always assumed that Yoshi was his (or her?) name and only name. However, it really is a nickname.

Yoshi's full name could be found in Blake Harris' Tweet, which shows Yoshi's character description in a 1993 edition of a Nintendo character guide: T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas. I am assuming that the "T" stands for Tyrannasaurus since its got two hands just like the real thing. Too bad we will never know for sure.

Another funny note is that Mario is not of the human species! To quote what the paragraph says, "Yoshi, properly known as T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas, had been held captive in an egg until Mario (homo nintendonus) bopped along and rescued him. Instantly, the young dinosaur and the plumber became fast friends. Together, they set out to rescue Yoshi's dinosaur pals from the wickedness of Bowser."

When I was a kid, I never realized when Yoshi appeared since the first Mario game I played was Super Mario World on the SNES. Apparently that was when Yoshi made his first appearance.

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Category: Games

Much ado is being made of the lead game that Microsoft has chosen to bundle with their latest generation of the Xbox One. The Titanfall game is capturing the same fan base as Call of Duty, and bringing in people who have never played CoD. The game play is exciting, fast and interesting. It can be played as a solo game, but it really comes alive in the multi-player environment that the console is capable of delivering.

xbox one titanfall promo

Titanfall comes from the same creators of Call of Duty. It is not a continuation of the Call of Duty scenario, although there are many elements of the overall game design that will be familiar. Titanfall is currently offered to new Xbox One buyers for free as a bundled game. It is available for purchase via distributors and online retailers for everyone else. Titanfall is getting a lot of attention form reviewers and players; it stands to claim most of the rewards over the coming years for leading game innovation and design.

From reviewers and payers Titanfall on Xbox One is landing full stars. As a single player or multi-player game it holds together well. There is nothing unexpected about the navigation and controls; they will remind you a great deal of its source of inspiration, Call of Duty. It also has some upgrades that would have made Call of Duty even better, but the game was already too far in evolution to be able to back engineer the upgrades for controls better.

Why are People Calling this the Next-gen in Gaming?

Game play in Titanfall takes the multi-player shooting game to its next level. The game moves quickly and smoothly with responsive controller movements and 360 sound and view capabilities. The in game voice communication system doesn’t interfere with the audio of the game so you don’t experience the drops that are common on lesser systems that can disrupt your concentration and performance. The look and feel of the game itself has been described as “cinematic immersion.” It looks and sounds like real time action and that can transform your excitement in playing. Even if first person shooters aren’t your thing, you will get swept up in the excitement of the play.

The Xbox One Difference

There is no other home gaming system available today that can carry the cinematic game design of Titanfall as well as Xbox One can. Having cut their teeth on the popular Call of Duty, the Titanfall designers have maximized every aspect of the game design for the hardware of the console. The networking system and multi-player capability that Microsoft has almost perfected through multiple Xbox One generations is at its right age to be able to handle the Titanfall demands. The addition of third party apps and a reliable Internet browser let you integrate your gaming experience and accomplishments with your social networks while also being able to find the tricks and tips you need fast.

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Category: Games

We have seen the amazing 0 second glitch speed run of Pokemon Red/Blue in the past, and it was not so satisfying. However, a new world record for finishing Pokemon Red has been set at one hour and fifty minutes, as of this month! Run by Charlie "Exarion" Armitz, this speed run is simply amazing. Not only does he play well, his commentary explains every single detail of his techniques to achieve a quicker run time. He also compares specific parts with other people who ran the same part and explains why his is more efficient.

Picking Squirtle won't be a surprising pick for anyone, especially after he's has been proven by science to be the best starting pick. Exarion also clearly explains why he is the best pick as well.

One of the most interesting things about this speedrun is how intense it is. Instead of playing it "safe" and going to Pokemon centers and leveling like mad, the key to a successful speedrun is to keep your Pokemon's health at red and to move as quickly as possible. You might also want to check out "Werster", who finished at 1:51.

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