Off.

I'll be off to Japan for a week. Darn, and I still have a few things left to post, and other things to do online.

Ah, heck. Ittekimasu.

SCP-797 - "Hydrophobic String"

Item #: SCP-797

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: All samples of SCP-797 are to be kept in a safe made of titanium. Access is to be restricted to testers only on threat of termination. No strands or items made of SCP-797 are to leave the testing area.

Description: SCP-797 is some form of string that spontaneously appears near [DATA EXPUNGED], presumably through the dimensional fluxes near the area. Aside from this, it displays no other paranormal qualities, although it has several unusual properties replicable only by extensive materials synthesis at the present time.

Each strand of SCP-797 has been either one of two colours, red or black. However, items woven of it have been observed to be black, green, red, brown, copper or gold, depending on the viewer. Such items are also extremely durable, withstanding temperatures upwards of 7000 C and pressures of 400 atmospheres.

Its most notable quality, however, is its repulsion of all liquids. Whether as single strands or woven together, all samples of SCP-797 repel any type of liquid with a 0% absorption rate. When immersed in a liquid, results showed that SCP-797 forms a layer of vacuum around itself, preventing it from coming into contact with the liquid. Upon testing, a sheet of SCP-797 was 300% more effective than a HAZMAT suit at resisting low pH acids, toxic spillage, and even gas attacks by repelling the mist particles in the air. Experiments to determine the cause of this property were inconclusive.

Mass spectroscopy revealed high quantities of yttrium present (47% mass), unknown substances (27%) and complex double-helix structures, resembling terrestrial DNA but with different elements, carbon and phosphorous being replaced by germanium and arsenic. Such a structure is unlikely to arise by chance, suggesting that the origin of SCP-797 may be from other lifeforms.

Stock: Four thousand, seven hundred and sixty-one (4761) strands of loose SCP-797, one (1) 8x8x8cm cube, one (1) 5cm diameter sphere, one (1) 20x80 cm sheet.

Addendum 797-a: Dr. ██████ has requested that SCP-797 be raised to Euclid status, after finding that a solid steel plate was cut in half when one strand of SCP-797 was slid across it. Further testing showed SCP-797 capable of cutting through titanium, diamond, vanadium and a range of other materials, simultaneously casting doubt on the safety of a HAZMAT suit constructed out of SCP-797.

SCP-559 - "Birthday Cake"

As good a time as any to issue a report on an SCP object. Since it's under the Foundation's control and is secured impenetrably, this document can be issued, although it doesn't exist in any of their databases as they have yet to construct this report.

Scratch that. It's up.

Item #: SCP-559
Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-559 is to be stored appropriately for any object it has taken the form of, within a secure safe containing 3 (three) other baked items inaccessible to those below Level 3 security clearance. Usage of SCP-559 is only to be done under the supervision of Level 4 or higher personnel with prior approval.

Description: As of the time of writing, SCP-559 is a round vanilla birthday cake. However, its powers have been known to exist in other baked items like rolls, puffs or cupcakes. Whichever item SCP-559 has subverted in this manner is easily identified by the words "Birthday Time!" marked out in green icing. Materials testing has returned this icing to be regular green icing with no unusual traits.

When lit candles are placed into SCP-559, they cannot be extinguished by any means by someone who is not celebrating their birthday. However, they can be put out by people whose birthday falls on that day, upon which the subject will have their age changed to the equivalent of the number of candles on SCP-559. This effect lasts for 24 (twenty-four) hours before the subject reverts to their original age.

Testing has revealed several other properties. SCP-559 seems to regard anything burning as a candle, regardless of its size or orientation. Matchsticks, fireworks and even high explosives have been used, and have all shown identical properties when inserted into SCP-559. Tests have been conducted with a number of candles from 1 (one) to above 900 (nine hundred.) Such a high age surprisingly brings about no directly related health problems, and the effects of existing health conditions (weak heart, asthma, etc.) are reduced when "aged" in this manner. In fact, 87% of those who were aged to above 500 years old survived the full 24 hours, although were physically weakened in their aged state.

If SCP-559 is cut or used in the above manner, or the green letters smudges, its current "host" will cease to exhibit the above unusual characteristics, and the nearest intact baked item will gain the powers instead. It has been observed to "travel" in this fashion over 25km (twenty-five kilometres) of sea, and this property led to difficulties during location and retrieval of the object.

Cross-testing with other time-based SCPs, SCP-006 and SCP-224 is pending approval.

The SCP Foundation.

The SCP Foundation is responsible for containing many unusual phenomena and objects that would ordinarily be dismissed as fantastical or impossible. In fact, the links of these objects with the real world is subtly demonstrated by many large-scale occurrences that have been altered to betray no link to the Foundation. While I respect the Foundation for their attempts to study and analyse many SCP objects for the benefit of mankind, some are just too dangerous to do so. SCP-005, SCP-500 and some properties of SCP-682 may be useful to study and yield quantum advances is science, but objects like SCP-173, SCP-682, SCP-1007 and SCP-139 may be dangerous if released into the world at large.

Throughout my own travels through realms, I have encountered several potential SCP objects, and indeed some removed from the Foundation's premises. The analysis of such may put the world at risk, especially considering that certain few SCP objects are in the possession of less neutral organisations. If anyone comes across an SCP object, notify the Foundation by issuing reports of such. They will respond, and that at least carries less danger than having it fall into the hands of other factions. The objects must be secured.

Herald the Era

Solid snow the winds did blow,
Red dust swirling around the globe,
The dust that lay asleep from long ago.

Shiny silver craft descends,
Outside glowing lights do strobe,
As heat turns it red as the planet's sands.

Final flying course is set,
Carrying a species' hopes,
The landing ship and the ground are met.

Large black shadow
Cloud of dust
Landing struts
Touchdown.

The awe and majesty of the landing
Largely inspired the waiting observer.
The best of humanity, at last arriving
Target of the human dreamer,
Rusty red world,
The lifeless husk that is the planet Mars.

The captain of the ship emerged
Stepping on the barren soil
The rest of the crew soon followed suit
And then came the moment in history
They saw not the glorious sands nor cold sunrise
But noted with not mere mild surprise
The human in a scuba suit
Not two metres from a Californian lab
As could be seen through the portal round,
A sign of times to come.

As such, the advent of the space-bending wormhole,
Left the Astronauts' hopes crushed and broken on the virgin snow.

R.


This took forever to write. Graagh. Yes, Graagh! Ah well, time to plan for the next one.

Through caverns measureless to man

One ship escaped the jaws of science behind
And fled to Far Away, a distant world;
It crashed into a moonlit grove, align'd
Itself along that later was a road...
Then shot a signal out into the stars.
The cost of lightspeed messaging was high,
When there was once the birds, the trees, the grass,
Now lay a desolate long stretch of blight.

The spectre of technology lurch'd out
And slunk into the caverns, waiting for a shout.

--------------============+++++++++++++++============---------------

As you can see, poetry ofttimes makes
Little sense, for one can easily
Chop up a chunk of prose (cheat!)
Or Capitalise to make It seem like Wisdom's Words.
As such, by language twisting upon itself,
With horrid rhythm plaguing these pages,
The story I put before you
Has been written not by me, but by someone else, loosely based
(Chop the sentence!) on a book
(Chop the line!) whose name
(Chop the name, raise the tension!) is none other than---

--- With poetry, you've opened Pandora's Box
And revealed the Star within.
Poetry is one heck of a Judas too,
From within the Box, Unchained he has been.


~Wheen.

A miracle of rare device.

The spell of language weaves a complex web,
Where lies the essence of meaning within.
To such a deep delight emotions ebb,
As we return to see the world again,
Through others' eyes we contemplate the stars
Sparkling far beyond our mortal grasp;
In terms of words this portrait's shown to us
A picture of beauty residing in its clasp.

In time we may well come to understand
Why the dreaming heavens' language did descend.

How unlucky...

Well, the worst is over. I have failed to do more than 2 and a half questions in the dreadful geometry test. Terrifyingly unlucky, since I forgot to study Ceva's Theorem due to a lack of comprehension... and that was what came out. 2 times out of 5.

Incidentally, (maybe not, that intro was just to link up, why am I saying all this?) luck is one truly misunderstood phenomenon. How many times have you heard people saying "What a cute kid! You're so lucky?" Well, I haven't and the meaning of luck (pure chance) is wrong there, unless you quantify it by saying "...I've been trying 462 times and they all look like they've come from Mercury." Exaggeration. Where would we be without it?

Luck is the topic of Discovery Channel's "Million 2 One", a program where they explore the unusual, one-in-a-million sort of coincidences. Well, even rarer than that, so they claim. During the show, they give tales of wonderfully absurd coincidences, mathematical (apparent) paradoxes and stuff that either look like they defy the odds or do indeed. One thing I'd like to know: Where do they get their numbers?

They say something about slicing bagels in half, and the chance of getting your finger cut if you take "sin(angle off the table) / something or other"... seems a little far-fetched to quantify their formula. What units would you take all the measurements in? Is the formula even correct? Does anyone care? (I do, but only to poke fun at their maths.)

Calling someone up by mistake, and finding it's your long-lost second identical triplet 8 times removed, standing by a public phone in Siberia. How on earth do they get the numbers for the chance of standing next to a phone in Siberia, answering it, or the number of people who have nothing better to do than answer that phone? Pure conjecture, I would guess.

Finding your lost wallet 2 weeks after you lost it at the bottom of a scuba-diving practice area of the sea. Oh wow, like they can even calculate the odds on that; kudos to them saying the odds are "incalculable." They realise it.

Quantifying such strange things is really none of our business, neither is it accurate. The formulae, chances, units are all entwined in a mesh of speculation. Only when the unexpected happens to us do we care about what's happened, not why. Given the number of people in the world, it's likely that the unlikely will happen (cool) and we shouldn't really attempt to count the odds on those. Odds are that you'll fail, and I'd take that wager.

...And On Intuition.

Right, this is a third post "On" topics. Intuition be the theme for today (tomorrow? yesterday's day after tomorrow?)

We all possess this amazing skill called intuition. Perhaps it evolved out of our primal instincts; a self-defense mechanism in fight or flight scenarios; a tendency to predict the future. Pick your reason from these and more, many have been forwarded as to how this peculiar sense works. I'm not so concerned about the mechanics of it, but more of the applications we put it to use in.

Gambling, I'm sure, is a "sport" that encourages, indeed revolves around the house taking advantage of players' misguided intuition. Intuition can spectacularly fail where numbers are concerned, giving one false odds and impressions. Take for example the chance of rolling 2 dice and getting a 12. People will reason "2-12 are possible; ten numbers, so there's a 1 in 10 chance of rolling a 12." Of course, this is a rather unsophisticated example; more elegant and subtle methods are employed by casinos. If for nothing else, I respect casinos for their eloquent execution of probabilistic mathematics.

Speaking of maths, here is a double-edged zone where intuition can help, or fall apart completely. In regular maths tests, it is fairly easy to guess all the MCQ answers from 4 options. Intuition can be applied liberally here to choose the most correct-seeming, non crap answer like "2+2 = 4" rather than "2 + 2 = 5^42/89.17". Don't laugh, this sort of thing happens. Maths competitions, on the other hand, screw up my brain totally. Due to circumstances requiring me to appear pro in math, I go for competitions to check my standard. And here is where intuition falls flat on my face, since all the questions appear to give insufficient information to solve (geometry anyone?) or seem obvious but have no short proof like the unacceptable common sense. Intuition is rendered helpless by the high-level questions.

Note, though, that intuition usually doesn't desert me like this; in regular schoolwork I can probably keep up through a combination of guesswork, short-term memory and a healthy dose of instinct. The correct answers just speak to me. In long open-ended questions, the correct method yells itself hoarse. In essay questions, points flow into my head while writing. Not good for Literature, but OK for everything else. The best thing is it's inexplicable, so I AM telling the truth when I say I don't know how I can even pass tests, let alone score well in them.

Luck is another thing related to this. I once won a scissors-paper-stone match, 5 out of 6 with one draw. Moving pieces like I had no idea what I was doing (I didn't) in a chess tournament and drew... twice like this. Guessing the correct answer to an open-ended maths question by flipping a coin. A wallet, actually, but same difference. Luck combined with intuition works wonders; My old eraser could be used to tell fortunes (and guess correct answers in tests.)

The bottom line? Intuition is weird, wacky and wonderously wicked at whacking randomly at wanted answers when wished for. I hope this holds true in the competition-level geometry test next. Waaaargh.

On technology.

This is not a rant. Glad that's settled; now I shall turn it into one.

Technology, where would we be without it? What defines technology? Is a lightbulb? The Large Hadron Collider? Quark interactions? A fruit fly that can fly through open windows? Well, at our current stage of development, it would seem as though technology generally means something metallic, goes beep randomly, and have so many functions you need a diploma to get through the instruction manual.

What fits the bill? Handphones (go beep when someone attempts to bug you,) computers (go beep in order to bug you,) printer/scanners that print/scan "beep" onto what you want, along with an unfortunate dead bug, and Blackberries/iPhones (I'd rather eat the berries and apples than listen to their bugging beeps.)

As you can probably guess from the tone, mood, diction, assonance and Cow knows what else from the above paragraph, I dislike such technology. It should have stopped at the telephone, the personal computer, the car, and the postman delivering mail. Perhaps bypassing all the intervening rubbish to reach the LHC.

Seriously, who wants to be irritated by technology? You hear handphones go beep and buzz about like a hornet in your pocket, the radiation/noise emission disrupts sensible thought processes and indeed, their manuals look like Coptic to me. Think about this: how intuitive and efficient is an input interface with all of about 20 buttons? The iPod: going the extra mile by removing the buttons altogether. Exercise of the modern generation is designed to train thumb wrestling professionals.

Not to mention, all the cables, accessories and "little dongly things", as Douglas Adams calls little widgets and doohickeys. Those same things that claim to interface computer to handphone, 2 pin plug to 3, step down power rating from 2.5 Volts DC to 1.5 Volts AC. They help you charge your phone from anywhere, provided you have a "little dongly thing" for every place in anywhere you might go to. How anyone can multiply these variables of applications, accessories, cables, power supply and add-ons into design, functionality, beauty, intelligence and space-travel, and STILL select a handphone wisely floors me.

Ditto for handheld stuffses; even hands-off things like little metal earplugs that allow you to answer phone calls by talking to yourself. These things look like they could slither into your ear and hijack your brain (attention corporate gurus, we do NOT need handphone-powered zombies, thank you.) Earplugs also ensure that you focus on your music/phone calls without hearing distractions, or indeed anything at all. The volume at minimum is so loud it blows earwax clear into my brain.

Computers. These things are deadly. I'm typing on one of these television screens with typewriters in front of it, and if something goes wrong, you could practically blame it on NASA. Blue screens could pop up at any second; my thumbdrive appears to have a Trojan; my USB mouse is screwing the scanner; the wiring behind the monitor looks like a plastic Afro. If the Internet connection dies, I have to wrestle this Afro into giving me the cable for the router. Ditto for the mouse, keyboard, speakers and everything else.

Technology is easy to recognise. If it comes with an instruction booklet, it could be technology. If it looks shiny and is as flat as a peanut or whatever it is now, getting more likely. If the instructions are thicker than the thing itself, you're fairly sure it's technology; if the object in question ever appears to malevolently malfunction, nail on the bloody head, that's technology.

On Reason.

This is not a random post. OK, so it is a post, and random too, but... never mind.

Today, there was a little lesson about logic (officially Non-Euclidean Geometry, but it seemed like a logic lesson) which touched upon the meanings of the words "axiom", "system", "unidentified term" and "limo". (Fine, not the last one.) It struck me that all such human logic is really, really flawed. The basic reasoning goes like this.

1. I want to prove something.
2. To prove something, I have to start from something.
3. Therefore, I shall start from this. Believe it, or else the intelligence I spew will make no sense to you.

This is a system. Of thought and logic, or the lack thereof. The first 2 statements are axioms, which you cannot question since they are not meant to be questioned. (I have an issue with this, like I have with handphones.) Next, there follows the Unidentified Term, like "prove" or "start from". "What the heck do these words mean?," you are entitled to question. "Go check a dictionary" is the only seemingly sensible response; you may well ask why chickens cross roads, such an answer I have to give.

But wait! A dictionary itself defines words in terms of... more words. You look up "Advice", it gives you "Guidance". Check "Guidance", and it says "see Advice." The thing is essentially a self-defined system, that you cannot accept if you (choose to) know nothing about it. (Incidentally, how do babies learn from nothing? Genetic programming that allows them to? Accepting things at face value?)

Besides, what makes an axiom? Why and how do we (who, actually) defines it? Look at this.

1. A Cow exists.
2. Cows eat pasta.
3. No pasta is left.

1. There is no pasta left.
2. Only cows eat pasta.
3. Cows exist.

Which, I ask of you, are the axioms in these 2 "arguments"? When Euclid proposed his theory of geometry, he defined complex stuff like "Only one straight line passes through any two points" and asked us not to question it, nor ask for explanation. An interesting parallel to school, really. Who sets the standards for defining axioms and undefined terms? All human reasoning is pointless by that token of arbitrarity of reasoning. To end of, a quote with much meaning to me (not to you, since it's my own axiom:)

"Asfafkbad gighwro nefhnvn j kawnda." Enjoy.

Commenting on the nets...

On the nets, you can be literally anybody you want. You can create your own profile, identity, abilities, and portray them as though they were your own. Such freedom is brilliant, for young minds get their chance for recognition and respect if they are able to intelligently reason and debate topics.

Forums are an excellent way to mask your age and develop a personality that can wildly diverge from reality. With the flux of posts from around the globe, ideas are bandied about easily, and one can pick up tips from the merely good, and the excellent. All the while, one can accumulate respect if one posts intelligently, critically and respectfully. Such earned credit is crucial to displaying that one has the mental aptitude to conduct arguments and discussions with others.

This post sort of just came to my head, after having read once again Ender's Game, with 2 child characters masquerading as world leaders and political commentators on the anonymous webs. Quite an interesting parallel to the modern-day internet, particularly since this book was written before the digital era truly began. A fascinating read, and the themes inside are quite interesting of themselves, never mind how Card depicts them (rather well, I feel.)

R.

Wesnoth: Heir to the Throne

Well, I've thought of another arena where the RNG gods reign. 'Tis the Battle for Wesnoth. To attempt to illustrate the chaos within this, I'm playing through the campaign "Heir to the Throne", which some would argue is the main campaign, a series of 25 challenging scenarios.

First scenario: The Elves Besieged. Get your leader (Konrad) from the middle of the map to the top left, while 3 Orc armies try to stop you. I got lucky with recruiting, getting 2 Elvish Shamans with dextrous (bonus ranged damage), ditto for the Elvish Archers, and 2 Elvish Fighters with strong (bonus melee damage). My target for this level: Level up Konrad to Commander, and at least one other unit.

Delfador was my only powerhouse of 14-4 Fire (x-y means y hits of x damage) , but was slow through the thick forest, and caught up only when I went after the level 3 Orc Warlord leader. For the 2 northern Orcs, they ran out of gold and stopped recruiting after 1 or 2 turns, but their recruits more or less all got stolen by the western Elves, so experience was scarce. Thankfully, I nabbed both leader kills (the south one is too powerful) even though "allied" forces surrounded them first. Finished early by 2 turns.


Turn 6: A skirmish. I don't look too good here (my troops have non-blue orbs above the green health bar.) Already, I lost one Shaman.

Turn 9: I managed to grab this leader kill despite my "allied" level 2 Ranger and level 1 Fighter and Archer. Konrad is now a Commander with leadership, which boosts adjacent lower-leveled units' damage.

Turn 14: Success in the east. The second leader is mine too, and my Archer is now incredibly close to levelling. Now I have a strong, dextrous Archer, Commander Konrad, and a bunch of units with good traits that I'd ideally like to level up in the next scenario (if I don't get KSed again.)

Thus ends the first scenario. An interesting sample of Wesnoth. Update: I've finished the campaign on Medium (far easier than Easy...) and will look into doing something with this dead wood blog. Don't hold your breath...

A post...

I'm not going to blog about anything much. Just... occasional updates on... wait for it... GAMES!
...
...(...Too many dots? I tend to overuse punctuation....but I digress... a little.)
...So, firstly, it's Dragonfable. I've got a Dragon Amulet, and all the shiny things that go with it, like a big dragon, more powerful stuffses, and an even stronger headache. What IS with all those more powerful monsters?! They screw up the game by making sure I don't lay my hands on the powerful weapons I'm aiming for.

OK, so I exaggerate a little, but it's hard to train when you have no skills and you are being overrun by big monsters that conspire with the RNG to give you hell. I'm talking about the DragonRider class, where you fight big ugly giants on your (woefully noob) dragon to... wait for it again... level up your dragon's skills. Yay. A fantastic catch-22 that's fabulously tedious, and only with a huge dose of luck I made it through, and now the going's easier.

This is but an example of the ways those evil *lightning strikes* OK, 'nice' RNG gods can... er, 'bless' you in your journeys. I'll think of another one soon; oh, and visit http://whatshooguysays.blogspot.com/ (not by me, but I'm doing something to get more hits there. It's a great site, and almost 16.18% random.)

Hello World!

Well. It's a pleasant day. School holidays started, and the first bit of homework has been completed. (Phew!) Anyway, I'm too tired to think properly and make a proper post, so here's a link to keep you captivated for a while:

http://tinyurl.com/5b97gk
http://whatshooguysays.blogspot.com/

(P.S. Really, this is just a start. I remain anonymous. I like cows. I also am very random at times.)