Link of the day: Yahoo search pad

This looks like a fantastic way to compile research and share it with others, especially for travel plans. To see what I mean, check out the demo video. Great job, Yahoo.

Link of the day: Photographic eye

I went to Allan Weitz's talk called "As Seen Through the Lens" and he mentioned that he's a frequent contributor to the B&H newsletter. There, I found a great article he wrote called "The Photographic Eye". The article explores the idea of the human eye as a "digital camera." What would be the focal length, f-stop, etc of such a "human eye" camera?

Sports photography

Dragon Quest vs Final Fantasy

I just finished playing Dragon Quest V on my Nintendo DS. It was my first Dragon Quest game. What a great plot and nice graphics. I like how the visuals are the throwback 2D style, with a bit of 3D flair.

This got me thinking about Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, the two most famous video game franchises in Japan (beside the Nintendo characters). I've played Final Fantasy I, IV, VI, and VII.

Both series are RPGs with a long history. Dragon Quest IX and Final Fantasy XIII will probably be released in the US next year. Dragon Quest sticks with a medieval setting for all its games (according to Wikipedia) whereas Final Fantasy has moved towards a more sci-fi/modern setting. I also get the feeling that Dragon Quest tries to be charming and funny whereas Final Fantasy attempts to be dramatic. The Dragon Quest mascot, the slime, is really cute and I find the slime knight hilarious. I loved the Monkey Island series, so funny works well with me.

Dragon Quest games have a reputation for being similar just like the Zelda games. I once asked my friend, a huge Zelda fan, "Don't you get bored of the same hero and villain in every game?" He said no. I appreciate the fact that the Final Fantasy designers try to make each game different.

Dragon Quest has been slow to adopt 3D graphics. In fact, Dragon Quest VIII (2004) was the first 3D game in the series whereas Final Fantasy VII already conquered that medium in 1997. People think Final Fantasy's cutting-edge graphics make it more marketable to the North American audience and explain why Dragon Quest is much less popular in American compared to Final Fantasy.

The Dragon Quest designers seem to realize that they can't compete with Final Fantasy, so they need to differentiate themselves. That appears to be the motivation behind moving the next Dragon Quest games to the Nintendo DS and Wii platforms -- which are graphically less powerful but more popular with the mainstream, non-gamer audience.

So far, I like both Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. If only I had more time to go on these 50 hour virtual adventures!

Link of the day: "On the value of hard focus"

I like the idea that concentration is a muscle you can develop and exercise. Cal Newport talks about it in his latest post "On the value of hard focus."

Song of the day: "The mirror-blue night" by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater

From the musical Spring Awakening

BOYS
Flip on a switch, and everything’s fine –
No more lips, no more tongue, no more ears, no more eyes
The naked blue angel, who peers through the blinds
Disappears in the gloom of the mirror-blue night

MELCHIOR
But there’s nowhere to hide from these bones, from my mind
It’s broken inside – I’m a man and a child
I’m at home with a ghost, who got left in the cold
Who knocks at my peace, with no keys to my soul

BOYS
And the whispers of fear, the chill up the spine
Will steal away too, with a flick of the light
The minute you do it, with fingers so blind
You remove every bit of the blue from your mind

MELCHIOR
But there’s nowhere to hide from the ghost in my mind
It’s cold in these bones – of a man and a child
And there’s no one who knows, and there’s nowhere to go
There’s no one to see who can see to my soul

Song of the day: "All that's known" by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater

Whereas Wendla's song "Mama who bore me" revealed the disappointment she harbored towards her mother for not teaching her what she wanted to know, Melchior prefers to rebel against authority in "All that's known."

From the musical Spring Awakening

All that's known
In History, in Science
Overthrown
At school, at home, by blind men

You doubt them
And soon they bark and hound you-
Till everything you say is just another bad about you

All they say
Is "Trust in What is Written"
Wars are made
And somehow that is wisdom

Thought is suspect
And money is their idol
And nothing is okay unless it's scripted in their Bible

But I know
There's so much more to find-
Just in looking through myself
And not at them

Still, I know
To trust my own true mind
And to say: there's a way through this

On I go
To wonder and to learning
Name the stars and know their dark returning

I'm calling
To know the world's true yearning-
The hunger that a child feels for everything they're shown

You watch me-
Just watch me-
I'm calling
And one day all will know

You watch me-
Just watch me-
I'm calling, I'm calling.
And one day all will know

Song of the day: "Mama who bore me" by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater

My friend introduced me to Spring Awakening. I was skeptical of the premise -- 19th century German schoolchildren singing rock/alternative. After a few listens, I like it. The musical explores adolescent angst with wit, intelligence, and catchy music to boot.

"Mama who bore me" is the opening number.

From the musical Spring Awakening

Mama who bore me
Mama who gave me
No way to handle things
Who made me so sad

Mama, the weeping
Mama, the angels
No sleep in Heaven, or Bethlehem

Some pray that one day
Christ will come a'-callin'
They light a candle
And hope that it glows
And some just lie there
Crying for him to come and find them
But when he comes they don't know how to go

Mama who bore me
Mama who gave me
No way to handle things
Who made me so bad

Mama, the weeping
Mama, the angels
No sleep in Heaven, or Bethlehem

Link of the day: "The Web Browser Address Bar is the New Command Line"

The title of the post pretty much says it: "The Web Browser Address Bar is the New Command Line." By the way, I love the command line. It's fast and succinct. The only problem I can think of is that the command line relies on a good memory. If I don't use commands after a while, I forget them. When you add the shell to the command line, you get Unix magic!

The post mentions the site yubnub which really is the embodiment of the address bar as command line. I've tried yubnub but for some reason, I've never really felt a need for it.

Song of the day: "Taylor the Latte Boy" by "Taylor the Latte Boy" by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich

I became acquainted with this song after seeing the YouTube performance by Kristin Chenoweth. At first, I thought it was a ridiculously sappy song (search on YouTube for "taylor the latte boy rebuttal"), but after a while, I grew to enjoy it. The lyrics have a nice conversational quality and the music is mostly in my range, so I can actually sing it. By the way, Kristin's performance is fantastic. If it weren't for her performance, I would have dismissed this song right away.

There's a boy who works at Starbucks
Who is very inspirational.
He is very inspirational because of many things.

I come in at 8:11, and he smiles and says, "How are you?"
When he smiles and says, "How are you?"
I could swear my heart grows wings!

So today at 8:11
I decided I should meet him
I decided I should meet him
In a proper formal way.

So today at 8:11 when he smiled and said "How are you?"
I said "Fine and my name's Kristen"
And he softly answered, "Hey."

And I told him "my name is Kristen, and thank you for the extra foam"
And he said his name was Taylor,
Which provides the inspiration for this poem:

Taylor the latte boy,
Bring me java, bring me joy!
Oh, Taylor the latte boy,
I love him, I love him, I love him...

Well I'd like to get my nerve up
To recite my poem musical
He would like the fact it's musical
Because he plays guitar.
And today at 8:11, Taylor told me he was playing
With a band down in the village in the basement of a bar.

And he smoothly flipped the lever to prepare my double latte,
But for me he made a triple! (And he didn't think I knew)
But I saw him flip the lever, and for me he made it triple,
And I knew the triple latte meant that Taylor loved me too!
I said, "What time are you playing? And thank you for the extra skim..."
He said, "Keep the $3.55," because this triple latte was on him.

Taylor the latte boy,
Bring me java, bring me joy!
Taylor the latte boy,
I love him, I love him, I love him...

I used to be the kind of girl
Who'd run when love rushed toward her.
Till finally a voice whispered, "Love can be yours,
If you step up to the counter and order.

So many years my heart has waited,
I love him, I love him, I love him...
Who'd have thought that love could be so caffeinated?

Taylor the latte boy,
Bring me java, bring me joy!
Taylor, the latte boy,
I love him, I love him, I love him.
Oh, I love him, I love him, I love him.