Nerdy

Calculus isn’t just a Waste of School

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Image result for calculus meme

Image result for calculus meme

Alright, I think the amount of calculus memes I’ve added are good enough.  Too bad none of them are amazing, but eh, you got to work with what you have.

Despite what most high schoolers or undergraduates in college say, calculus is not useless.  Well actually, I don’t think people really say that, but that’s not that important.  Calculus has a lot of real world applications that aren’t just completely random and only specific to one job.  Calculus can be used in architecture, literally any physics related thing, business, anything that changes with time, and being efficient.  Oh and computer programming.

The architecture and efficiency part kind of go hand in hand, because you can use calculus to find the optimal use of resources before it becomes a waste.  You can also use it to find distances, lengths, etc.  Again, business has to do with that efficiency part.  You can see how many units of a product can maximize product, or see how much material is needed to optimize a product, or in regular terms, what’s the cheapest we can get to?

Physics is obviously the main place where calculus is used.  It can be used to find rates, such as speed and acceleration and jerk, or distance, area, volume, etc.

Calculus is big on dealing with rates.  Slopes are pretty important in calculus as a whole, so you can tell how fast a function is growing or decreasing, or maybe not even moving at all.

Computers have to compute equations to do the stuff that they do.  Everything is in terms of math and/or code.  When you request an action, such as type in something to a calculator, that takes time.  Some functions are very complex, like trigonometry functions.  So in order to get past the lengthy time it would normally take to compute those, the computer uses a calculus technique to represent the function as a series in the form of a polynomial.  Usually the series don’t completely represent the function, and have a narrow window, but other series can represent the function for all real numbers, like in the case of e^x.  An approximation is a good option, because they can be pretty accurate, and very fast.

Calculus isn’t just some useless thing you may be required to learn at one point in your life; it actually has some purpose.  I only mentioned some applications of Calculus AB and Calculus BC, but there are way more, and even more in Multivariable Calculus.  So if you’re just starting Calculus, you should thank Newton for what he started.  Adios amigos.

Nerdy, Uncategorized

The Truth behind Fruit and Pollen…

8 Comments

No it’s not, it’s an inflamed plant ovary with baby plants inside of it.

Image result for pollen grain

That’s not just pollen on those anthers, that’s plant sperm.

We’re well into spring, and I haven’t done another science related thing.  My teacher had reminded me of these facts, so yeah.  Today, we look at the biology of fruits and pollen.

Yes, the claims I made before are actually true.  Firstly, fruits evolved to attract animals to eat them.  The animals get food, so what do the plants get?  Well normally, the animals would eat the seeds inside the fruit, and then as the seeds go through the digestive system and eventually come out, they get fertilized, and take the excess compounds from the feces.  So it’s a win-win for both parties, and is a mutualistic relationship.  Now, where are eggs stored in plants and animals?  Ovaries…and fruiting plants don’t have a uterus like we do, so yeah, that’s what we’re eating.  Vegetables are different, but I don’t think the same holds true for veggies anyways.

Pollen is indeed plant sperm.  All plants utilize pollen for this aspect, but have different ways of carrying it.  Pollen is often sticky or very light and can travel with the wind.  The anthers, the pollen producing and male part of a plant, is where pollen is.  The plant sperm will fertilize a plant egg like any other organism does.  Weirdly enough, two sperm can be required instead of one, because one of the sperms fuses with an extra egg to create a nutrient type thing for the actual plant zygote.  Yep, you could say it’s cannibalism.

Well that was probably a terrible explanation, but that about does it for me.  Have fun with those new facts I guess.  Use them how you want to.

Dragon Ball, Nerdy

Dragon Ball Review (First Third of the Show)

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Image result for juju dragon ball

Image result for juju dragon ball

Sorry, I just had to rep Juju.

Anyways, I’ve watched roughly the first 50 episodes of the original Dragon Ball, dubbed of course.  I started it in spring break, and I am starting to enjoy it a bit.  I really want to get on to Super, but I don’t want stuff to be out of context.  I’m not really into anime in general, but this show breaks that pattern for me.

Dragon Ball is the first show in the Dragon Ball series, with Goku, the main character, starting out as a kid.  Initially, he collects the Dragon Balls (7 grants a wish) with Bulma and others just for an adventure.  He is a talented martial artist, and is later revealed to not be human, but the show, at least where I am, mentions that he is possibly an alien.  I mean, having a tail is pretty obvious to that fact.

Anyways, the Dragon Ball world has advanced technology, which Goku doesn’t really understand much because he was isolated with his grandfather for most of his life.  The world is full of many races and species, with some animals being able to talk.  Martial arts is pretty big in the world as well, with tournaments and the what not being held.  The show is focused on Goku getting stronger, him overcoming trials, and appreciating the new world around him.

Goku is shown to have pure innocence, and isn’t very knowledgeable of the world around him, and the show usually shows this in satirical ways.  One weird aspect of the show is the perviness, because one big character, Master Roshi, is really pervy, and it usually ends up bad for him.  It just had to be mentioned, because of how odd it is, but it’s there.

Overall, the themes present in the show are great.  I’m not sure what the audience would be, because of the perviness of Master Roshi, but it’s probably teens and young adults.  I’ll continue to watch the show.  Something to note is that the episodes really like to put cliffhangers at the end, sometimes literally.  Well, have a nice day guys.

Nerdy, Uncategorized

Ultra Instinct Ricardo

6 Comments

No, this isn’t actually about Ricardo, because I’m not trying to get demonetized, but it is about Ultra Instinct.

I haven’t actually watched much Dragon Ball, except a little when I was a kid.  The anime series is pretty good actually, and I’m thinking of watching it, all because I saw this Ultra Instinct Ricardo meme.  It’s a long story, but the meme got me interested in Dragon Ball Super, and now, the entire series.

Ultra Instinct was one ability that was focused on during Dragon Ball Super.  With Goku now as an adult, he was extremely powerful, and basically god-level.  The state of being is pretty cool, because in a fight, you don’t actually have to think much, because your body is doing it for you.  All your moves are entirely based on instinct, depending on how good you are at it.  Dodging is slight, and attacking is easy.  It’s not a transformation, but a state of being as I said earlier.  Goku masters it during the series, because he’s Goku.  Anyways, the effect they use looks really cool too, so it has inspired me to make a meme using it.  I have the effects ready, but I just need some good clip.

Image result for ultra instinct goku

Like come on, this is just tough.

This is too.

The yelling has always been a known part of the series, and of course, it is well displayed here.

Goku makes sure to keep da block hot with his Ultra Instinct capabilities.

Nerdy, Uncategorized

The Hobbit Series Review

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From amazon.com

Bilbo Baggins is a great name because its initials are BB.  End of story.  Anyways, The Lord of the Rings universe is a classic fantasy world, with The Hobbit series being the prequels to the original series.  The prequel is really just to get to know the story of the characters before the events of The Lord of the Rings, and how Bilbo got the Ring in the first place.  And money of course, but that’s the boring reason.

Possible Spoilers

The Hobbit refers to Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who lives in the Shire like any other hobbit.  He is put on a journey by the wizard, Gandalf, to help the dwarves reclaim their home.  They are successful in the third installment, but a lot is lost.  Bilbo returns to the Shire with the Ring, and lives his life peacefully, and then The Lord of the Rings starts.

The story of The Hobbit is fairly good.  I may be a little biased towards it because I watched it when I was young, and I watched it before The Lord of the Rings.  A goal is achieved through struggle.  The protagonists all went through internal struggle, especially Thorin Oakenshield.  I thought his story was great.  I personally love personal struggles of what’s right and what’s wrong as long as it’s done tastefully and not too cliche.

The characters are all very unique, with great stories.  The dwarves are very different from each other, yet they have a common bond that unites them.  They showed the theme of brotherhood quite well.  Bilbo tried to gain his confidence the entire trilogy, and he did.  He really grew throughout the trilogy.  Gandalf has always been an interesting character, and he was quite interesting here.  He didn’t change that much, but served as the quest-giver, the catalyst for the adventure.

The style was great, and mirrored that of The Lord of the Rings.  The designs were great, and looked really nice.  Animation was good too.

From imdb.com

Overall, the movies get an 8/10.  It’s good, but not the greatest.  The relationship between Bilbo and the Ring could’ve been expanded upon more.  Other story elements could’ve been expanded upon more as well.  I’m also a bit sad that they killed two dwarf brothers, mostly because of the good character development they had.  But that’s not bad of the story, that’s just bad on a fan’s view.  Otherwise, the movies are good, and I recommend watching The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

From tes.com

Metroid

Retrospect — Metroid: Zero Mission

3 Comments

From nintendo.co.uk

This game is waaay too forgotten.  Metroid:  Zero Mission was released in 2004 for the GameBoy Advance.  This game is very similar to previous 2D Metroid games.  The game was made by Nintendo’s Research and Development Team 1, and is highly acclaimed.

Possible Spoilers Ahead (unlikely)

Metroid Zero Mission is the first game in the Metroid timeline.  It’s called Samus’s “zero mission” for a reason.  She travels to Zebes to destroy the Space Pirates’ attempt to use biological warfare in the form of Metroids, a sort of parasite that sucks life force out of victims.  So she destroys the attempt, but then gets shot down as she escapes, and has to find another Power Suit in the ruins of Chozodia, a place formerly inhabited by the Chozo, a group of bird-like people that raised Samus.  Samus was also revealed in the game to have been raised there.  She destroys the mothership of the Pirates, and leaves.  She also destroyed the leadership of the Pirates.

So the game has an interesting story, and has the first appearance of the Zero Suit.  It has the power suit, the varia suit, the zero suit, and the gravity suit.  It also has a lot of abilities that are seen throughout the series.  This game is very much the standard Metroid.  It has all the elements of a “Metroid game”.

Overall, the game is really good, and I want to play it again.  I give it a 9.5/10.  I don’t know of any other platforms you can play it on, but I’ll be sure to find out soon.  Until next time, have a great day.

Image result for metroid zero mission

From vgmuseum.com

Image result for metroid zero mission power suit samus art

From giantbomb.com

Image result for metroid zero mission

From metroidwiki.com

Image result for metroid zero mission samus art

From metroid.retropixel.net

Metroid, Video Games

Metroid Prime 4 HYPE

6 Comments

Image result for metroid prime 4

From kotaku.com

Like last week’s post, here’s some more HYPE.  After a decade of no Metroid Prime games, an announcement was made in E3 2017.  Not much was said, other than that it was in progress.  This year, unfortunately and fortunately, progress had to be scrapped, because Nintendo was disappointed at the quality of the game.  This just goes to show that Nintendo cares about the quality of games for their fans.

It’s not all frowns though, because instead of Bandai Namco working on the game, the original studio who made Metroid, Retro Studios, is now working on it.  They made most of the Metroid games, including all the Prime games, so rest assured, it will be good.  It’s definitely not going to come out in 2019 though, and the release date may even be in 2021, but it’ll be so much better than what is was going to be.

Image result for metroid prime

From dailystar.co.uk

The Prime series is amazing, and I recommend everyone to play it.  It’s a first person shooter action adventure game, so Prime 4 will definitely fall under that category as well.  It’s the first set of 3D Metroid games, starting from 2002 with the first installment, Metroid Prime.  The games emphasized detail, and exploration, but Prime 3 was more focused on story.  The first was probably the best, because it felt so free, when it reality, it was actually fairly linear.  That is what makes Metroid so good.

Possible Spoiler Warning

I’m guessing the story is going to be just another Samus v.s. Dark Samus scenario, because I’m pretty sure Prime 3 alluded to that.  Ridley might make another appearance, but I’m not certain about that, because he was in Prime 3, twice.  Well actually, it’s almost certain that it’s a Samus v.s. Dark Samus showdown because that’s how all the Prime games were, with Prime being a technicality.  Metroid Prime turns into Dark Samus, so you are technically always fighting a big metroid when you fight Dark Samus.  I want story in the game, but I don’t want it implemented like Other M, or Prime 3.  Prime had story that you could follow if you wanted to, but it wasn’t necessary.

I’m really excited for Metroid Prime 4, and I hope Retro Studios really hits it home with this one.  Metroid needs to be revived, because it’s been comparatively neglected when shown next to Zelda or Mario.  They didn’t even have a 30th year anniversary for the series like they did with the two other series.  I’m glad Nintendo is giving the series another chance.  Until next time, stay tuned.

Oh and by the way, I’ve decided on making a Ridley Smash montage, because he’s the easiest character for me to get clips, and I think I can make a good edit with him.  Sorry if y’all wanted someone else.

Image result for prime meta ridley

From youtube.com

 

Legend of Zelda, Video Games

Link’s Awakening HYPE

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Image result for switch link's awakening

From techradar.com

Nintendo is actually being good.  I’m so glad Nintendo has decided to make a Switch remake of Link’s Awakening.  It’s a comparatively old game in the series, and was beloved by many who played it.  It was never as big, because it was on the GameBoy and not a console like the SNES, but it sure did have a good story.

Canonically, it’s in the downfall timeline right after A Link to the Past.  It’s actually quite a weird game, due to it spoiler warning not actually being a real adventure.  It’s all a dream, and it happens as Link is going on his own journey after A Link to the Past.

What’s even more interesting about this game is that it was originally meant to be a combination of Nintendo’s most popular series, Mario and The Legend of Zelda.  That’s why there’s a chain chomp in the first picture.

Image result for switch link's awakening

From ign.com

I’m glad a new generation is able to get to play this.  Not many people own a GameBoy (the Advance in specific I think) nowadays, so not many have played this game.  It can often be overlooked by many as being a great game.  I can’t wait for this game coming this spring.  I also can’t wait for Metroid Prime 4, which I’ll talk about next week.  Until next time, have a nice day.

Smash Bros, Uncategorized, Video Games

Smash Ultimate Montage Coming Soon…

14 Comments

Image result for smash ultimate

From nintendo.com.uk

Hey what’s going on guys, I’m thinking of making a little smash montage.  Now, I have a few characters in mind, but I don’t know who to do first.  I’ll probably end up doing all of them, but I want to focus all my attention on one right now.

Ganondorf

Image result for smash ultimate ganondorf

From geek.com

Yep, I want to do a montage for him.  I already have some nice clips I could use.  I’ll make sure to have a bunch of clips of warlock punches, because those are REALLY satisfying.  And of course, his smash attack.  I’ll make sure to put those in.  I’ll try to put in some spikes, but I’m not great at doing those offstage.

Ridley

Image result for smash ultimate ridley

From youtube.com

Ridley is another character that is really satisfying to use.  Hitting his skewer down B move is the best, and is great for Ridley montages.  I have a decent amount of clips for him, but I’ll need to work on it.  Ridley is one of my better characters, but I play safe with him.

Zelda

Image result for smash ultimate zelda

From geek.com

Sooo many good montages have been made with Zelda.  She is actually the queen of forward airs, and maybe even down airs.  I probably don’t have enough clips with her as of now, but I’ll be sure to get some.  I’m decent with Zelda, and I think she’s one of the more fun characters.  Her Down B is insane, and her neutral B is too.  Her reflector does damage, something that is essentially unique to her.  I am definitely going to have fun editing and using clips of her.

Roy

Image result for smash ultimate roy

From aminoapps.com

Not my best character, but man, counters sure are fun.  I love using counters, because of how amazing they can be.  Of course, the end lag is bad, but that’s so it’s not overpowered.  I will definitely have fun trying to get clips for Roy, but who knows, maybe I am a really good Roy player.

Link

Image result for smash ultimate link

From fanbyte.com

My OG character and maybe even my best character, Link clips won’t be too hard for me.  I don’t think Link is as fun as the other characters are, but he’s a solid character.  If y’all want it, it’ll happen.

Honorable Mentions

Samus, Dark Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Cloud, and Rosalina & Luma.

 

Nerdy, Video Games

The Best Battle Royale of 2019, and yes, it’s no longer Fortnite

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Image result for apex legends

From fortniteintel.com

Yes, Fortnite has been dying, and now, I think its end is quite near, with the addition of Apex Legends, developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts.

Apex Legends is the newest battle royale to be released, with it being released early February this year.  It takes place in the same universe as Titanfall, another video game, but not a battle royale, as it is a first person shooter.

Image result for apex legends

Now why has Apex Legends taken over?  Well I don’t know all of the reasons personally, but the abilities in the game could contribute to it.  Each of the choosable characters have three abilities, with one being passive, and two being active abilities.  This helps to contribute to a unique style of gameplay for players.

Apex Legends also doesn’t always feel like a battle royale, which can be good because everyone is kind of sick of them.  We’ve been playing Fortnite for so long, and PUBG even longer.  Blackout is alright, but many new battle royales just seem to try and get on the wave.  Apex has a nice artstyle, between realistic and cartoonish.  It reminds me of a balance between PUBG and Fortnite, because there is weapon customization, but it doesn’t feel quite as serious as PUBG.

Image result for apex legends

From cnet.com

Apex has some neat changes to it which I’ve never seen in a battle royale.  One addition is that a team of players can jump out together, with one person controlling them unless the other players break off.  This is a great addition, and I’m glad to see something like this.  One really unorthodox addition is that after someone has died, they can be respawned.  It’s not overpowered, as you have to recover a “banner” from your teammates body, and bring it to a respawn point, which are spaced out good distances from each other.  This makes it so that if one or two people die, they don’t have to wait a while to get back in for the next game, because they can continue playing in the new game.  Unfortunately and fortunately, you need to recollect loot, and you don’t spawn in with your items.

One thing Apex has been heavily criticized for is that guns do too little damage, or that people have too much health/armor.  This can be balanced easily, but we have yet to see what the developers do.  I do agree with this point of criticism, as it does make fighting quite weird at times, but it’s bearable.

Apex is overall a pretty fun game, but I don’t think it’ll last as long as Fortnite has.  I don’t know what the next wave of popular video games will be like, because battle royales are best with friends, but not so good alone.  I hope we get more games with better single player experiences, but that’s just me.  See you guys in the next post.