Current Event - Apple Becoming an Increasingly Threatening Gaming Platform

While I admittedly haven't shown much interest in the gaming industry for the last two years, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, is currently underway, with numerous announcements from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo regarding how they expect to keep that now-antiquated hardware in your living room for another decade or two. Unsurprisingly, the key developer conferences didn't announce any new hardware, but rather media expansions of their current setups through Microsoft Smart Glass, a new software allowing for interaction of one's console, tablet, phone, and television to experience content in multifaceted ways. It's a compelling concept, yet it may only serve as further assertion of Apple's increasing influence in the gaming industry, as smartphone applications and one dollar downloadable content have further widened the industry's user base and popularized casual content, resulting in console gaming's gradual decline. Nintendo also elaborated on their new console, the Wii U, due to be released this holiday season, emphasizing the asymmetric gameplay achieved through different user interfaces within the same game. Again a compelling concept, but with the casual user base becoming increasingly Apple-devoted, some have speculated that this may be the end of independent Nintendo hardware. I'll try to revert back to something at least seemingly political for my next post.

Source: LINK

Current Event - Syrian Condemnation

The massacre of 116 civilians in the village of Houla by the Syrian government has unsurprisingly resulted in an international uproar, facing condemnation from the UN Security Council as well as both Russia and China despite their typical alliance with the turbulent nation. Since the election of President Bashar al-Assad 14 months previously, numerous uprisings have challenged the UN's ability to maintain peace in the area. Being accused for excessive violation of the UN peace plan, the Syrian government has been called to remove all military and artillery from residential areas. The details on the massacre remain unclear, spurring discussion of a third non-governmental force working to undermine the UN administration in Syria, including the Syrian government, repeatedly claiming the killings resulted from armed terrorists. Security Council reports have provided clear evidence of mortar strikes on the residential area, yet many Houla villagers claim that a majority of the close-range killings resulted from armed local citizens as opposed to militant forces. With bombings in Hama occurring during the UN meeting, Syrian uprisings and violence continue to escalate, but thankfully we don't have Kony anymore to obscure our vision of truly relevant international offenses.

Source: LINK

Senior Reflection #3 - My Least Favorite Season

...is gradually becoming the greatest. Summer's only a week away, and between Foster the People and Ocean City for a week, my season of refuge is already looking more exciting than ever. Unfortunately plans for Lollapalooza fell through, but there's a new music festival in Delaware beginning this year that has thankfully been receiving less press than it deserves. Trips to the Baltimore inner harbor will be frequent. Hoping to scope out attractions and restaurants to keep me going for the next four years. And a Hopkins shirt that actually fits, darn washer. The resume is on the ready, so hopefully either Petsmart, or Harris Teeter will lend a hand in chipping away at that little debt I'm about to inherent. There's also the benefit of my brother being unemployed, so the house should be more lively than ever. We haven't had a real family vacation in over four years, and I have yet to leave the vast parking lot of a country in which we so joyously live, but hopefully I'll have the opportunity to study abroad some time soon. The summer movie season is looking strong this year, though I'm still banking on Life of Pi being the dark horse of the year and surprise oscar contender, given how strong screening reactions have been. So bagging groceries, Dark Knights, the defacement of one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time (please don't be as bad as they say, Prometheus), city trips, and music festivals all lie in store! Look at that, some optimism!

In other news, I too advocate flat tax rates and the civil liberties of squirrels. 

Senior Reflection #2 - Looking Back (With strained eyes)

I was deceived. Senior year not only failed to be the liberating and relaxed year I had been so consistently promised, but it probably topped Junior year for levels of raw stress, though I'm mostly to blame for that. In an effort to uphold the pretension I've always worked to define myself by, I made the rash decision to enroll straight into AP Computer Science without any previous experience whatsoever, drawing leverage from my long history with the robotics team. But wait, I'm an animator on the robotics team, so yeah, dead in the water. While comp sci has been relatively easy to maintain grades in due to the content-focused tests that could often be conquered with last-minute memorization, it's easily been the most frustrating class of my high school career. I've never been used to things not instantaneously clicking, and there wasn't a single spark for quite some time. On top of that, I somehow rationalized AP Physics despite 85% of my previous year with Ms. Fantino being spent playing hangman tournaments. Again, it wasn't particularly difficult to do well in the class, but to fully understand concepts such as rotational inertia that I had never been exposed to was rather frustrating. Stress in economics came from the inevitability of the AP exam, given 40% of our class was taught through such economic examples as Bud Light commercials. Thank goodness I always had orchestra, I suppose.

Taking six APs certainly had its benefits, however, including an inconceivably bloated GPA that always makes me feel as though I'm lying, and the hope that I'll be jumping straight into Calculus 3 next year. And would you look at that, Hopkins doesn't have a core curriculum, so 70% of my AP credit is absolutely useless. At least we're not paying for it anymore. Looking back, I'd have to say the downsides defintiely triumph in this situation, as one less AP probably wouldn't have devalued my application a considerable amount. But then there's the fact that I can walk down the halls thinking about how many APs I'm taking, and that superiority complex kicks right back in and makes everything alright. This is unnecessarily depressing. I grew a beard this year, and it appears to be spreading. Definitely my most notable achievement. And summer should be freeing and lucrative, if Petsmart ever emails me back. If not, it's another two months of mint chocolate chip klondike bars and Netflix. Adventure awaits!

Senior Reflection #1 - Looking Forward

I've been conflicted for months over my naive optimism and the infinitely more probable reality that college will serve as a slightly more liberating extension of high school. Looking back, it's pretty astounding I've wound up where I am now. While selecting universities for applications, I was primarily considering in-state, as well as Carnegie Mellon and UPenn as hopeful alternatives, given public universities couldn't offer the specialized mathematics and statistics curriculum I've worked to convince myself I'm interested in. I've actually been surprisingly decisive looking back, as many applications required specific essays outlining my academic upbringing in a specific section, and statistics appeared as an interesting and economically viable path to follow, if only for the short term. Facing the approaching deadline for sending semester transcripts, I sporadically handed in envelopes for Cornell and Johns Hopkins on the final day of mailing acceptance, and looking back, that may have been the greatest, and only beneficial impulse I've ever followed. The Hopkins-specific essays were surprisingly easy to approach, and served as a template for my remaining essays.

Following some excessively extravagant acceptance booklets, Hopkins sent its acceptance notice in an initially off-putting manner, in the form of a one paragraph email without a photograph in site. Being my first destination for college tours, I was under the impression my brief experiences there would quickly be overshadowed, but I made the retrospectively wonderful decision to attend a non-event day to first experience a simple campus and housing tour. Six accepted students and I were given the full treatment shared by the 140,000 unfortunate souls drowning in the sea of salmon-colored, tailored shorts and boat shoes that was UVA's Days on the Lawn, and this specialized treatment allowed for personal questioning with various students and professors. I was pretty immediately surprised by how much I preferred the campus to Tech's which I had toured numerous times given my brother just graduated, as I had always found larger campuses more appealing. I certainly didn't get the undefinable feeling of belonging that so many prophesize, but on my intentionally long trip to the car, the idea of living in such a place was at least conceivable, instantly putting it above most of my other candidates. In the end, it was Hopkins' specialized Applied Mathematics and Statistics program that drew me in, as its affiliation with the engineering department was infinitely more convincing than Carnegie's overpopulated humanities degree in statistics. That and Carnegie didn't have a central dining hall, which I'll never be able to wrap my head around. Oh well, off to Homewood!

Hong Kong's New Leader

Hong Kong's newest leader, Leung Chun-ying, was selected today by a party of predominantly pro-Beijing elites. Having previously been a British territory, eventually returning to Chinese rule in 1997, Hong Kong has always been notable for its more Western characterization, emphasizing greater personal freedoms and civil liberties than the surrounding region. Many have voiced discontent towards the election, in fear of Leung's strong Communist backing as a threat towards the democratic territory. Many have voiced alarm regarding China's opaque election process, citing it to be wrought with corruption and scandal, as only 0.017% of the region's population voted in the election. Leung failed to reach the popular support previous chief executives attained in elections, and his known enforcement against public protest is a foreboding indicator of the potentially conservative era to come. Leung tried to calm anxiety, particularly in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp, that he will roll back liberties that allow a raucous free press, frequent demonstrations and the publication of books and magazines banned in the rest of China, denying claims of his being an underground member of the Communist Party.During the election, Leung took advantage of Hong Kong's growing economic discrepancies by appealing to the common man, defeating the previously though shoe-in Tang.

Link:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/hong-kong-selects-new-leader-after-tumultuous-contest/2012/03/25/gIQA10c9YS_story_2.html

Prevalent Anti-Putin Prostests Persist (Avoid Alliteration Always)

While Putin's presidential election victory has effectively diminished protests, another rally of approximately 20,000 formed in Moscow on March 10th. Many protesters under the age of 30 delivered enlivening speeches emphasizing new civic activism to voice the public's discontent. Manipulation of December's parliamentary election, used to bolster greater support for the prior prime minister with numerous chairs being taken by the United Russia party for his impending election, has infuriated many protesters and activists. Opposition has taken many faces, stating "This was not an election. This was a special operation run by a thug who wanted to return to the Kremlin." Immediately following the parliamentary elections, rallies of over 100,000 surged throughout the nation in protest, yet those numbers have dwindled considerably, quite bewildering given Putin's recent election. Civic activism showed influence during the election through volunteer vote monitors to ensure the election remained fair and legitimate. Additionally, a new political movement known as Our City took hold of some of Moscow's municipal councils in advocacy of a strongly voice civil society. While the rally ended quite peacefully, three leftists were detained for defying city restriction, and police detained another 25 nationalists who attempted to incite a march.