TheMosmillers.org

Spore!

Over the past few weeks I've been tinkering with a game called Spore. The idea of the game is to evolve a creature of your own creation from a single cell, onto land, and eventually into the space age. This game is adorable to say the least, and is a great fit for me.

I started the game by creating the "mottled cephalopoids", which are based on a squid anatomy tailored to living on land. These cephalopoids are devoutly religious vegetarians who get along well with their neighbors, unless those neighbors try to eat them of course. I have since created a whole fleet of vehicles for the later stages. Both the creature and its vehicles are posted below.

The Creature

The mottled cephalopoid managed to maintain all of its deep sea style when migrating onto land.

Left: Basic mottled cephalopoid
Middle: Tribal mottled cephalopoid (dancing)
Right:Civilization and space-age mottled cephalopoid (posing)

The Vehicles

Vehicles in Spore are broken down into religious, economic, and military. Each coincides with one of the 3 playstyles you can choose in the game. The cephalopoids are religious, but each city they convert is able to retain its own specialty, so it pays to be prepared.

Cephaloprophet 3000L: Designed with style and performance in mind, the Cephaloprophet 3000L™ delivers religious persuasion from comfortable bucket seating. See your local dealer for accessories, such as a 5.1 underwater music simulator and extra cupholders.

Cephaloprophet 4000S: Sleak, stylish and most of all, convincing, the Cephaloprophet series takes religious fervor to the seas with the 4000S. Ask about our "no money down" financing options.

Cephaloprophet 5000A: Religious zeal takes to the air with the Cephaloprophet 5000A™. Complete with cutting edge trumpetacle technology, who can resist its musical message?

Squid Pro Quo Caravan: Style, style, and more style - that's what the Squid Pro Quo Caravan brings to the negotiating table. Who can resist plush leather seating, rear rocket boosters, and 6 tentacle drive? Not you, that's for sure.

Squid Pro Quo Fleetmaster: The Squid Pro Quo Fleetmaster takes economic power to the place Mottled Cephalopoids know best - the seas!

Squid Pro Quo Airship: Fashionable, fun, and far *more* than simply affordable, the Squid Pro Quo Airship delivers a return on investment in no time. Featuring a perma-shine™ gemstone coat, the Airship is sure to be noticed by friends and competitors alike!

Humboldt 31A Land Predator: To those who believe Mottled Cephalopoids will never truly master the land, watch out! The Humboldt 31A Land Predator delivers a punishing payload while maintaining all the comfort and flare expected from the patented Cephalopoid design.

Humboldt 71R - The Iron Tentacle: Due in large part to the Humboldt 71R, codenamed "The Iron Tentacle", the Mottled Cephalopoids are the undisputed masters of sea warfare. Unlike most enemy vessels, the Humboldt excels at diving deep and striking from below.

Humboldt 65D Flying Mollusk: Built with a solid titanium mantle and superior targeting optics, the Humboldt 65D rains death from above on uncooperative targets. The 65D was nicknamed the Flying Mollusk by test pilots early in production, a name that has remained popular ever since.

... and finally...

The Squidship Enterprise! Our 5 year mission: to seek out new life, and new civilizations. To boldly go where no squid has gone before!

The Faces of CFS

I received a flier in the mail last week about a traveling photo exhibit about CFS. Here is the relevant info:

The Faces of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome will be displayed June 23 - 29 in the BodyLink Gallery of the Maryland Science Center (601 Light Street, Baltimore). The exhibit was photographed by famous fashion and celebrity photographer George Lange and features striking images and stories from CFS patients and health care professionals who treat the illness. It will include free brochures for visitors who want to know more about symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options for CFS.

The photo exhibit is open to the public.

I know the Science Center isn't far away for some of you. Maybe you can pop in and take a look.

So My Folks Are Out of Town

This year their trip du jour is a month long trek with my aunt and uncle across the American northwest in search of birds. Normally they take a bus trip, but the bus trips aren't oriented toward birding so they've taken matters into their own hands.

It probably comes as no surprise to anyone who reads (or used to read) this site that I am not doing particularly well. If I was, you'd see a lot more posts. Everything now feels like it's moving too rapidly for me to keep up. My mind races over stupid things and I'm always fighting with morning anxiety. Presumably this is due to the med I took around this time last year, but in any case, it is really annoying and hard to deal with.

On the plus side, we decided to grab a bunch of meals at a place up the road called "Make and Take", so I think I may have a somewhat easier time managing my food supply. I have enough of these that I shouldn't have to plan much other than to get one out of the freezer and pick a vegetable to steam or pan-fry or whatever I want. I can handle this far more easily than when I have to prepare all the components.

Otherwise, I'm pretty much just playing a lot of Warcraft. I'm not feeling well enough to do much else even though I really want to be doing more. It's very frustrating. Ah well, at least the weather is nice.

If anyone wants anything from my parents' house, I put price tags on everything. Get it while it's hot!

Bridging the Gap

Orson Scott Card wrote an essay recently that describes my thoughts on politics almost to the letter. I happen to share most, but not all, of Mr. Card's views on issues, at least as far as they are described in his essay series, but I do not necessarily share his cynicism when it comes to the reasons why many people toe party lines. On the national level, I think he is right that the "all or nothing" buy-in required to run for office is incredibly destructive, but I am not convinced that many individuals espouse all of the beliefs of their party because they are too lazy or foolish or ashamed to do otherwise, which leads me to the meat of my post.

There are issues on both sides of the political divide that seem to contradict other views held by the very same people. Many of these are used as tools for the opposition to tear down that party's credibility even while no effort is made to reconcile the confusion about these seemingly contradictory beliefs. Is it not our responsibility as voters and citizens to understand as much as possible about all of the views that matter to our nation? With that in mind, I am going to try to address as many of these points of confusion as possible with the hopes that the people who hold some of these seemingly contradictory views will explain how they relate in a rational and convincing manner.

To Conservatives

1. What is the relationship between the pro-life and pro-death penalty and pro-war platforms? How do you feel the possibility of wrongful convictions impacts your beliefs on the death penalty, particularly as it pertains to the sanctity of life?
2. The inefficiency of government drives many conservative policies. When you oppose a government plan to aid a large group of disadvantaged people, how do you believe that those people should or will get the help they need? This question assumes that the people in question are universally agreed to be disadvantaged in some way.
3. What is the basis for your strong support of the 2nd amendment and how do you explain your opposition to the "assault weapons ban"? Why do you feel this terminology is inappropriate?
4. What is it that makes John McCain so loathsome to the conservative base?
5. Why is it necessary to have economic freedom while imposing limits on social freedom? What is the relationship between these core elements?

To Liberals

1. How do you relate pro-choice beliefs with opposition to the death penalty? Where specifically does truly human life begin in your estimation?
2. Why do you believe that the Evangelical movement within the Republican party is harmful to our nation? What specifically have Evangelicals done already that lead you to believe that such influence should be opposed?
3. What leads you to generally support government controls on big businesses? What about businesses makes them less trustworthy than governments? What is the relationship between implementing controls on businesses and helping lower class citizens who are often employed by those businesses given that such controls presumably increase the costs of doing business?
4. What is it that makes Joe Lieberman so unappealing?
5. Why is it necessary to have social freedom while imposing limits on economic freedom? What is the relationship between these core elements?

To Conservatives and Liberals

1. Why is economic liberalism a core conservative value? Why is economic conservatism a core liberal value?
2. How do you reconcile the strength of governments to reach the largest groups of people with the strength of charities and individuals to more efficiently impact the lives of smaller groups of people? Do you believe that this premise holds true in the first place?
3. Why do you feel that the ACLU is a good or bad organization? Do you believe the opposition's views are valid or invalid? What about those views lead you to dismiss them to some degree?
4. What is it about the various core beliefs of modern conservatism or liberalism that make them all so critical to see at the same time in our leadership? For instance, why must a pro-war conservative candidate also support lower taxes, or why must a liberal candidate who supports stricter gun control also be pro-choice to be viable?
5. Faced with sub-optimal choices of candidates, what issue takes precedence for you in the voting booth?

Well, my brain is about tapped out at the moment. I hope a number of you will chime in with answers as well as more questions that I have not considered that you have yet to resolve Keep in mind that these questions are mostly designed to attack the problem from the side of the opposition. If you believe the questions are not accurate, that's fine, but try to explain why if you can.

Happy Halloween!

So who has exciting plans for this holiday? Mine include sitting inside my house, not handing out candy to the kids who won't be showing up. To be honest, I think I would enjoy doing the candy handout thing, but this neighborhood just isn't set up for it.

Oh, and I will be dressing up as a guy that needs a haircut, who may or may not carry around a water bottle.