I finally added content to the footer design that has been sitting there empty for a year now.  On the left I created a “Connect” section, since social networking is all the rage.  Currently I’m listing twitter, facebook, my blog’s rss feed, digg, and youtube (ok…not much on youtube but I might add things later).  If anyone has ideas for other icons to put or wants information on other things I use (xbox live account, music, etc.) let me know.  On the post-it note on the right, I added in a simple script to gather the “popular” posts and display them.  This is simply listing posts in order of how many comments they have.  It’s kind of scewed at the moment, but if this site picks up any steam that should become fairly accurate.

Halo: Reach

The latest, and potentially the last, Halo release from Bungie is Halo: Reach.  This game’s storyline is a prequel to all of the previous Halo games.  The UNSC is waging war against the Covenant, and almost all of humanity’s colonies have fallen except Reach.  Players will control Noble 6, a member of a team of Spartans, during the battle for Reach.

We’ve already seen the multiplayer from the beta preview this spring, which was already very polished and exciting.  New features include single use equipment being replaced by reusable and persistent armor abilities such as active camo, a jetpack, sprinting, and armor lock.  From the E3 trailer it was shown that there will be at least some spaceship battles during the campaign, which is a surprising change from Bungie.

As seen in ODST, Reach will feature the latest Firefight version, which has been announced to have matchmaking support.  There will be more customization of what types of enemies and waves can be seen, and a new weapon called the target locator, which allows airstrikes to be called in by the UNSC.  Halo: Reach is set to debut on September 14th, 2010.

Rock Band 3

The latest Rock Band game may be the most advanced music game created thus far.  Harmonix is trying to bridge the gap between video games and real music instruments by creating a new playable keyboard and also a stringed guitar to mimic real instruments and teach players real music skills.  Rock Band 3 will feature a new “Pro” mode, which players will use when playing with the realistic instruments.  The Squier Stratocaster six string guitar will be the featured Rock Band 3 controller.  Players can connect the new controller to PCs and create music on their own, and also it will come with audio outputs that allow users to connect the guitar up to an amplifier and play music.

As for the other details, there will be 83 songs released with Rock Band 3, and all previous content from the first two games and DLC will still be playable.  Somewhat as expected, there are updated graphics and players have more customization over their characters and the game.  As of now exact dates are not set, but look for this game to come out sometime this winter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Since the release of Modern Warfare, any following Call of Duty game has and will be receiving a lot of press.  The new installment is being developed by Treyarch, which is the less successful of the two CoD development teams (the other is Infinity Ward).  Black Ops is a sequel to World at War which is set during the Cold War.  Players will be involved with missions behind enemy lines in locations such as Vietnam.

Black Ops will feature some new equipment, such as a scoped cross bow weapon similar to the Gears of War torque bow.  The soldiers will also be able to fight with choppers and other types of aircraft.  Treyarch has announced that along with the usual game modes, there will be a four player online co-op mode available.  Black Ops releases November 9th, 2010.

Gears of War 3

The third installment of Gears of War picks up eighteen months after the previous game.  One of the main new features will be a 4 player story based co-op mode.  There will also be new playable female gears.  Anya Stroud, who was the team’s control officer in the first two games, is now joining the battle along with Jace Stratton.  The picture on the right is concept art of Anya.  It’s an awesome picture so you should click it to view full size.  Combat will feature mutating enemies and new equipment such as a double-barreled shotgun, Lancer with a bayonet instead of a chainsaw, and incendiary grenades.

There will be a new mode called Beast, which is the opposite of Horde Mode from Gears 2.  Players are now the fighting on the Locust side, combating the COG.  Killing enemies earns you tokens, which can be used to upgrade your class.  Gears 3 isn’t set to release until April 5th, 2011.

Honorable Mentions

The list of games featured at E3 is way too many than I can discuss in this post.  Here are some other games that were featured and will probably be worth playing once they are released:

• Portal 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Goldeneye 007
• Fable III
• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

The second big announcement of the day was Microsoft Kinect, which is the official name for “Project Natal”.  The new Xbox 360 S is “Kinect-Ready”, meaning there is a port on the back of the console that directly hooks up to the Kinect sensor for controller-free entertainment.  Supposedly Kinect works with every Xbox 360, according to Microsoft.  Kinect is a motion detection system that detects motion from your entire body, along with voice recognition, that entirely changes the way the Xbox can be used.

As of now the uses of Kinect and games to accompany it are limited, but its easy to imagine what is launching with it.  There is a Kinect Sports game that looks very much like Wii Sports, but with a few added games and interaction.  A few dancing based games already exist, with the group being led by a game called Dance Central.  After seeing the trailer for it, it looks like a Rock Band style dancing game.  This will probably cause the Dance Dance Revolution games to be quickly phased out of the market.  There’s also a fitness “game” (moreover fitness software) that looks appealing.  Its trailer showed various exercise activities, a personal trainer system, and abilities to detect your height, waist size, and other attributes about yourself.  Lastly, which may be one of the most interesting Kinect features, is “Video Kinect”.  You can now make video calls on your TV using voice and gesture commands for control.

“Heroes” (NBC)

The most notable show that has been canceled is NBC’s Heroes, and it’s about time.  Heroes was a science fiction drama series, with emphasis on the drama.  In short, the show was about ordinary people who discover extraordinary super powers, and how their newly found abilities take effect in their daily lives.  There is a wide range of characters, going from those that can fly, to characters who can bend time and space, and even simple ordinary people.

Don’t get me wrong, the first two seasons of Heroes were actually very good.  The episodes were full of action and suspense, and viewers kept wanting to know what would happen next.  However beyond that, the writers struggled to have an underlying plan of where the show was going, and the show went downhill.  Characters were killed off and continually brought back, timelines intermixed way too much, and some plot lines were simply dropped without resolution.  One of the most aggravating themes was the relationship between Claire and her father Noah.  It seemed every other episode they were fighting, telling each other how much they loved one another, or Claire was being “rebellious”.  I think the same dialog was used about 20 times over.

Adding to their problems was a terribly boring season four.  There was a severe lack of action and the introduction of some characters that were useless to the plot.  The more interesting characters weren’t shown enough, and the final battle was pretty lame.  Anyways, sources say the network is still leaving the door open to conclude the show with a mini-series or movie.

“FlashForward” (ABC)

The new ABC action drama FlashForward has been canceled after a 22 episode first season.  The show started out strong and interesting to viewers, but throughout the season dropped down to less than half the amount of viewers as it had during the pilot.  I watched the pilot and thought the show had a pretty intriguing concept to it, and somewhat thought it was going to be ABC’s replacement for Lost.

In case you still want to check out the show later on DVD, it’s based around a mysterious event that causes nearly everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for 137 seconds.  During this time people see what appear to be visions of their lives approximately six months in the future, hence the term “flashforward”.  The plot follows a team of FBI agents to discover what happened and why.

“Law & Order” (NBC)

A somewhat shocking move (but one that had to be coming soon anyways) is that NBC has officially canceled “Law & Order,” concluding the show after 20 seasons.  Instead of shooting for a 21st season, the original will be replaced by “Law & Order: Los Angeles”.  I’ve never gotten into the show or any of the other Law & Order shows so I don’t care too much about the changes, but I’m sure some die hard fans from over the years will.  Sources say that “closure opportunities” will be discussed for the show, possibly having characters from “L&O” appear on the “Los Angeles” spinoff, or even having a two-hour wrap-up movie.

“Ghost Whisperer” (CBS)

The Ghost Whisperer is a television series that follows the life of a young woman that has the ability to see and communicate with the dead.  The main character, Melinda (Jennifer Love Hewitt), helps earthbound spirits resolve their problems and cross over into the light.  The show has been officially canceled after five seasons, and I’m somewhat surprised it lasted this long.

I only saw a few episodes during it’s run, and they weren’t overly interesting or different from each other.  The main reason to watch was because of Jennifer Love Hewitt (as seen by the picture on the left, click it for full size), and even that can only last for so long.

Noteworthy Renewals

“Chuck” (NBC; 13 episodes)

Chuck is an action comedy series about an average computer nerd who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working in the CIA.  The message embeds the only remaining copy of the world’s greatest spy secrets into Chuck’s brain. With this information Chuck must help the government thwart assassins and terrorists.  Chuck primarily works with two other agents and works at the “Buy More” in the IT department in the meantime.

This show has been renewed for a third season by NBC, consisting of 13 episodes.  It’s likely this will increase to around 20 as the season gets closer.  I’ve seen the show a few times and I don’t see any reasons why it should have even been on the bubble to be renewed or not.  Chuck has an original plot with well scripted characters.  The lead actress is very good looking (photo on the right, click for full size), and I’ve seen Jordana Brewster do some cameo work, which is awesome.  The theme song for the show is Short Skirt/Long Jacket by Cake, just adding to show’s plus side.  Chuck is a relaxing show to watch and is a nice change from all of the cop investigation or doctor shows that are out there (not to mention reality shows).

“V” (ABC; 13 episodes)

The rookie sci-fi show, V, has been renewed by ABC for a second season in the fall.  V is a re-creation of the 1983 miniseries created by Kenneth Johnson.  This show depicts the arrival on Earth of a technologically advanced alien species which appears to come in peace, but actually has darker underlying motives.  “V” stands for the “Visitors”, who claim to only need a small amount of Earth’s resources, in exchange for sharing their advanced technological and medical knowledge.

I saw two full episodes of this show and it does seem like it could have a future, but I don’t think it will grab nearly as many viewers as ABC hopes for.  If there are any redeeming qualities of the show, it’s that Morena Baccarin from Firefly and Elizabeth Mitchell from Lost are in it.  Alan Tudyk from Firefly was also in a few episodes, but that didn’t last.

“Human Target” (FOX)

Human Target is based around a unique private contractor that protects his clients by integrating himself into their lives, to become the “human target.”  The series started this January and had a good run of 12 episodes.  As of yesterday it has been confirmed for a second season. Personally I have only seen one episode of this show so far, but it seemed fairly interesting.  With “24″ wrapping  up this year for Fox, Human Target is basically 24′s replacement.

This first one is of Jack, the main character, in his drunken state once he has left the island and is trying to go back.  Spoiler?…too bad.

This second card is of Sayid, who is the tech expert on the island and helps discover Rousseau’s distress call in season one.

As for sources of these pictures, the link is in both of the pictures, so it should be pretty self-explanatory.  Also to note, you can click on the pictures for a larger version.  This is the case for most pictures that I will post.

After watching the season premiere I was pretty satisfied, and excited about what was to come the rest of the season.  The next day my dorm neighbor sent me the Lost picture that is in comic style fashion on the right of this post.  I personally found this pretty hilarious, and I think any true Lost fan would as well, however if you don’t really follow the show it’s pretty hard to appreciate, so let me explain a bit.

The two characters shown in the comic  are the main two actors of the series.  The first shown is Jack, and the second is Locke.  Jack has been the heroic leader of the survivors and typically the focal point of the show.  Locke came to the island in a wheelchair, and can suddenly walk when he wakes up on the beach.  He also is quite a knife fanatic and hunter, etc etc.

If you’ve seen Avatar and all of its unoriginal blueness then it’s pretty clear that the character of Locke and his background was picked right out of Lost and put into Avatar, with a facial makeover.  I’m not saying I’m mad about Avatar’s choice because the character worked out well being in a wheelchair and then being able to take on a new life as the Avatar.  However it does add yet another tally to the amount of ideas the movie is accused of ripping off of.  Those being Dances With Wolves, Pocahontas, FernGully, The Matrix, etc.

Instead of displaying hundreds of pictures I’ve gone through many sources and have filtered out what I believe to be the top 10 costumes from this summer’s Comic-Con.  I’ve tried to get a decent variety and (mostly) avoid the common costumes such as stormtroopers, trekkies, princess leia, etc.

#10 – Killzone Guys

#9 – Tomb Raider

#8 – Zombie Girls – Looks like they are promoting the movie Zombieland, but that’s not too important…these girls are just hot.

#7 – Wonder Woman – one of probably many, but she pulls it off well.

#6 – Anakin Skywalker and Aayla Secura

#5 – Sephiroth

#4 – Nick Fury, Ms. Marvel, and Black Widow

#3 – The Baroness from G.I. Joe

#2 – Rikku from Final Fantasy X. Fairly simple costume but this girl looks exactly like the game character.

#1 – Big Sister from Bioshock 2. The high detail put into this costume makes it my top choice from this year’s costumes.

His name is Matt Branam, who has an experienced career as an executive in the private and non-profit sectors. He will serve while the search is underway for a permanent successor to Dr. Jakubowski. Branam is a 1979 civil engineering graduate from Rose-Hulman and started his career early at UPS. Since then he has been a vice president at UPS and chief operating officer at the American Red Cross.

Matt Branam

On Wednesday the 22nd, Matt Branam made a visit to Rose-Hulman Ventures to be a part of the summer distinguished speaker series. He personally greeted and spoke to all of the summer interns, staff, and many of the professors that showed up for the event. His speech constituted of “Things I’ve learned” and highly focused on having a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. Branam quickly talked about his childhood, his time at Rose-Hulman, and how he got his roots at UPS. The later half of his talk was about his opinions and ideas on how he is going to move Rose-Hulman in the right direction during his year stay to maintain the college’s prestigious #1 ranking by U.S. News and World Report, which is for any college or university that offers the bachelor’s or master’s degree as its top degree in engineering. Matt stressed that the Institute needs to establish a clear vision to accomplish this goal. Specifics on how this will be done were not mentioned, but he will pull from his background in private and non-profit leadership to find a solution. As one of his speech morals, Branam stated that having a clear established vision is the key component to success in almost anything you want to achieve.

First impressions from meeting Matt Branam for the first time and from his speech seemed very reassuring. He appears to be very intelligent and delivered his speech very well. It sounds like he already has some plans and goals in mind for Rose-Hulman, and is determined to see them through. It’s going to be a nice change to have a more gritty business attitude leading our college than one simply focused on academics and how to collect more money for the Institution.

The current economic situation is a birth to new businesses. College seniors are not finding the jobs that they once were right after graduation. A candid source from the human resources department at Rose-Hulman casually stated that job placement of graduating seniors is down 10% from last year’s average. Knowing that some are not going to be able to make the money necessary to pay back college loans, seniors are choosing to start their own business or go to grad school.

One such student is Matthew Fouts, a junior at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Ranked #1 ten years in a row by USA Today as the best Undergraduate Engineering School in the country), who said, “Knowing job placement will most likely still be low by the time I graduate, I wanted to take control of my income and not rely on other companies to make a living.” With his new start up, Rose-Learning ( http://www.Rose-Learning.com ), he provides struggling high school students a new means to get help on academic studies. Utilizing Rose-Hulman students to teach others in the Terre Haute, Indiana area he is helping students reach their academic potential. According to his website, the subjects that a student can receive personalized one on one tutoring help with are: Math, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. ACT/SAT and Advanced Placement test preparation are also available.

Now that more people are using the web instead of the newspaper or phone book to find services, Matthew has expanded his services and added an interactive online whiteboard to his website. This enables the student and tutor to be online together drawing and typing on the same screen even though they are hundreds of miles apart. This new technology by Twiddla makes it possible to tutor locally and nationally across the web. Rose-Learning is helping to provide jobs, help struggling students, and improve test scores. Rose-Learning can be contacted via phone at 812-241-5653.

As expected, the chatter on campus for the rest of the day was about this email, and everyone wondering why he decided to leave on such a whim. Plenty of rumors went around about him getting into some sort of trouble, arguments with the board, etc…however none of these ever proved to be true or false. The very next morning another email was sent out by Dr. J, addressing the fact that his first email was well, “vague” at best. Included was his future plan, which is taking the position of provost at The California Maritime Academy starting this summer. I looked into this some and it appears that he’s downgrading on jobs with this move, so there has to be some underlying reason for the transfer, but I’m not sure if anyone will find that out.

Dr. Jakubowski has been the President at Rose-Hulman all three years I’ve been there, so it’s sad to see him go. He did a great job at running things on campus, being involved with athletics and events, and being genuinely excited about the college and community. There will most likely be a new president, if just a temporary one, announced later this year or in the summer.