Statistics is not fun.

ERGH!

I probably passed my test this morning, but I know I screwed up at least one question. Rather than finding Z by (X-μ)/σ, I used (μ-X)/σ. Stupid. One little mistake, and the answer falls apart. Hopefully I'll get at least partial credit, but oh well. The rest of it, I ought to do fine with -- a couple of small mistakes, but not enough to fail (I hope).

Long before he was Commander of the Fleet, Adama was a Viper pilot.

(Note: While I love what the Sci-Fi Channel did with the new Battlestar Galactica, and I look forward to the series, my heart will always belong to the original show. So if some of my references don't make sense to those of you who never saw the original, rest assured I'll bring you up to speed (should you be willing) once I have the DVD set in my possession)

It is the end of the sixth millenium of Man. Long before the Betrayal at Cimtar and the Fall of the Colonies, long before a rag-tag fleet of ships fled from Cylon wrath to eke out a living among the stars as they searched for their forgotten brothers, Adama was a pilot stationed aboard the Galactica. He fought the Cylons for forty years before he had to lead his people in flight from those mechanical remnants of a long-forgotten race.

In the eponymous X-Box game, you are Adama. You strap yourself into a Viper and take the power of the Colonial Warriors to the Cylon empire. And it ... is ... glorious!

The voices are superb; the graphics are superb, the controls are nicely designed. There's even a really good mechanic for finding your objective quickly if you should lose it. I fell in love with this thing the moment I bought it. It was well worth the two games I traded in for it (one of which (Blood Omen 2) I'd finished and didn't care much for; the other was crap and I stopped playing it after the third mission (Mace Griffin)).

It's supposedly been written using the original series timeline, but there are some wonky bits that dispute that -- the narration says Man created the Cylons, but that doesn't jive with the original series, in which Apollo tells Troy (in the landram on Carrilon) that the Cylons were created by a long-dead reptilian species of the same name. The robotic Cylons killed their masters when given the command to destroy all life (apparently they forgot to exclude themselves), and continued. Adama says earlier in the episode that war between the Colonies and the Cylons began when the Colonies came to the aid of the Hasari, an alien race engaged in battle with the Cylons prior to the Hundred-Yahren war. Here's a Primer on the Cylons as portrayed in the original series, if you're interested.

All in all, though, I look forward to the rest of this game. It's nifty.

---

Update
This game didn't get universal praise. I found a review that amused me in its wrongness (it says a few things that lead me to believe the reviewer didn't play much; I've played only one mission and I know one of his beefs about the targeting system is dead wrong).

Most amusing to me was this:

As far as I can tell, there are no training missions. Nothing to teach you how to effectively fly your craft, no easy initial mission where they tell you what the X button is for or how the targeting works, no nice but slightly patronizing voice telling you what you’re doing wrong. You are thrust into the action immediately and I guarantee you’ll have to play the first mission more than once in order to beat it.

Guess I'd better not tell him I beat the first mission the first time -- and I wasn't even badly damaged. But then, I'm a starfighter ace.

Oh, and elisandra? Blaster Pistol.

Oh good gods no.

George Clooney reportedly has obtained the rights to film an A-Team movie in which he'll play Hannibal Smith. That's fine. But he also is said to want Mike Tyson to play B.A. Baracus, in an attempt to help Tyson out with his bankruptcy(Clooney supposedly admires the guy's boxing).

Oh christ.

General Announcement

As of 1pm today, I am no longer employed by AFS, Inc. Do not call me at work; I won't be there. Yes, I was fired. Yes, they had reason. No, I don't think the reason was really justified, but I don't care.

What this means:

Short Term:

Do not invite me to attend any kind of gathering where I will need money. You'll get a categorical "no" even if I have some to spare. If you intend to take me out, you'll have to specify such, and I still reserve the right to say "no". It's my soul and my decision.*

I don't have to wake up at 5am for at least a little while.

Long Term:

Not a damned thing. I'm allowing myself the rest of today to absorb it and wallow; tomorrow I begin the job search in earnest and apply for Unemployment.

I'm free of the soulsucker. Now I just have to find something that won't kill my soul even more.

If you have a lead for me, by all means send it to me via either phone or email at mahdi(at)comcast dot net.
Note that at this time, I am unwilling to consider jobs which are overnight or which require me to spend more than daytime hours away from my house. I may reconsider this in the next few weeks, but that's how I feel right now.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go call some temp agencies.

Oh -- Roommate, do not be concerned yet -- my last check was enough to cover March rent; I'll give it to you tomorrow afternoon so that it won't go missing through (my) stupidity.