Future Developments of Video Games Essay Example for Free

Future Developments of Video Games Essay The field of video games is one of the most exciting because it is constantly developing and advancing so quickly. Unlike a lot of areas of ICT which have reached a level of stability, all parts of games, gaming and games development are still growing and will continue to grow. This means there is the potential for individuals to have completely new ideas and be the first to create something in the field. The popularity of games is growing exponentially, with more and more people discovering an interest and passion for games all the time. A game now will reach a much larger, international audience and games developers can bring enjoyment to a vast array of people. Console manufacturers, games developers and other involved in the game industry and notoriously secretive about new projects being developed until they are almost ready for announcement and release and even then sometimes games and products can be cancelled at the last minute. All employees working in the industry have to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) most of the time which forbids them legally from revealing any of their companys secrets. Releasing any information about a product could potentially jeopardise its sales. Technology evolves in amazingly rapid speeds. If you need any real observable proof of the speedy advancement of digital technology over the years, take a look at the gaming industry. From the very early years of black-and-white 2D games like Pong (1972) to the first 3D game, 3D Monster Maze in 1981, and from primitive first-person shooters like Wolfenstein 3D (1992) to complex, life-like shooters like Battlefield 3 (2011), there’s no doubt that the gaming industry has seen its fair share of technological evolution. Hardware Developments Each new generation of console hardware made use of the rapid development of processing technology. Newer machines could output a greater range of colours, more sprites, and introduced graphical technologies such as scaling, and vector graphics. One way console makers marketed these advances to consumers was through the measurement of bits. The TurboGrafx-16, Sega Genesis, and SNES were among the first consoles to advertise the fact that they contained 16-bit processors. This fourth generation of console hardware was often referred to as the 16-bit era, and the previous generation as the 8-bit. The bit-value of a console referred to the word length of a consoles processor (although the value was sometimes misused, for example the TurboGrafx 16 had only an 8-bit CPU, and the Genesis/Mega Drive had the 16/32-bit Motorola 68000, but both had a 16-bit dedicated graphics processor). As the graphical performance of console hardware is dependent on many factors, using bits was a crude way to gauge a consoles overall ability. For example the NES, Commodore 64, Apple II, and Atari 2600 all used a very similar 8-bit cpu. The difference in their processing power is due to other causes. For example the Commodore 64 contains 64 kilobytes of RAM and the Atari has much less at 128 bytes of RAM. The jump from 8 bit machines to 16 bit machines to 32 bit machines made a noticeable difference in performance, so consoles from certain generations are frequently referred to as 8 bit or 16 bit consoles. However, the bits in a console are no longer a major factor in their performance. The Nintendo 64, for example has been outpaced by several 32 bit machines. Its only inevitable that gaming hardware is going to constantly be improved, with more processing power, graphics capabilities, sound quality and memory capacity. The input method using a controller has drastically developed over the years beginning with a clunky controller and simple joystick on arcade games, the video game controller has evolved to be ergonomically designed to feel comfortable to avoid injuries such as the ones in the repetitive strain injury group or carpal tunnel syndrome. Most modern controllers are designed with the relaxed position of the hands in mind, resulting in the pronged design that reduces soreness and cramps after extended use, compared to older pads such as the NES or the Sega Master System. There are still a vast array of input methods to create an even more immersive experience, these include: steering wheel, pedals, light guns, dance pads, balance board, fishing rod, microphone and rhythm game controllers (drums and guitars). Many of these have been specifically designed to be used for a certain game or gaming series, such as guitar hero for example. The evolution of the controller to include more buttons p roves that video games themselves are advancing as more buttons are required to complete different tasks within the game. New input methods are being developed to make the gaming experience more enjoyable and interactive, such as being able to control the character by body movement with sensor pads or clothing such as gloves. This type of input method can be seen back in the EyeToy for Playstation 2 which used a video camera. Most recently this market had been taken by storm with the introduction of the Wii and its totally unique controls. Many console manufactures have adopted this technique can be seen in the Playstation Move and the Xbox Kinect which both involve the player as a means of controlling the game instead of pressing buttons. This means of input is being pushed forward by many of the console manufacturers as it removes the stigma of video games being only for people who sit down all day and are lazy, and they are also seen as an alternative to exercising. The gaming industry has helped develop graphics and sound technology that can be incorporated as VR (Virtual Reality). An early 1990s attempt at a headset for console gaming and for hobbyists, was made by Future Vision Technologies. A modern example would be the Wii where the controller tracks and sends motion input accurately. There is also a new VR headset system in development designed specifically for gaming called the Oculus Rift. The headset provides approximately a 110 degree field of view, absolute head orientation tracking, USB interface and a 1200800 resolution with the final consumer version aimed at 19201080. Some of the future games that will support the Oculus Rift includes Doom 4, Strike Suit Zero, Team Fortress 2, Miner Wars 2081, Minecraft and many more. Virtual reality has always been something that was portrayed in movies and television shows as something that will be the future of gaming. Attempts at creating it in the past have not shown popular results. However, it is something which is becoming more of a reality as technology advances, although whether we will ever reach the point of it becoming the standard of gaming is yet to be seen. Software Development The aim of software development is usually to reach a new level of realism or immersion. As processing power and memory increase, enhanced art and animation are able to be created. This allows images and movement to be more realistic. In the early days of first-person shooters, non-player characters (NPCs) had the intelligence of nicely rounded rocks. But theyve been getting much better lately look no further than Half-Lifes storytelling NPCs and Unreal Tournaments excellent bot AI. The market success of titles such as these has prompted developers to put more effort into AI, so it looks as if smarter NPCs will continue to show up in games. AI researchers rarely use computer games for their research, outside of classic board and card games such as chess, checkers, and bridge. Possibly they see most game AI problems as simple engineering problems. This view has not been completely unjustified because often the goal of game AI is not to create intelligence, but to improve gameplay through the illusion of intelligent behaviour. Many of the techniques used to improve the illusion of intelligence have nothing to do with intelligence, but involve cheats, such as giving game AIs extra production capability or the ability to see through walls, or faking it by creating bots that talk to each other but completely ignore what is said. There also has been a drift in AI research toward problems and approaches where precise empirical evaluation is possible. Needless to say, gameplay isnt something that todays AI researchers feel comfortable evaluating. Although there is currently a significant gap between game developers and AI researchers, that gap is starting to close. The inevitable march of Moores law is starting to free up significant processing power for AI, especially with the advent of graphics cards that move the graphics processing off the CPU. The added CPU power will make more complex game AI possible. Still, game developers should still be wary of AI researchers who say, My algorithm doesnt run in real time right now, but just wait. In a few more years, Im sure the processing power will be there. A second, equally powerful force that is closing the gap is sociological. Students who grew up loving computer games are getting advanced degrees in AI. This has the dual effect of bringing game research to universities and university research to game companies already there are at least five AI Ph.D.s at game companies. AI researchers are discovering that building interesting synthetic characters in computer games is much more than just an engineering problem. Moreover, games provide cheap, robust, immersive environments for pursuing many of the core AI issues. They could be the catalyst for a rebirth in research on human-level AI The final force is the game-playing public, who are starting to demand better AI. With the saturation in the quality of computer graphics, better physics and AI are the two technologies that have the most potential to improve gameplay. Players are looking for more realistic AIs to populate their worlds with interesting non-player characters (as in The Sims) and humanlike opponents who must be out-thought and not just out-shot (and who dont cheat). AI can also provide dynamic game control, adjusting the gameplay based on how the game is played. Imagine playing a first-person shooter where the AI not only reacts to your behaviour, but also anticipates your actions by using an internal model of the way you play the game to make its plan. It also adjusts its skill at the tactical level to match yours, so that the game is never a blowout for either side. What can computer game developers do to hasten the collaboration of developers and AI researchers? The most important thing is to make commercial computer game interfaces available to AI researchers. Developers of games such as Unreal, Quake, and Half-Life publish DLLs, making it possible for not only hobbyists but also AI researchers to build bots that play games. If developers from other genres such as real-time strategy games follow suit, you would see an explosion of research on AI for these games. Game developers can also join AI researchers in discussing AI problems and solutions in open forums. There is now a yearly symposium sponsored by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) on AI and interactive entertainment that brings together game developers and AI researchers. Building good AIs is hard and difficult work. Automated learning approaches such as neural nets and genetic algorithms can tune a well-defined set of behavioural parameters, but they are grossly inadequate when it comes to creating synthetic characters with complex behaviours automatically from scratch. There is no magic in AI, except for the magic that emerges when a great programmer works very hard. With the development of artificial intelligence, NPC characters are becoming cleverer. It is predicted that this AI will continue to offer more and more realistic opponents who can think almost like a human. New Technologies It is becoming more popular to connect the Xbox 360 to a Windows PC, which is easily possible as both are Microsoft products. XNA is a set of tolls which allowed games to be built for Xbox and tested through this connectivity. Where hobbyists had been frowned upon by consol manufacturers in the past, Microsoft are positively encouraging homebrew gaming. They run competitions to find newly developed XNA games and release them on Xbox Live Arcade. This is not only evidence of the future of homebrew games and hobbyist being accepted, but it also signals the integration of console with other media equipment with the seventh generation being best known for major consoles branching out into other types of media rather than solely focusing on games. All three consoles offer basic abilities such as photo-viewing, listening to music and browsing the web, as well as the ability to connect to external memory such as USB flash drives and SD cards. The Xbox 360s DVD player was plagued by quality issues but other media options became available later such as an external HD-DVD drive (now a dead standard), Zune downloadable content, Netflix streaming and Last.fm internet radio. PlayStation 3, on the other hand, offered HD movie playback out of the box via Blu-ray in addition to later services like Netflix streaming, and Qriocity music. This new generation for the first time has all of the major consoles focusing on online integration. All three have their own connection services: Wiis Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network. Competition has branched now from simply offering the best games to the best online content; smaller games can now be purchased and downloaded from online stores within the consoles, and extra applications such as Netflix streaming and Facebook connectivity are heavily supported. Almost all games sold in retail have online support, including online multiplayer and downloadable content for bug patches and new features, potentially increasing replay value in certain games for even years. Another notable feature in current-gen gaming is the use of avatar characters. Nintendo first introduced Miis with the Wii console, caricatures of players that could be created and used in flagship titles such as Wii Sports; however they lack the ability to customize that Xboxs avatars have, as clothes and accessories can be purchased online or unlocked in games played. PlayStation 3, instead of an in-game character, offers PlayStation Home, a social simulator where avatars can talk and explore, and customize their homes with elements from games played. This basic idea allows the person playing the games to have a more personalised feel to their console and that they have become truly integrated with it. The console is becoming a central element that is integrated into a whole media system. People may become to get rid of their stereos and DVD players as this one central piece of equipment makes many other defunct. It may even be that in the future the console is the integral part for controlling a house, including the lighting, temperature and other devices. With more reliable and faster internet connections, the technology of cloud computing has begun to gain some momentum. The Sims creator Will Wright embraces the idea of cloud gaming as a crucial part of the future of the industry. For one thing, the gaming industry sees it as an opportunity to make games as easy to access as music and movies.

Truman Capotes In Cold Blood: A Nonfiction Murder Mystery :: In Cold Blood Essays

In Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, the author uses a style of writing combining factual, journalistic writing with the mystery and intrigue normally found in traditional fiction novels to develop a new genre that critics found unique from the modernists of his time. In the beginning of this book, the murders and victims seem unrelated, but as the book moves ahead, the relationship becomes clear. The victims, who are the Clutter family of four, are the typical all-American family. The family is murdered in their own home by two ex-convicts named Dick and Perry. The murder takes place in Holcomb, Kansas, but Dick and Perry travel around the U.S. and Mexico cashing bad checks until they are finally caught in Las Vegas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capote’s general style revolves around a family and home destroyed within a context of hidden corruption, alienation, and loneliness (Kazin). His sympathy and compassion towards his characters shows how involved he is in his subjects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capote’s writing style in the book In Cold Blood is very straightforward. He writes from an omniscient point of view. In preparing to write In Cold Blood, Mr. Capote lived in the town for five years. In the course of that time, he interviewed everyone including the two murders Dick and Perry. H had taken over 6,000 pages of notes. Each scene in the book is climatic like a movie (Kazin). They go back and forth the investigation in Kansas to the adventures of the murders. The writing and scenes are visual (Kazin).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Truman Capote’s writing falls into the modernism period. The Clutter family represents the ideal American family. The father is a successful farmer and a prominent figure in the town. The daughter is the all-American girl â€Å"†¦be a straight-A student, the president of her class, a leader in the 4-H program and the Young Methodists League, a skilled rider, an excellent musician (piano, clarinet), an annual winner at the county fair (pastry, preserves, needlework, flower arrangement)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (18). Capote is also experimental with his formatting of the book by cutting from scene to scene to make the reader feel as if they are reading two stories at the same time. That reinforces the thought and fact that the two things are happening at the same time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book can be considered both journalism and novelism (Langbaum). Truman Capote's In Cold Blood: A Nonfiction Murder Mystery :: In Cold Blood Essays In Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, the author uses a style of writing combining factual, journalistic writing with the mystery and intrigue normally found in traditional fiction novels to develop a new genre that critics found unique from the modernists of his time. In the beginning of this book, the murders and victims seem unrelated, but as the book moves ahead, the relationship becomes clear. The victims, who are the Clutter family of four, are the typical all-American family. The family is murdered in their own home by two ex-convicts named Dick and Perry. The murder takes place in Holcomb, Kansas, but Dick and Perry travel around the U.S. and Mexico cashing bad checks until they are finally caught in Las Vegas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capote’s general style revolves around a family and home destroyed within a context of hidden corruption, alienation, and loneliness (Kazin). His sympathy and compassion towards his characters shows how involved he is in his subjects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capote’s writing style in the book In Cold Blood is very straightforward. He writes from an omniscient point of view. In preparing to write In Cold Blood, Mr. Capote lived in the town for five years. In the course of that time, he interviewed everyone including the two murders Dick and Perry. H had taken over 6,000 pages of notes. Each scene in the book is climatic like a movie (Kazin). They go back and forth the investigation in Kansas to the adventures of the murders. The writing and scenes are visual (Kazin).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Truman Capote’s writing falls into the modernism period. The Clutter family represents the ideal American family. The father is a successful farmer and a prominent figure in the town. The daughter is the all-American girl â€Å"†¦be a straight-A student, the president of her class, a leader in the 4-H program and the Young Methodists League, a skilled rider, an excellent musician (piano, clarinet), an annual winner at the county fair (pastry, preserves, needlework, flower arrangement)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (18). Capote is also experimental with his formatting of the book by cutting from scene to scene to make the reader feel as if they are reading two stories at the same time. That reinforces the thought and fact that the two things are happening at the same time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book can be considered both journalism and novelism (Langbaum).

Shadow Kiss Chapter 3

Three â€Å"WHY SO GLUM, LITTLE DHAMPIR?† I was heading across the quad, toward the commons, when I detected the scent of clove cigarettes. I sighed. â€Å"Adrian, you are the last person I want to see right now.† Adrian Ivashkov hurried up beside me, blowing a cloud of smoke into the air that of course drifted right toward me. I waved it off and made a great show of exaggerated coughing. Adrian was a royal Moroi we'd â€Å"acquired† on our recent ski trip. He was a few years older than me and had come back to St. Vladimir's to work on learning spirit with Lissa. So far, he was the only other spirit user we knew of. He was arrogant and spoiled and spent a lot of his time indulging in cigarettes, alcohol, and women. He also had a crush on me – or at least wanted to get me into bed. â€Å"Apparently,† he said. â€Å"I've hardly seen you at all since we got back. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were avoiding me.† â€Å"I am avoiding you.† He exhaled loudly and raked a hand through the sable brown hair he always kept stylishly messy. â€Å"Look, Rose. You don't have to keep up with the hard-to-get thing. You've already got me.† Adrian knew perfectly well I wasn't playing hard-to-get, but he always took a particular delight in teasing me. â€Å"I'm really not in the mood for your so-called charm today.† â€Å"What happened, then? You're stomping through every puddle you can find and look like you're going to punch the first person you see.† â€Å"Why are you hanging around, then? Aren't you worried about getting hit?† â€Å"Aw, you'd never hurt me. My face is too pretty.† â€Å"Not pretty enough to make up for the gross, carcinogenic smoke blowing in my face. How can you do that? Smoking's not allowed on campus. Abby Badica got two weeks' detention when she got caught.† â€Å"I'm above the rules, Rose. I'm neither student nor staff, merely a free spirit wandering your fair school as I will.† â€Å"Maybe you should go do some wandering now.† â€Å"You want to get rid of me, you tell me what's going on.† There was no avoiding it. Besides, he'd know soon enough. Everyone would know. â€Å"I got assigned to Christian for my field experience.† There was a pause, and then Adrian burst out laughing. â€Å"Wow. Now I understand. In light of that, you actually seem remarkably calm.† â€Å"I was supposed to have Lissa,† I growled. â€Å"I can't believe they did this to me.† â€Å"Why did they do it? Is there some chance you might not be with her when you graduate?† â€Å"No. They just all seem to think this is going to help me train better now. Dimitri and I will still be her real guardians later.† Adrian gave me a sidelong glance. â€Å"Oh, I'm sure that'll be quite the hardship for you.† It had to be one of the weirdest things in the universe that Lissa had never come close to suspecting my feelings for Dimitri but that Adrian had figured it out. â€Å"Like I said, your commentary isn't appreciated today.† He apparently didn't agree. I had a suspicious feeling he'd been drinking already, and it was barely even lunchtime. â€Å"What's the problem? Christian'll be with Lissa all the time anyway.† Adrian had a point. Not that I'd have admitted it. Then, in that short-attention-span way of his, he switched subjects just as we neared the building. â€Å"Have I mentioned your aura to you?† he asked suddenly. There was a strange note to his voice. Hesitant. Curious. It was very uncharacteristic. Everything he usually said was mocking. â€Å"I don't know. Yeah, once. You said it was dark or something. Why?† Auras were fields of light that surrounded every person. Their colors and brightness were allegedly linked to a person's personality and energy. Only spirit users could see them. Adrian had been doing it for as long as he could remember, but Lissa was still learning. â€Å"Hard to explain. Maybe it's nothing.† He came to a stop near the door and inhaled deeply on his cigarette. He went out of his way to blow a cloud of smoke away from me, but the wind carried it back. â€Å"Auras are strange. They ebb and flow and change colors and brightness. Some are vivid, some are pale. Every once in a while, someone's will settle and burn with such a pure color that you can†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He tipped his head back, staring into the sky. I recognized the signs of that weird â€Å"unhinged† state he sometimes fell into. â€Å"You can instantly grasp what it means. It's like seeing into their soul.† I smiled. â€Å"But you haven't figured mine out, huh? Or what any of these colors mean?† He shrugged. â€Å"I'm figuring it out. You talk to enough people, get a feel for what they're like and then start to see the same kinds of people with the same kinds of colors†¦. After a while, the colors start to mean something.† â€Å"What's mine look like right now?† He glanced over at me. â€Å"Eh, I can't quite get a fix on it today.† â€Å"I knew it. You've been drinking.† Substances, like alcohol or certain medications, numbed spirit's effects. â€Å"Just enough to chase the chill away. I can guess what your aura's like, though. It's usually like the others, sort of those swirling colors – it's just kind of edged in darkness. Like you've always got a shadow following you.† Something in his voice made me shiver. Although I'd heard him and Lissa talk about auras a lot, I'd never really thought of them as anything I needed to worry about. They were more like some kind of stage trick – a cool thing with little substance. â€Å"That's so cheerful,† I said. â€Å"You ever think about motivational speaking?† His scattered look faded, and his normal mirth returned. â€Å"Don't worry, little dhampir. You might be surrounded by clouds, but you'll always be like sunshine to me.† I rolled my eyes. He dropped his cigarette onto the sidewalk and put it out with his foot. â€Å"Gotta go. See you later.† He swept me a gallant bow and started walking away toward guest housing. â€Å"You just littered!† I yelled. â€Å"Above the rules, Rose,† he called back. â€Å"Above the rules.† Shaking my head, I picked up the now-cold cigarette butt and took it to a garbage can that was outside the building. When I entered, the warmth inside was a welcome change as I shook off the slush on my boots. Down in the cafeteria, I found lunch wrapping up for the afternoon. Here, dhampirs sat side by side with Moroi, providing a study in contrasts. Dhampirs, with our half-human blood, were bigger – though not taller – and more solidly built. The girl novices were curvier than the ultra-slim Moroi girls, the boy novices far more muscular than their vampire counterparts. The Moroi complexions were pale and delicate, like porcelain, while ours were tanned from being outside in the sun so much. Lissa sat at a table by herself, looking serene and angelic in a white sweater. Her pale blond hair cascaded over her shoulders. She glanced up at my approach, and welcoming feelings flowed to me through our bond. She grinned. â€Å"Oh, look at your face. It's true, isn't it? You really are assigned to Christian.† I glared. â€Å"Would it kill you to be a little less miserable?† She gave me a censuring yet amused look as she licked the last of her strawberry yogurt off her spoon. â€Å"I mean, he's my boyfriend, after all. I hang out with him all the time. It's not that bad.† â€Å"You have the patience of a saint,† I grumbled, slouching into a chair. â€Å"And besides, you don't hang out with him 24/7.† â€Å"Neither will you. It's only 24/6.† â€Å"Same difference. It might as well be 24/10.† She frowned. â€Å"That doesn't make any sense.† I waved off my idiotic remark and stared blankly around the lunchroom. The room was buzzing with news of the impending field exercise, which would kick off as soon as lunch ended. Camille's best friend had gotten assigned to Ryan's best friend, and the four of them huddled gleefully together, looking as though they were about to embark on a six-week double date. At least someone would enjoy all this. I sighed. Christian, my soon-to-be charge, was off with the feeders – humans who willingly donated blood to Moroi. Through our bond, I sensed Lissa wanting to tell me something. She was holding off because she was worried about my bad mood and wanted to make sure I got enough support. I smiled. â€Å"Stop worrying about me. What's up?† She smiled back, her pink-glossed lips hiding her fangs. â€Å"I got permission.† â€Å"Permission for – ?† The answer flitted from her mind faster than she could have voiced it. â€Å"What?† I exclaimed. â€Å"You're going to stop your meds?† Spirit was an amazing power, one whose cool abilities we were just starting to figure out. It had a very nasty side effect, however: It could lead to depression and insanity. Part of the reason Adrian indulged in drinking so much (aside from his party nature) was to numb himself against these side effects. Lissa had a much healthier way of doing it. She took antidepressants, which completely cut her off from the magic altogether. She hated not being able to work with spirit anymore, but that was an acceptable trade-off for not going crazy. Well, I thought it was. She apparently disagreed if she was considering this insane experiment. I knew she'd been wanting to try the magic again, but I hadn't really thought she'd go through with it – or that anyone would let her. â€Å"I have to check in with Ms. Carmack every day and regularly talk to a counselor.† Lissa made a face at this last part, but her overall feelings were still quite upbeat. â€Å"I can't wait to see what I can do with Adrian.† â€Å"Adrian's a bad influence.† â€Å"He didn't make me do this, Rose. I chose it.† When I didn't answer, she lightly touched my arm. â€Å"Hey, listen. Don't worry. I've been so much better, and lots of people are going to have my back.† â€Å"Everyone except me,† I told her wistfully. Across the room, Christian entered through a set of double doors and approached us. The clock read five minutes until the end of lunch. â€Å"Oh man. The zero hour is almost here.† Christian pulled up a chair at our table and flipped it backwards, letting his chin rest on its slatted back. He brushed his black hair away from his blue eyes and gave us a smug smile. I felt Lissa's heart lighten at his presence. â€Å"I can't wait until this show gets on the road,† he said. â€Å"You and me are going to have so much fun, Rose. Picking out curtains, doing each other's hair, telling ghost stories â€Å" The reference to â€Å"ghost stories† hit a little closer to home than I was comfortable with. Not that choosing curtains or brushing Christian's hair was much more appealing. I shook my head in exasperation and stood up. â€Å"I'll leave you two alone for your last few private moments.† They laughed. I walked over to the lunch line, hoping to find some leftover doughnuts from breakfast. So far, I could see croissants, quiche, and poached pears. It must have been highbrow day at the cafeteria. Was deep-fried dough really too much to ask for? Eddie stood in front of me. His face turned apologetic as soon as he saw me. â€Å"Rose, I'm really sorry – â€Å" I put up a hand to stop him. â€Å"Don't worry. It's not your fault. Just promise me you'll do a good job protecting her.† It was a silly sentiment since she was in no real danger, but I could never really stop worrying about her – particularly in light of this new development with her medication. Eddie stayed serious, apparently not thinking my request was silly at all. He was one of the few who knew about Lissa's abilities – and their downsides, which was probably why he'd been selected to guard her. â€Å"I won't let anything happen to her. I mean it.† I couldn't help a smile, in spite of my glum mood. His experiences with the Strigoi made him take all of this more seriously than almost any other novice. Aside from me, he was probably the best choice to guard her. â€Å"Rose, is it true you punched Guardian Petrov?† I turned and looked into the faces of two Moroi, Jesse Zeklos and Ralf Sarcozy. They'd just stepped in line behind Eddie and me and looked more self-satisfied and annoying than usual. Jesse was all bronzed good looks and quick thinking. Ralf was his slightly less attractive and slightly less intelligent sidekick. They were quite possibly the two people I hated most at this school, mainly due to some nasty rumors they'd spread about me doing some very explicit things with them. It was Mason's strong-arming that had forced them to tell the truth to the school, and I don't think they'd ever forgiven me for that. â€Å"Punch Alberta? Hardly.† I started to turn around, but Ralf kept talking. â€Å"We heard you threw a big hissy fit in the gym when you found out who you were with.† â€Å"‘Hissy fit'? What are you, sixty? All I did was – † I paused and carefully chose my words. † – register my opinion.† â€Å"Well,† said Jesse. â€Å"I suppose if anyone's going to keep an eye on that Strigoi wannabe, it might as well be you. You're the biggest badass around here.† The grudging tone in his voice made it sound like he was complimenting me. I didn't see it that way at all. Before he could utter another word, I was standing right in front of him, with barely any space between us. In what I considered a true sign of discipline, I didn't put my hand around his throat. His eyes widened in surprise. â€Å"Christian has nothing to do with any Strigoi,† I said in a low voice. â€Å"His parents – â€Å" â€Å"Are his parents. And he's Christian. Don't confuse them.† Jesse had been on the wrong side of my anger before. He was clearly remembering that, and his fear warred with his desire to trash-talk Christian in front of me. Surprisingly, the latter won out. â€Å"Earlier you acted like being with him was the end of the world, and now you're defending him? You know how he is – he breaks rules all the time. Are you saying you seriously don't believe there's any chance at all he might turn Strigoi like his parents?† â€Å"None,† I said. â€Å"Absolutely none. Christian's more willing to take a stand against Strigoi than probably any other Moroi here.† Jesse's eyes flicked curiously toward Ralf before returning to me. â€Å"He even helped me fight against those ones in Spokane. There is no chance of him ever, ever turning Strigoi.† I racked my brain, trying to recall who had been assigned to Jesse for the field experience. â€Å"And if I hear you spreading that crap around, Dean isn't going to be able to save you from me.† â€Å"Or me,† added Eddie, who had come to stand right beside me. Jesse swallowed and took a step back. â€Å"You're such a liar. You can't lay a hand on me. If you get suspended now, you'll never graduate.† He was right, of course, but I smiled anyway. â€Å"Might be worth it. We'll have to see, huh?† It was at that point that Jesse and Ralf decided they didn't want anything from the lunch line after all. They stalked off, and I heard something that sounded suspiciously like â€Å"crazy bitch.† â€Å"Jerks,† I muttered. Then I brightened. â€Å"Oh, hey. Doughnuts.† I got a chocolate-glazed, and then Eddie and I hurried off to find our Moroi and get to class. He grinned at me. â€Å"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you just defended Christian's honor. Isn't he a pain in the ass?† â€Å"Yes,† I said, licking icing off my fingers. â€Å"He is. But for the next six weeks, he's my pain in the ass.†

Steve Jobs At The United States - 877 Words

Steve jobs born February 24th 1955 in San Francisco, soon adopted by Paul and carol jobs. Steve was never interested in school till the 5th grade, where he started taking electronics class, his electronics teacher said he was â€Å"something of a loner† and â€Å"he always had a different way at looking at things† After school Jobs attended class at Hewlett Packard electronics firm, now called HP in Palo Alto, where he was a summer intern. Another intern at HP was Steven Wozniak aka â€Å"Woz†. Woz was a recent dropout at Berkley. After school Jobs and Woz worked on a project called the â€Å"blue box† a device that would let them make free long distance calls from pay phones. In 1972 Jobs went Reed College in Portland Oregon, a successful calligraphy school. After one semester Jobs dropped out, but still hung around campus dropping in on philosophy classes and immersing himself in the counter culture. Reed college is where he met Julie his future wife. In 1974 Jobs went to work for a video game programming company called Atari. Jobs was well respected at Atari except for his stern, controlling attitude, He expected a lot out of his group of co-workers. Jobs would stay late at night after everyone left working on his own personal project. After a few months Jobs saved up enough money to travel to india to study budhism. He was was a hippy after he traveled to india, he didn’t wear shoes, smoked weed everyday, and prayed to the budhist gods. After 2 years in india Jobs moved back to hisShow MoreRelatedSteve Jobs : The United States1349 Words   |  6 Pagesregards to those men in history who began the flawed yet irreplaceable nation we know today as the United States. In broader means, the term loosely refers to he innumerable men and women who created something out of nothing. They were and are the forerunners in any particular genre of business, technology, and all the other overlooked aspects that make up everyday life. In modern times of technology, Steve Jobs may not be perceived often for any particular significance as his lineage may now be ignoredRead MoreEstablishing a popular culture or becoming a celebrity has been a desire of many. The rewards in1200 Words   |  5 Pagesbeen told by many people, numerous times. The first iPhone that was shown off by Steve Jobs back in 2007 during the annual Macworld convention was a barely working prototype (Sorensen). In reality, this device was so buggy and glitch-prone that Apple’s engineers did not believe Steve could make it through his onstage demonstration without suffering an embarrassing crash (Sorensen). The demonstration iPhone that Steve carried in his pocket was almost incapable of holding a wireless signal to the extentRead MoreSteve Wozniak : The Best Computer Brains From All Over The Country847 Words   |  4 Pagesof the product or service they are seeking to exploit, but they recognize it’s potential. 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Steve Wozniak developed the hardware design and operating system for the very first Apple computer available for commercial sale. His wonderful engineering and business features resulted in the very well known worldwide computer phe nomenon Apple. Yet fellow consumers knew much about WozniakRead MoreSteve Wozniak was the Brains Behind Apple Essay524 Words   |  3 PagesSteve Wozniak was the main designer on the Apple I and Apple II computers and worked together with his best friend Steve Jobs and incorporated others into the group development as well. Wozniak was known as the brains where Jobs was known as the business factor. When Stephen Gary Wozniak was born on August 11, 1950 in San Jose, California, the world had begun to technologically change. Wozniak tended to be a very curious child and his father always managed to inspire his curiosity for learning byRead MorePromise of Money Essay740 Words   |  3 PagesThe United States economy is rapidly growing since 2010. 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