I’m also finally publishing a bunch of blog posts that have been sitting around as drafts for awhile. They’re somewhat incomplete (there was more stuff I wanted to add to them), but I figure this site needs a bit of a content update, so just getting them out for the masses to enjoy.

In the meantime, here are some big projects I’m working on:

• A new online tournament system built for e-sports events.
• A new, invite-only gaming community that is “friends only” and require referrals to enter.
• A major update to Games Cast TV, making the interface way more modern and hopefully with a few new features to boot!
• My Game of the Year 2011 picks… I never posted anything for 2010! I might go back and do a “quick and dirty” 2010 update.
• An update to Sector Network, including the long-awaited Sector Network Newsletter.

Want to get involved in any of these projects or something new? I’m just an e-mail away. mattc0m@gmail.com.

Cheers,
Matt

Here’s a summary of where I’m at academically:

• Mass Communications major, Marketing minor (switched from Journalism last year)
• 3.66 GPA
• Enrolled in Honors Program (and have satisfied all Honors requirements except Capstone)
• Satisfied all general studies requirements

However, where I am focusing my energies on is instead networking, projects, and other non-academic goals.

• Worked on Program Board as an executive programmer and webmaster since my first year. This year I am the graphic designer as well. I’ve hosted dozens of events on campus while providing flyers, advertising, and website updates for the rest of the board.
• Worked on A-Team over the summer. A-Team is a peer leadership group that is involved in making a smooth transition into college life for first year students. We advise, give support, and provide a quality role model while leading them through a two-day orientation.
• Worked as a Resident Assistant for a semester (more on that later). I hosted some of the largest events and provided a positive role model for a diverse and unique floor of residents.
• Ran for Student Body President my Freshman and Sophomore year. I plan on running again the next two years. I lost to my now-roommate / partner-in-crime Anthony Bellismo.
• I’ve been involved in the Student Government Association, Technology Oversight Committee, Honors Program Board, and the Student Life Council.
• Recognized at Student Recognition Day as a Freshman and Sophomore. 
• I’ve was the webmaster for Student Affairs and Intramurals briefly.
• Started up a now-defunct movie review blog with a few fellow students.

It’s been a pretty good ride, however over the summer and the beginning of this semester have seen a series of events that have taken the turn for the better. That is awfully vague. Allow me to explain:

Over the summer, it became apparent that my help was needed at QuakeCon 2010 with my internet broadcasting organization, Quake Live TV. The issue with this was that it directly conflicted with my Resident Assistant training. I explain my situation in detail, offered to do all the coordination with my staff and do extra work to make up my time off. Unfortunately, they still were unable to keep me onboard and I lost my position as an RA.

However, QuakeCon was an amazing experience and I’m completely glad I went. I met the majority of my staff on Quake Live TV, as well as bonded with a lot of QuakeCon staff and volunteers. On top of that, was able to spend a bit of face time with Bethesda, Splash Damage, and id Software developers and executives. It was a great personal and professional experience, and we did great work while we were there. See our coverage at our QuakeCon site.

I was also laid off of my Webmaster Advisor job for Student Affairs (they essentially combined two positions into one and I got the short stick), so I lost two jobs when I came back to campus. However, I’m still the Graphic Designer for Program Board, and also Rachael (my boss) hired me as the Webmaster for Student Activities, which means I’m charge of making some really cool website stuff. I’m pretty excited.

In another unfortunate twist, my good friend Jon Haar lost his federal aid and wasn’t able to go to Shepherd. However, this let me take his place and room with Anthony Bellismo, Nick Frendzel, and Justin McKenzie. This collection of gamers, filmmakers, and digital artists is truly a great place to be, and already we’ve kicked off and done some fun, unique projects. I’ll be posting some of the videos and films we produce while we’re here shortly, already we’ve done a lot. I’m also rooming right next door to all the ladies I was very close with first year—Stephanie Singleton, Becky Van Wagoner, Ashtyn Lake, Hannah Pebbles, Abbie McMullen, and the “new kid” Heather. They’re a great group of friends and it’s exciting to have them next door.

There has been some ups and downs, yes, but at the end this is looking to be a great year for my personal, professional, and academic growth. Woot!

That would be a lot more fun.

Anyway, I struggled quite a bit on this project, but I really turned it around. We needed to select a certain type of media (an image, advertisement, poster, film, music, whatever) and analyze the “semiotics” of it. It’s a difficult theory to explain in a thumbnail, but it essentially states that everything has a signifier, a signified concept, and tosses in concepts ideologies, symbols, icons, connation, denotation, syntagm, and many other ideas to spice things up a little.

What I ended up analyzing were three movie posters for Dark Knight. I used a lot of imagery and media to go along with this analysis, and in the end it looks really awesome.

Check it out here!

This is an artistic vision of the popular Battlefield 2 modification, Project Reality. I went in and recorded all the action, in a single-player battle against bots. I then went in with the Battle Recorder, and took a ton of screenshots from a variety of angles.

The next step was utilizing Adobe Photoshop to construct a unique theme to the images. I went in, constructed an HDR profile of each image, then applied various lighting and coloring techniques to try to tie everything together.

Then I applied the images to the graphic novel pages, using a variety of overlays and lighting styles to blend everything together. The goal was to sharpen certain elements – like facial features and the weaponry, whilst blurring out the background. I then applied various artistic filters and blended them into the images.

The final step was adding text. I had constructed the plot before hand, so I knew exactly what was happening throughout the graphic novel. Then, I applied an action that darkened the edges and added a slight film grain throughout the page.

Whilst not the perfect graphic novel (in fact, it’s “to be continued”), I felt it had a very unique, interesting visual style. Especially since the base material was, in fact, a video game. It’s fun to read, even more fun to look at, despite the rather bland plot.

I’ve considered buying a replacement for it. As I mentioned, it’s a fantastic headset. It featured superb sound quality, amazing comfort, good voice quality, and it just rocked for gaming. It was pretty much the perfect headset. So why didn’t I just spring and buy another one? Well: the price tag of $100 was a bit of a turn off. Plus, I wanted to try something new. And thus my adventure began.

So I turned to Sennheiser, knowing they’ve got some great sounding headphones. I wanted to turn away from gaming headsets and towards more professional headsets. Don’t get me wrong, I’m mainly going to be using them for gaming, and gaming headsets are great quality. But it was part of a larger picture. My eyes fell on one particular model that stood out: Sennheiser HD-280. I ended up getting a pair for $70, which is a great deal in my opinion.

I also got a stand-alone microphone. The Logitech Desktop Microphone has actually got some really good reviews, and since I’m only recording voice (namely for shoutcasting / podcasting work), it fits within my budget. My only concern is that it may pick up the sound of my computer fans / air conditioning. Mics on headsets generally have been better at canceling out background noise.

This was not a quick, easy selection for me. I spent about three to four hours digging into reviews, looking over all my different options, and eventually decided this was the best route. I was also thinking about the Creative Fatal1ty MK II (good noise cancellation + on sale), RAZER Carcharias (good bargain), and the RAZER Megalodon (7.1 surround sound in the headset).

The long term plan is eventually I want to get a turn condenser microphone, as well as a mixer board, and do some really professional audio work. But for now, I’m satisfied with this equipment. And in the end, I only spent $90. And once I do get them (in about a week), I’ll be sure to post my impressions.

Now, let’s not talk about the $50 I spent on buying 12 video games (there was some really good deals this week! Curse you, GoGamer!)

UPDATE:

Well. Guess it’s gonna be longer than a week!

Dear Buy.com Customer,

We apologize for the inconvenience, but at this time we are not able to fulfill your order.
Order #48813615 has been cancelled because you have a PayPal UnVerified Account or you are shipping to a PayPal Unconfirmed Address.

NOOO!

Check out this beautiful, elegant new theme. I say it’s elegant, of course, since it’s from Elegant Themes! Sexy!

So, besides this amazing new theme, I’ve gone through and tries to apply some more functionality and features to the site, updating a bit of old content, doing some editing, and just making it a bit more clear.

There’s still a lot I need to do to get this blog up to date. But for any major updates I do complete, I’ll be sure to let you know via a new blog post. To keep up with what I’m doing on a more day-to-day basis, you suggest really try following my Twitter.

Be sure to tell me what you think of the new design.

Muse has some pretty powerful lyrics, but as always, they continue to just send chills through my body whilst listening to them. My new favorite song is “Sing for Absolution”, which I quoted above.

Watch the music video of the song. It’s got some pretty interesting visuals.

What is really interesting, is I watched that exact music video over a year ago. I hated this song. I thought it was slow and needed a better beat, and the chorus was lame. I was far more interested in listening to Hysteria or Time is Running Out.

Now, I totally dig this song. From it’s mesmerizing lyrics, to the kickass guitar, to the echoing scream when he’s repeating the chorus, to the climactic finish. I am really loving this song, and it’s currently my favorite Muse song. It’s kick ass!

The song has has a lot of meaning to it. “Lips are turning blue, A kiss that can’t renew, I only dream of you” speaks to a lost love, perhaps death, and a feeling of regret and love that is endless. The chorus: “Sing for absolution, I will be singing, Falling from your grace” speaks to a feeling of guilt, and he is literally begging for his absolution. It’s also a bit more grand, and the music video accompanies this – perhaps he’s pleading for the absolution of our entire civilization? The last lyrics agree with this: “Our wrongs remain unrectified, And our souls won’t be exhumed”. Epic stuff.

In other news, I also really like the new single, Uprising.

It was kinda “meh” at first, but like all Muse songs, after a few listens I was hooked. I love the political-ness to it, even if it’s a bit “in your face”. It feels heartfelt and very passionate, and it makes you want to get up and do something.

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

Sure, I can dig that.