Mid-September comeback

It's a couple weeks into september, you can smell the hair of school starting everywhere and also university (final year we hope) will be starting in another 2 weeks.

I can't really say I relaxed this summer but at least I've put a few nice things into my bag, and I've gotten more friend with that old folk named Java.

I don't know if I feel annoyed by the fact university is starting or if I am brimming with excitation because I want to get this degree done, but this will not change the fact that the 27th everything should be on the move again, with those 4 courses left, and I'll have to have them done this year (at least I very hope so).

I hope I'll match the shape (of mind) I had in the second semester of last year rather than the first, because yea, aside from AION time's theft (even if after the first month it wasn't that much), I felt really lazy, while in the latter I was eager of getting things done. In the end, in both semesters I passed the same number of exams with the same average score, but it was easier to do it so with the, if you pass me the joke, "Eyes of the tiger".

Sadly (just because it's an annoyance), in October I'll have that little surgery, it's gonna be a tuesday, not sure yet which one.

Oh and, yesterday evening, while I were having one of my relaxing showers, I realized there is a person who really cares about me, and stands me and my 'bursts' when we argue, and thinking of losing you saddens me.

Weird place, I know, but being under the steamy water pouring down, not only washes away my fatigue and stress but also make me ponder on several important things.

Lub j00 ♥

I'll leave here a song's I liked in the past days even though it doesn't reflect exactly my mood

And now back to Java and SQL coding!

Someone took away the Sun...

...and without its light that brings warmth forth, I feel chills of emptiness on my skin.

Last night I had a dream.

I were still having my works at home, while in the middle of chaos, I felt someone holding my hand. Surprised, I turned in that direction, and it was a person, a really dear person to me. One of those persons you keep close to your heart and you can wait years to meet. She came from far away, it was her first time in this country, yet it looked like it was a natural frame for her. Just that touch, just discovering her face, filled my chest of joy. I felt suavely overwhelmed by a feeling of sweet incredulity mixed to rampaging happiness. That kind of fulfillment that makes you forget about all your troubles and all your bitterness.

I'll skip on some of the details of said dream, but I can say it made me realize once more, how much I'd wish to share a smile face to face with that person.

Anyway the second week of training ended.

During the first day I still had some minor pain at the quadriceps, but that eventually went away the day after.

The other days have been quiet, during which I improved my efforts to train.

The last day, friday, was different. I felt reaaaaaaaaaaally lazy and not in the mood for it, but went to the park anyway. Jointly with my lack of enthusiasm the park was strangely filled with people, at least 10x the usual amount. So even attempting to run through, it ended as a dodge / slalom circuit. Quite different, but not the best for the purpose I had.

So all considered, it seems I survived to the first weekend break, which I was afraid would be my biggest threat. The all-day-training is proving useful for my lazy mind.

Beside this, I took part to FFXIV Beta Phase 2 (which ended a few days ago, I am now waiting for Phase 3 which will start mid-August).

I have to say the game is nice. At first we had terribly low speed to download the client, since it's a sort of p2p torrent downloader, ETA was... a few months. Some days after, evidently having more seeds, I managed to complete the download in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The pc I tried the beta with barely met the min reqs. Even so, adjustic the graphic settings the game was playable. After a few days I realized the game was running in a more fluid way. It seems SE is working effectively on optimizing the game for the launch.

I'll skip over the details and mechanics everyone probably know already like Active / Passive mode, Armory system etc.

Overall the game mechanics worked fine, it felt different from the usual button smashing mmorpg, it had a more strategical feeling. Even with effects to min, the graphics were really astounishing, and the outskirts of Limsa Lominsa, the first city I've visited, looked really bucolic. Limsa Lominsa was really really big, its architecture develooped on several islands, connected by bridges and passages, with structures that had different plans. At first I got lost (for those who played Aion, L.L. is about 3-4 times bigger than Sanctum, and way less linear), but then got the hang of it. Mobs had an AI that you rarely find in a MMORPG, other than fighting on the spot, they tend to run away when low on health, to circle around you to attack you from the back, to call reinforcements, or to get advantage of terrain, especially if they have ranged attacks. If mobs are together they'll usually act as a party, buffing each other, healing among them, timing their attacks, even do the Tank & Spank like players would.

Other than the cookies I found anyway some minor issues that, standing to their notes (SE is seriousely listening to the testers, and fixing the game accordingly), should be corrected by the release time. Among those I thought to point to:

• Somehow clunky camera, it rotates too fast at times and there is no option to reassign keys or set the mouse sensibility.
• Lack of Jump / Sit actions (not really a biggie, but some people may be used to jump like rabbits and have fun from it).
• I felt the need of an hot-button for the interactions, without having to go through the main menu (accessible through the HOME key)
• Aswell as it was annoying to have to repositionate all your skills on your bar when you switch between classes.

Now I am eager to see the result of our testing into Phase 3.

If, like me, you guys want to try it too, and haven't been chosen so far, boost your chances applying to the contests for Beta Keys at:

• FFXIVCORE
• FFXIVCORE (2)
• EORZEAPEDIA

Good Luck! :)

Wew. Exams done.

It's been about a month since last update. An intense month.

In this period, the works at home finally ended, and I have managed to pass the 4 exams I planned (I completed the last one this friday). Last one was particularly interesting, being a JAVA/Oracle 10g SQL application, and I had my friend Luciano as partner, so the long nights (we worked our butts off till even 5 am) weren't that tiring. Exams went all as expected, with nice scores. I was planning to have another one on September but teachers decided for a strike to block that exam window, so no way.

Now that 'holidays' started, since I am ambitious, I have several plans:

• I'll try to get back my fitness with Bike, Jogging and Soccer.
• I'll develop (with Luciano) some commercial softwares to save up some money for our upcoming trip oversea.
• I'll try to write some new poem, since the lack of time during the year forced me to dilute my activity.
• I'll try to read some new manga and watch some of the heap of movies I downloaded but never opened.
• And if I have some time to spare, I'll try to relax a little. As strange as it can sound, I am really lazy but I can't seem to stay put without doing something big.

Today, this night to be more exact, I had my first soccer match. We chose the only cold / windy / rainy day in the whole month, and started playing at 10.30 pm till after midnight. I am happy that even though it was half an year I didn't play I managed to score 2 times.

In the next days I hope to finally define my pc components, even if the particular period isn't the best as suppliers don't provision their stocks before August. I am afraid it may slip to september... well as long as it's before FFXIV launch it should be fine.

Also I plan to have some BBQ with my friends before everyone leaves the city. Oh yea, I am eating almost every evening / night in my garden, so it's quite a nice diversion.

Anyway, I am a little tired after all that running, so I may just go and hit the pillow now... okay okay I'll play some PSP first :)