Wednesday, April 23, 2008

What D&D Character are You?

I Am A: Chaotic Neutral Human Fighter/Sorcerer (2nd/1st Level)


Ability Scores:

Strength-12

Dexterity-11

Constitution-13

Intelligence-15

Wisdom-17

Charisma-10


Alignment:
Chaotic Neutral A chaotic neutral character follows his whims. He is an individualist first and last. He values his own liberty but doesn't strive to protect others' freedom. He avoids authority, resents restrictions, and challenges traditions. A chaotic neutral character does not intentionally disrupt organizations as part of a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated either by good (and a desire to liberate others) or evil (and a desire to make those different from himself suffer). A chaotic neutral character may be unpredictable, but his behavior is not totally random. He is not as likely to jump off a bridge as to cross it. Chaotic neutral is the best alignment you can be because it represents true freedom from both society's restrictions and a do-gooder's zeal. However, chaotic neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it seeks to eliminate all authority, harmony, and order in society.


Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.


Primary Class:
Fighters can be many things, from soldiers to criminal enforcers. Some see adventure as a way to get rich, while others use their skills to protect the innocent. Fighters have the best all-around fighting capabilities of the PC classes, and they are trained to use all standard weapons and armor. A fighter's rigorous martial training grants him many bonus feats as he progresses, and high-level fighters have access to special melee maneuvers and exotic weapons not available to any other character.


Secondary Class:
Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.


Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

P.S.: As you can see, my path was totally wrongly chosen!! Damn it!! I will have to start from scratch! :P

P.S.S.: Looking at the result in a more detailed way, I have noticed that I have the same score in the fighter, sorcerer and wizard classes (4 points in each). Due to my ability scores, I guess I would be a better mage/fighter, instead of a fighter/sorcerer. But I did not change the test results. :P


Detailed Results:


Alignment:
Lawful Good ----- XXXXXXXX (8)
Neutral Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (17)
Chaotic Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (19)
Lawful Neutral -- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (16)
True Neutral ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (25)
Chaotic Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (27)
Lawful Evil ----- XXXXX (5)
Neutral Evil ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Chaotic Evil ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (16)

Law & Chaos:
Law ----- XX (2)
Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXX (11)
Chaos --- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)

Good & Evil:
Good ---- XXXXXX (6)
Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Evil ---- XXX (3)

Race:
Human ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Dwarf ---- XXXX (4)
Elf ------ XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Gnome ---- XXXXXXXXXX (10)
Halfling - XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Half-Elf - XXXXXXXXXXX (11)
Half-Orc - XX (2)

Class:
Barbarian - (-4)
Bard ------ (-2)
Cleric ---- (-4)
Druid ----- XX (2)
Fighter --- XXXX (4)
Monk ------ (-21)
Paladin --- (-21)
Ranger ---- XX (2)
Rogue ----- (-6)
Sorcerer -- XXXX (4)
Wizard ---- XXXX (4)

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Random Thoughts

Sometimes The Dreaming is much more cruel than the real life...

I have a feeling that a war is about to start... But that was just a mad dream... and cruel, not because of the war...

I think COPOM sucks! And they really do not understand nothing about economy, or they do not really care for the real economic growth of Brasil.

The second season of my game started yesterday... Time to put fear again in the heart of my players!

Eu sou a favor da regulamentacão (o cedilha não está funcionando no meu teclado) da profissão de Físico.

P.S.: The last thought was written in portuguese mainly because I don't know how to say "regulamentacão" in english. It is also just a matter of internal politics, that I don't think concern anyone but the Brazilian physicist population.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Trip to São Paulo

This past weekend I had a fast trip to São Paulo. A friend of mine married last Saturday, and I decided to use the trip to visit the Star Wars Exposition that is happening in the city.

I took the bus last Friday at 23:45. The trip was uneventful. I was in the windows seat, but no one was sitting by my side, so I was quite confortable. Before leaving home, my mom was telling me to take a coat with me, but for me it was just too warm to even think about using a coat, so I just ignored her advice. But during the trip I regretted that... I don't know what crosses the mind of these bus companies, when they decide that a comfortable temperature inside the bus during the trip is something around 16 or 17 Celsius or even below that. I was very tired, for the first time in my life I thought that I could sleep in a bus trip, but that cold made it impossible for me. I just felt the cold all night long, nothing that would kill me, but enough to trouble my sleep. I am not sure if I gauge the temperature properly, but it was below a comfortable temperature threshold, that in my opinion is around 20 degrees Celsius, not only below, but far below that. For a while I was praying for the AC to break... The best moments were when the bus stopped in the road and they turned the AC off.

I arrived in SP, and the heat was on again. Not as warm as Belo Horizonte, but uncomfortable too. I took the subway to go to the hotel, and when I arrived at the hotel it was around 9:30 in the morning. Needless to say that I could not check in, and I had to wait until noon to go to my room. I decided to leave my bag at the hotel - they charged me a small fee, of course - and then explore the region to find a way to the Ibirapuera Park, where the Star Wars Exposition is still being held. I asked around for a while, and then found my way to the Park and to the exposition. I will talk about this Exposition in another post, but I will just say that 2h after I arrived there, I was leaving to the hotel again.

I had to ask for how to go to the hotel again, but I found my way. When I arrived there it was around 13:30, and I could proceed with my check-in, and after a while I had the keys to my room.

After a well deserved shower - after an 8h trip, and then after more than one hour walking under the scorching Sun - I decided to leave and look for a place to lunch. I found a place, an excellent one, the food was tasty, and it was a self-service. After I weighted my plate, and the woman there said me the price, I was stunned for some seconds... It was one of the most expensive self-services I have been in my life. I had to take a deep breath, then I paid for the food, and ate... At least, the food was delicious... I got back to the hotel and took a nap.

My company to the wedding were two sisters. One of them was a long time friend, and they came from Brasília. They arrived at the hotel around 19:30. And the wedding was at 21h. We went to the wedding - it deserves another post - after that to the party, and then we got back to the hotel.

Sunday was a very straightforward day. I wake up, took my breakfast, packed my stuff, checked-out. I said goodbye to my two friends, got to the bus terminal to take a bus back to Belo Horizonte. The trip was during the afternoon, uneventful, but this time the AC was in a more moderate temperature. It was possible to take naps from time to time.
I arrived back home at 23h, and that was it.

During the this trip I had ideas for some posts, three of them concerning this trip, and others were just random ideas. More on that in the next days...

P.S.: Always take into consideration your mom's advice when she says you will need a coat or an umbrella... :P

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Sobre Torneiras

Alguns dias atrás eu estava observando alguns detalhes aqui em casa, quando uma coisa me chamou a atenção. Durante minha estadia nos EUA, meus pais resolveram reformar partes da casa, e quando eu voltei, encontrei meu quarto totalmente reformado, além de reformas em um dos banheiros, e pequenas mudanças do lado de fora da casa. O detalhe que me chamou a atenção, apesar de já fazer parte da casa antes, mas que depois da reforma acabou me deixando bastante intrigado, foram as torneiras.

A maior parte dos chuveiros e pias aqui em casa possuem pares de torneiras, e sempre uma com algum sinal de cor azul, e a outra de cor vermelha, o que supostamente indicaria água quente e água fria, não nesta ordem. Desde que eu moro nesta casa, o que faz MUITO tempo, nunca houve água quente nas torneiras das pias, e nem água fria nos chuveiros (apenas quando os chuveiros queimavam, ou o disjuntor desarmava, ou no caso do chuveiro desligado), portanto as duas torneiras nunca foram necessárias. E eu sempre imaginei, que os pares de torneiras um dia se tornariam totalmente funcionais, com a instalação de um suposto aquecedor (elétrico, ou solar, ou nuclear, ou gravitacional,ou positrônico, ou a gás, ou transdimensional, ou de anti-matéria, etc...). O fato é que o aquecedor nunca fez questão de dar as caras aqui em casa, e nem foi ao menos procurado, pelo menos não nos últimos 27 anos.

Ao notar a reforma do banheiro, e constatar uma translação e rotação na posição da pia, e consequentemente a mudança das torneiras do lugar. E o mesmo acontecendo com o chuveiro, e suas torneiras, conclui que houvera a mudança no sistema de encanamentos do suposto recinto. Mas o que me intrigou foi que os pares de torneiras ainda continuam presentes... Eu não acho que vá haver a instalação de nenhum aquecedor aqui em casa nas próximas décadas. Mas mesmo assim, as torneiras "azul" e "vermelha" foram mantidas. O mais estranho é que ao abrir a segunda torneira, não há o menor sinal de fluxo de água... Fico imaginando se a torneira não estaria ligada a um pedaço de cano isolado dentro da parede, entre dois pontos aleatórios, sem cruzar nenhuma conexão de água. Antes da reforma, pelo menos costumava sair água, mesmo que de maneira inconstante, das torneiras secundárias, agora não há nem fluxo de ar...

Esse não é um problema apenas da minha casa. Já vi várias casas com pares de torneiras, que deveriam ser de água quente, e de água fria, mas que no fim das contas não possuiam nenhuma funcionalidade além da redundância, e às vezes nem isto, sendo apenas um detalhe estético. Um gasto inútil de recursos monetários na minha opinião. Vou tentar descobrir a funcionalidade dessas torneiras com meus pais, afinal eles devem ter feito isso por algum motivo sinistro, desconhecido pela minha mente...

Isso me faz lembrar do primeiro problema técnico que eu tive que resolver quando cheguei aos EEUU. Não sabia como a torneira do hotel funcionava, e fiquei um tempo tentando descobrir como fazer pra que a água brotasse daquele aparato, que na época, parecia alienígena. Alguns minutos de ponderações depois, acabei descobrindo o segredo. Não existem pares de torneiras lá, e na mesma torneira vc consegue regular o fluxo de água quente e fria, e deixar a água na temperatura mais confortável para o indivíduo. Ao se girar a torneira da esquerda para direita, ou vice-versa, você seleciona se quer a água mais fria ou mais quente (na maioria dos casos), e para controlar o fluxo de água desejado, você deve levantar ou abaixar a torneira. Todas elas parecem alavancas com dois graus de liberdade. Eu demorei alguns minutos girando as torneiras-alavancas de um lado pro outro, me perguntando se por acaso a água do meu quarto não havia acabado, e quase indo reclamar na recepção do hotel. Mas, felizmente, descobri o segundo grau de liberdade da torneira-alavanca antes de passar vergonha na recepção. :P

Após minha mudança para o primeiro apartamento, tive outro problema com torneiras. A torneira-alavanca da pia da cozinha ficava pingando. E todo dia, eu tinha que descobrir a posição exata que ou fazia a água parar de vazar, ou pelo menos minimizava a taxa de pingos por unidade de tempo. Claro, tal ponto de mínimo variava aleatariamente e após cada uso do aparato. Ou seja, após lavar as vasilhas, havia um divergente negativo de minutos, durante o processo de busca pelo elusivo ponto de mínimo.

Finalmente, quando mudei pra segunda casa, outro problema com torneiras. Desta vez com a torneira-alavanca do chuveiro-banheira. Ao invés de dois graus de liberdade, essa só tinha um grau de liberdade. Nos primeiros momentos, eu fiquei tentanto girar a alavanca de um lado pro outro sem sucesso, ela nem se mexia. Tanto o fluxo de água, quanto a temperatura da água eram controlados apenas por um grau de liberdade. Você puxava a torneira para cima, e a água começava a jorrar, e se você levantasse mais a água ficava mais quente, e se abaixasse a água ficava mais fria. Além disso tinha uma trava, que dependendo da posição fazia a água ou sair pela torneira para encher a banheira, ou então sair pelo chuveiro. Parecia óbvio, mas foram alguns minutos até o momento de elucidação sobre o funcionamento do sistema torneira-alavanca-trava-banheira-chuveiro. Orgulho-me de ter conseguido, sem ter necessitado de ajuda de ninguém, ou em outras palavras, sem ter passado vergonha. :P

Se você leitor, algum dia resolver visitar os EUA, já sabe como as torneiras funcionam por lá, e se você estiver com sede, e a pessoa pegar um copo e enchê-lo com água da torneira e te oferecer, não se assuste, é assim que funciona na maioria das vezes, e ninguém morre com cólera...

P.S.: O último texto foi o número (6 x 6 x 6).

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Break... through... .sigh.

At long last, a small one, but a long sought breakthrough ... But I still hate Fortran 77!! More on that tomorrow...

My pre-cambrian communication device was also, finally, retired... It has been replaced by a more modern communication device, more akin to this geological Aeon and to the current state of technological development of the human civilization... :P

.sigh. (very tired)