Portal 2 Collection of Thoughts

(spoilers ahead)

Portal 2 has a story worth some more analysis: collected thoughts from around...

Greek myth?
"Scholarly fans claim the plot is a Greek myth. Prometheus and Epimetheus created humanity, but Epimetheus (Wheatley) was useless. To help, Prometheus gave humans fire (GLaDOS gave Chell the Portal gun) and was cast into the pit of Tartaros for it. Signs? Elysium was a heavenly field of reeds, and P2 ends in a field. The depths of Aperture have 'Tartaros 9' on the walls. And the painting of Caroline and Cave shows Aeschylus - writer of Prometheus Bound."
-http://www.computerandvideogames.com/311288/portal-2-10-incredible-secrets-you-might-have-missed/?page=2

GLaDOS cares for Chell
This video I found presented some great ideas on Portal 2's story.

About the lyrics to the ending song, "Want You Gone": The first time, based on your past experience with GLaDOS' vitriolic humor, you would think she despises you but masks it behind clever language. But it's conceivable that she actually cares for you:
--
Well here we are again
It's always such a pleasure
Remember when you tried
to kill me twice?
Oh how we laughed and laughed
Except I wasn't laughing
Under the circumstances
I've been shockingly nice

You want your freedom?
Take it
That's what I'm counting on

I used to want you dead
but
Now I only want you gone

She was a lot like you
(Maybe not quite as heavy)
Now little Caroline is in here too // Caroline is still here? possible! GLaDOS then fake deleted caroline
One day they woke me up
So I could live forever
It's such a shame the same
will never happen to you // could be cruel, saying I will die eventually, or have a tone of honest longing

You've got your
short sad
life left
That's what I'm counting on // could be counting on my life as a bad thing, or that I should live it up!
I'll let you get right to it
Now I only want you gone

Goodbye my only friend
Oh, did you think I meant you?
That would be funny
if it weren't so sad // it's true! I am her only friend
Well you have been replaced
I don't need anyone now
When I delete you maybe
I'll stop feeling so bad // shown as "[REDACTED]" on the credits screen, suggesting GLaDOS' conflict

Go make some new disaster
That's what I'm counting on
You're someone else's problem // continued conflict within GLaDOS
Now I only want you gone
Now I only want you gone
Now I only want you...
gone
--
The Opera's singing in Italian - the words being translated into "my love" and stuff like that clearly show sympathy for Chell - strong indication that GLaDOS fake-deleted Caroline.

Idea: Chell is GLaDOS's daughter. GLaDOS was Caroline, Caroline looked really close to Cave Johnson in that secret painting, Caroline seemed really excited with Johnson in that one record about lemons (she got really excited), the bring-your-child-to-work day posters, the "by Chell" label on one of the posters (meaning Chell was the daughter of someone at Aperture Laboratories)...
when Wheatley makes jokes about Chell being adopted, GLaDOS remarks, what's wrong with being adopted anyway? (especially ironic because GLaDOS earlier on teases her about having no parents, during the time before GLaDOS recovers Caroline and her memories)

GLaDOS continues to antagonize Chell right before releasing Chell so as to protect Chell from knowing the truth - that GLaDOS's conscience is Chell's mother's conscience. To think that the mother would put her child through so many tests... cool ideas.

Another interesting perspective: http://minecraftthekingdom.forumotion.com/t987-portal-2-story-line-contains-spoilers

More rambling
Where do you draw the line for identity? Some might say GLaDOS is Caroline, while others might say Caroline is only a part of GLaDOS, or that Caroline is distributed across the laboratories and the turrets (hence the singing at the end)...

The moon scene was alluded to in the painting in the room you woke up in.

Time zones in Rails

Don't use Date.today or Date.yesterday if you set config.time_zone / you do things similar to this post or this time zones railscast.

These two functions of Date don't mix well with Rails' time zone setting features.

Instead, use Time.now.in_time_zone to get the time in the right time zone you specified or Time.now.in_time_zone.to_date for the date.

Time.now just gets the time of the place where the server is running.

Basically, get a time object and convert as appropriate.

Portal

Just finished Portal, one of the games I've heard of for the longest time. It's nice to finally set aside time to play it. 

The story has lots of meaning: It makes us question the morality of what we do in the name of science. Creating weapons for those still alive. Is it okay to kill others to improve our knowledge of science?

The crude humor is intriguing too... stories.

Amazing how music can capture a moment.

This reminds me of the post I had about the stigma of video games when they can be very meaningful and engaging stories just like books.

"Difference is the Differences" by George Watsky

Catchy song that got stuck in my head recently...

His lyrics incorporate so many allusions - I find it really impressive. And his meaning is remarkably cool too - I feel that I'll never be able to dig up all the meaning from his works.

The difference is the differences I've got? I think that makes sense. There's a point when all the small differences you possess create you, someone who, as a whole, is just so different from everyone else. There's a point when miniscule distinctions lead to qualitative differences that engender individuality. Uniqueness.

A level of art not understood

I encountered an interesting pianist during a TEDx event I attended back during my first year of college.

He began his story saying that the tones of the piano - the sounds he heard - weren't enough for him after decades of mastery. He wanted more from between the notes, from between the C and C#, the A and Ab.

So he manipulated the piano.

The piano I saw was so strange - contraptions inside, padding here and there - it seemed like a violation of the strings of the piano. The strings were altered such that he got what he wanted - a variety of new sounds. A new world of art to explore.

It was stimulating hearing about his feelings toward the piano, toward music, but I felt bothered when he played his own songs on his modified piano. What he called music sounded like noise to me.

I realized later that he reached a level of art that he alone grasped and that stimulated him but not others. Most others could not understand or appreciate his music. I've played piano for over a decade, and I couldn't find any sense of awe or wonder in his music. It was just noise to me.

I write because I wonder about this level of art - and its implications. To reach something as this man did must have felt fulfilling for him, but it led him down a path of intrinsic value, where few others could appreciate what he was doing. Some might call it insanity. Situations like this create this divide between practical enjoyment and aesthetic value... his work became a pursuit for him, but not to the benefit of many others. His work became a pursuit that only someone who was truly dedicated to the art could follow. A pioneer in his field, I guess - one that might not be appreciated immediately.

It reminds me of a quote... "To be great is to be misunderstood." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

...

Images in public/ for error pages on Rails 3.1-3.2

For error pages found in public/ for a Rails 3.1 or 3.2 app, you might want to put a quick, simple image and reference it with the normal html img tag instead of any of Rails' fancy image_tag such and such.

Easy way that works:
1. Put images in public/images
2. Reference images like

<img src="/images/my-pic.jpg" />