“Oh wow, cool, thanks a lot for the, uh, bouquet of roses and giant teddy bear. This is, um, really sweet of you. No, I’m only yawning because I’m just so overwhelmed by my love for you at this very moment. Here, I got you a forced smile and a pat on the back. I hope they’re the right size.”

Do you know who that quote’s from? That’s your crush balking at your piss-poor excuse for a romantic gift this Valentine’s day. Any Joe Nobody with access to his parents’ Discover card and a pocketful of dreams can roll to the nearest “Cliché Warehouse” and buy some oh-so-meaningful gifts from the oh-so-meaningful gift isle...

Word of the Week:

Williwaw (noun): A violent squall.

Sentence: Dan shivered to the bone due to the williwaw blowing through Rochester.

Quote:

“Oaths are but words and words are but wind.”-Samuel Butler

Stream of Facts:

There is an ordinance in San Diego County that only allows their residents to own one rooster, an effort to deter cockfighting in the area.

Oscoda is one county of many in Michigan coined by Henry Schoolcraft, an author who worked with Native Americans. All of the counties named by him incorporated Native American syllables mixed with Latin and Arabic...

4/5 Stars

Where would a half-blood son of Poseidon and his Athena-born girlfriend go after falling off a cliff? Hell.

That wasn’t a punch line, but the synopsis of Rick Riordan’s fourth installment in the Heroes of Olympus Series, “The House of Hades.” The book begins with five Roman and Greek demigods carrying the newly discovered Athena Parthenon back to Greece, where they hope to close the Doors of Death before the Earth Mother, Gaea, awakens and ends the world. Just when the group is beginning to think that Gaea may prevail, daughter of Pluto, Hazel, is summoned to take on a task that may just save Olympus...

4.5/5 Stars

Well into his 30s, musician Shad continues to produce quality hip-hop, providing thoughtful insight through his rap as well as exceptionally good production for an initially underground artist. Rising to fame by winning the Rhythm of the Future talent contest, Shad put all his winnings into producing his first album, “When This is Over,” which along with his second album “The Old Prince” gave him an established name in underground hip-hop. A truly self-made artist, much of his initial popularity was a result of his extremely self-depreciating lyrical style...

Word of the Week:

Desiderate (verb):  to want or wish for something.

Sentence:  Bill desiderated for new games on Steam. Fortunately, there was sale – too bad for his wallet.

Quote of the Week:

“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” – Oscar Wilde

Stream of Facts:

After seeing an advance screening of the documentary “Blackfish,” a movie showcasing the mistreatment of orcas at the theme park, Pixar decided to change the ending to Finding Dory in an effort to not promote captivity for animals...

Word of the Week:

Mononymous (adj): a person who goes by a single name.

When asked for to put his full name on a test, Stephen was mononymous and put his first name. His professor never returned his paper after grading it.

Quote of the Week:

“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man stupid and blind in the eyes.” – Mazer Rackham, “Ender’s Game.”

Stream of Facts:

Axolotls, an amphibian species, diverged in evolution from another type called tiger salamanders, which resemble axolotls as juveniles but become terrestrial upon maturation. Researchers recently found that if injected with iodine, axolotls rapidly mature to look like tiger salamanders...

Will’s Take:

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Touted earlier this year, Microsoft promised 8.1 would come with a series of new features, improvements and optimizations for the now-one-year-old OS. And for the most part, these changes are quite handy.

Many of the features for the original release of Windows 8 can now be modified or controlled in 8.1. One feature I’ve welcomed is the option to bypass the start menu and go straight to your desktop. Although slightly slower, this feature is great for those who can’t bear to make the extra click...

As RIT’s Interactive Media Game Design students know well, no game project is complete without a team of talented developers, a new idea and a source of funding. RIT professor Joe Pietruch recently embarked on a project to fund his game, called Chain Gang Chase, with Kickstarter. Pietruch hopes to create a multiplayer couch co-op intended to be played with up to eight players .

 

The plan is for Chain Gang Chase to hire students on co-op, differentiating it from other Kickstarter projects that RIT students may be familiar with...

Will’s Take:

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Touted earlier this year, Microsoft promised 8.1 would come with a series of new features, improvements and optimizations for the now-one-year-old OS. And for the most part, these changes are quite handy.

Many of the features for the original release of Windows 8 can now be modified or controlled in 8.1. One feature I’ve welcomed is the option to bypass the start menu and go straight to your desktop. Although slightly slower, this feature is great for those who can’t bear to make the extra click...

Word of the Week:

Agglutinate (verb): to form words

Just because Greg added the suffix, -ish, to everything didn’t mean he was agglutinating new words.

Quote of the Week:

“If you want to be me, be me. If you want to be you, be you.” – by Cat Stevens

Stream of Facts:

In the movie “The Big Lebowski,” The Dude says the word “man” 147 times in the film, or about 1.5 times every minute.

The Chicago Tribune had a 40-year-long crusade from 1934 to 1975 to simplify the spelling of American English. A word such as phantom was rendered as fantom in this pursuit. Bigwigs of the era like Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain and even John D...

Board Game/Price: around $5

I first discovered the wonderfully creative card game 1000 Blank White Cards at a college party. Designed by Riff Conner and Nathan McQuillan of Madison, Wis., it’s highly humorous and somewhat bizarre. The game is designated for three to six players, but is best played with six people who have an open mind and enjoy the social dynamic of card games. Even playing with your family would work, as long the game is tailored to the experience of the people participating.

Gameplay can last for any period of time, but tends to take about an hour...

Game/Action-Adventure/Wii U

 4/5 Stars

“The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker” stirred its fan base when initially announced in 2001 because it differed in every way from the initially dark concept footage shown in 1999. This created a rift between fans that wanted a successor to the N64-style games versus fans that looked forward to the new cel-shaded take on the series. Upon release, The Wind Waker had much fanfare but still dissent from some fans. Years later, the game having aged better than its successor Twilight Princess, most fans have warmed up to the game. Some even cite it in the “games are art” debate...

Word of the month:

Pettifogger (verb): To quibble over petty things.

 Jon pettifoggered on the grade of his midterm.

Quote:

"Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic." -Lewis Carroll

Stream of Facts:

Play-doh was originally used as wallpaper cleaner to remove the sooty residue left by coal fireplaces. When gas became a standard of home heating systems, Play-doh was rebranded as a kid’s toy because of its similarity to clay and its non-toxic nature.

Natural gas is odorless because it is mostly methane...

Word of the Week:

Hornswoggle (verb): To cheat or swindle.

 Jeff felt he was hornswoggled after buying the latest game only to find it discounted the next day.

Quote of the Week:

“Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be” –Abraham Lincoln

Stream of Facts:

The Eclectus Parrot, native to Australia, is one of the only species of animal that kills their young based on gender. Specifically, the Eclectus Parrot kills male chicks in order to give the female parrots, which mature faster, more of an advantage in the wild...

Word of the Week: Hotspur  (noun):  An impetuous or fiery person.

Sentence:  In the debate of the government shutdown, Percy was the hotspur of the bunch.

Quote of the Week:

“If one does not fail at times, then one has not challenged himself.”- Ferdinand Porsche

 

Stream of Facts:

Since the shutdown of the government, a website called drunkdialcongress.org was created to give sloshed Americans a chance to vent their anger with a random congressman...

One of the most consistent disappointments or highlights of being a punk fan is listening to the sophomore album of a band you like. In most cases, the youthful fury and nihilistic self-destruction that go hand in hand with punk tends to cause bands to completely burn out before they can enter the studio or to half-heartedly release something bland and uninspired. However, there are rare occasions in which a punk band’s second record is just as good if not better than their highly lauded debut. With their second LP “You’re Nothing,” Danish post-punkers Iceage have done exactly that, in a truly awe-inspiring way...

Jump scares prey on a natural human response to react. Many games and movies try to create truly terrifying and grotesque imagery to shock viewers, but this fear only lasts a moment...

comic by Emily DeVault

Word of the Month: 

Bacchanal (noun): A time for drunken revelry.

Sentence:  With the first month of freshman year behind them, Ted and his friends had a bacchanal, which left them indisposed the next day.   

Quote of the Month:

“Time does not change us. It just unfolds us.” – Max Frisch

Stream of Facts:

The largest bank heist in Japanese history was a total of 5.4 million dollars. The bank robbers, after completing the heist, sent a note to the bank they stole from writing: “Thank you very much for the bonus. We can live off this loot for life...

Imagine, if you will, a coalition of bearded men and (not-so-bearded) women at RIT united under the common goals of helping the community and having fun...

Word of the Week:

Caterwaul (verb): To cry out or howl.

Sentence: Jeremy caterwauled as the grades from his lab practical sent his GPA into a tumble.

Quote:

"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it" -Henry David Thoreau

Stream of Facts:

A render wrangler is a job position in the animation industry in which a person monitors the rendering progress often spread across mutiple computers. They are key to the animation process because rendering a frame of animation can take anywhere from a few minutes to several days, needing somewhat constant supervision.

The kilogram is one of few units of measurement not measured by a constant...

Behind the main theater of the Little, the Little Café is a warmly painted hideaway. The inside is colorfully painted in red yellow and orange, with a sky blue ceiling.  Moderately lit, the walls carry art and slogans saying "Need an outlet for all the anti-Hollywood aggression? Join us.” While an advertisement for the Little Theatre itself, these posters sum up Rochester’s Fringe Festival perfectly: an escape from all the canned media we see and a celebration of the homegrown art.

Rochester’s Fringe Festival is an arts festival, where the programming is decided by the local artists while the event organizers focus on putting together the guidebook and scheduling...

Word of the Week:

Skosh (noun): A small amount.

Sentence: The pumpkin bread Anna was baking needed only a skosh of cinnamon and nutmeg before being placed in the oven.

Quote:

"God gives the nuts, but he does not crack them." -Franz Kafka

Stream of Facts:

The scent you smell after a rainstorm is caused by the presence of Actinomycetes, a bacteria that thrives in damp soil. As the rain falls, the bacteria releases spores into the air delivering to your nostrils that iconic, fresh smell.

Moon dust has a variety of strange properties...

Word of the Week:

Ubiety (noun): the state of existing. 

test

Sentence: Mark pondered his ubiety while dozing off in his Camera Obscura 101 course.

Quote of the Week:

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.”

-Mark Twain

Reporter Recommends: Take a Page From Bokonism

Anyone familiar with the classic Kurt Vonnegut novel “Cat’s Cradle” will have heard of the fictional religion of Bokonism that is peppered throughout...

Of the many perils of college life, few are as feared as the freshman fifteen. Whether you were a star athlete in high school or you are starting with a few fifteens to lose, you’re going to want to be mindful about your health and the notoriously unhealthy college lifestyle of late-night study sessions and “devil may care” cafeteria food nutrition.

Enter the Fitbit Flex, a wireless activity tracker that is purported to improve your sleep, make you fit and help you drop  pounds. The flex consists of two physical components, a black electronic component that tracks movement and a blue or black wristband that it fits snugly onto...

Word of the Week:

Omnicompetent  (adj):  Being able to handle anything.

Despite taking a full course load and being a member in three separate clubs, Janet remained omnicompetent throughout the semester.

Quote of the Week:

“Believe you can and you're halfway there.” –Theodore Roosevelt.

Stream of Facts:

A shipment of rubber ducks and other assorted bath toys was once lost at sea in 1992 and had remained lost for 20 years. Many had drifted as far as Hawaii and Alaska, being swept up in a circulating current near Japan. Tracking the location of these ducks has since helped scientists study currents and the effect of climate change on marine life...

cartoon by James Lecarpentier

Word of the Week

Temarious (adj) – recklessly rash or bold.

Aaron, in a temarious funk, pulled together his 30-page thesis in a span of 24 hours...

Dark Chocolate Bacon S'More

How we made it:

Put dark chocolate inside marshmallow. Place between two graham crackers. Microwave for 15 seconds. Place cooked bacon around or on top of marshmallow...

I saw more boobs last Friday than I have in my entire life. While they aren’t something I generally seek out, at the Rochester Erotic Arts Festival (REAF) last weekend, there were quite a few exposed pairs...

 4.5/5 stars

With the spring semester just beginning, now is the ideal time to rethink your organizational system to handle the challenges ahead. Just in time, Todoist has unveiled a newly revamped version of its free to-do list service. The new changes make it even more ideal for the hectic lives of RIT students.

Let’s start with the basics: Todoist is a free service with a great interface and broad platform support. While the to-do lists in Outlook and Gmail are good, Todoist takes this to the next level by adding color-coded categories, projects and sub-projects support and even the ability to add sub-tasks to each task...

Pursue your BA in Robot Culture Studies.