Nintendo Wii Update

Nintendo has released the next software update for you Nintendo Wii owners. The News Channel has been introduced.

They did a pretty good job on the News Channel. Technology, Health, National, and International news is available. What's cool is, if you wanted to you can have a slide show pan around the country where stories are happening. This is a pretty cool tool, but I don't know if it would replace watching the news news (maybe? I don't watch the news, and for other than anime I don't watch TV that much either).

To update your Nintendo Wii, you must be connected to WiiConnect24. Check your Wii and Wii Manual for how to do that (luckily mine detected a router connection and connected into the network with the punch of my keycode).

Higurashi Friends to Return! >=)

Oyashiro-sama ain't done with you yet.

I caught wind that one of my favorite 2006 anime series "Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni" will be making a comeback with as second season of the anime to be released some time this early spring (March or April). It's common knowledge that two more arcs exist in the games, and folks are speculating that there are those two arcs and possibly more. Ill update if I get any further information.

Rage of Firebird: Top Cut

Ready to remove the top dimension. The wood under the paper is exactly what the car will look like, roughly. Dremel ho tomorrow! Its been 22 hours since I last slept, so I want some hay action. Till then folks!

Rage of Firebird: Shaping

Got home this afternoon and Im (again) sanding and grinding at Rage. We were just hit with freak arctic winter blasts, so the temperature outside this morning was -9 Farenheight! Probably about 2 or 5 degrees outside now so I decided to wear a jacket (with a buzz cut haircut my body temp dropped FAST below 94 farenheight). I have found that files work great in getting dents, knicks, and burrs out of the body and making it extra nice and smooth.

The next stage in construction is actually to start grinding away at the next dimension: from the top of the chassis. How I do that is I take a cut out of my design and instead of tape it over the edges, I do that thing like what kids do, and roll the tape under the template and "adhere" it to the body without putting glue on the dragster. Human doodling is not accurate of course (duh). What I am going to do is, take the most accurate side, fix some lines, make it look nice, then scan it. Ill take half of that good piece, put it through Microsoft Paint and then flip the image to make this car PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL. I just did the same thing with the sides of this dragster and it is looking like it is working.

I've also come up with the theme song to the next dragster races.

Rage of Firebird: Construction

Began to hack and grind today! When we went over to choose our blanks (the block of wood that looks like a door wedge) The instructor laid out the blocks after weighing each of them. "86 grams" he called. My hand was the first on that table to grab that blank (hehe). Then a 100 gram one came by and I was sad (but 86 grams is a heavy blank for Balsa). I've been working on it today, and what you see in the following picture is -30 grams already! Pics and snippets of Rage Of Firebird:

Images taken January 25th, 2007

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing MS Encyclopedia

Uploaded some (not all) of the slides from the Gundam Wing MS Encyclopedia that came with the DVD's. All the Suits are up there, but not all of the pictures. Enjoy! 1/25/07 Edit- JEEZ people! 176 unique views in less than 24 hours! (cool B)

http://www.maj.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=133486

Wii Laptop

I found this nice tech site that I am going to add to the links, Engadget.com.

They have made a pretty neat "Laptop Wii" that I found to be really spectacular. They had some engineering in mind here. Not only can you play this Wii portably, but it can be hooked to external devices as well (aka your big screen TV). Check it out at the following link: it's pretty awesome.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/19/the-wii-laptop/

Woman Dies Trying to Win a Wii

The article is here. Basically in Rancho Cardova, California a radio station held a contest to see "who can hold their wee for a Wii." Contestants were given water at 15 minute intervals and much more later on. Some could not hold out, and contestants left the place feeling awful and with a bad headache. A woman that held out for long, but did not win was found the next day in her home dead of water intoxication. Looks like these new sytems have claimed their first casualty: and I expect a lawsuit against the radio station as well.

http://gaming.engadget.com/2007/01/14/woman-dies-trying-to-win-a-wii/

Time!

Came home about 2 hours ago from finishing Final Exams. Looks like The Guy With Not Enough Time On His Hands... has some time! Im thinking about doing some diaramas and setting them on a wooden fixture like my Gundam models are. Cheaper (price) kits, smaller kits, and the proper dimensions should make a great looking set. I am thinking about World War II scenery.

Im also contemplating on restoring that hull of the USS New Jersey and repainting the bottom a flat black, like it is today then finish the model. Ill update when I make up my mind as I finish that toothpick bridge.

Rebuilding the Bridge

Back in Engineering I our very first project was a toothpick bridge. It needed to hold 32 pounds total, and each time we added weight we needed to wait 10 seconds. You can use 247 toothpicks (round ones only) and woodglue only. I did alright with the project, but as you can see we had to weigh our bridges to the point of structure failure!!

I am constructing a brand new frame for the once proud bridge. What you see in blue is whats left of the original bridge. You can see in the outline what it used to look like. In 20 years, I currently hold the record for the best performance in bridge destruction! =D

C02 Cars: Alpha Primus

Finally got Alpha Primus all buttoned up and somehwhat painted. I first learned about C02 cars in a Power Tech class back in 2001 while I was in middle school. I loved the idea of it, and that is really when the switch turned on in my head that I was an engineer. At the time I never imagined I would be where I was today. "Look here Robert" said the teacher. He told me to come over and look at the C02 cars that held competitions. I saw those cars and figured "heh" those are cool and I will never get to do one. Well, its 6 years later and Im building my fourth one.

This is the very first Firebird: Alpha Primus. Originally named Firebird, I wanted to continue on the little legacy I had with these cars. Each and every one preceding the last has gotten faster and better. Primus is a three wheeled "trike" design. I was a complete novice at the time, and by looking at it one cannot assume that it did well. Alpha scored 3rd place out of a class of 25. I got disqualified the first time for Alpha doing a 360 flip while still on the fillament line, then 3rd place in total races. Student wise, I scored second place, but the instructor wanted in on the good times. Goldberg was the name of his car, and it was sleek and pretty fast.

If you compare Alpha Primus to Return or even Revenge, you will notice that Alpha only has a 1/4 inch diameter hole while Return and Revenge have a 5/8 inch hole. This is because Alpha is not technically C02, but a dubbed "AO2" air-powered car. compressed air flowed through a tube and pushed the dragsters down the track. With Return and Revenge, we used C02 Cartridges that popped in the back and were punctured by a needle.

Its good to have Primus back up for display. I plan on trophying Revenge and Primus because they are champion cars. I am very proud of them. But that leaves Return. Why do I neglect Return? I actually don't. If it were not for experiments with Return, I could have never built Revenge. Revenge can basically thank Return for even being created.

Rolling On Out the Rage

I just came back from a nice day of classes, Gym final wasn't bad and we pretty much did nothing but study for tomorrows and Thursdays final exams.

Im done Engineering II, and it has been a good run. I got total revenge with Revenge of Firebird, learned I am not a glider designer, and that I can get a car to move on its own by mousetrap, but I need to work on quality and consistency. If there is one thing, its to keep all of the past failures and put them on proud display. Its not the fact that the designs did poorly, but its the fact that we can learn a lot from what we have done, and what we can do better. Return of Firebird and Revenge of Firebird are clear cut examples. Look at the difference in style there. Same engineer, different practices.

Were moving onto Engineering III. This class, according to the instructor is the "creme de la creme" of the Engineering Courses. For the next round of projects comes Rage of Firebird (C02 Cars, demonstrating Mechanical Engineering) The Weight Tower (A Tower holding onto weight much like toothpick bridges, showing civil engineering) and hovercraft boats (I have no idea how these work, but I will let you know!). Let me dig out the Firebird IV sketch, scan it, and I will post a pic of what we have here as the next car to beat (1.000) seconds.

Eureka 7: 3rd Ending

This is one of my FAVORITE anime endings.

F-22 Lightning Interceptor for Sega Genesis

I was going to fantasize and tell you all about this wonderful firstgeneration flight sim, but I found some HILLARIOUS stuff development left in.

This caught my eye, and made me laugh... hard. Around that time in 1991 Saddam well.. wasn't being very nice to Kuwait. Funny that "General" Saddam Hussman sounds a lot like "Saddam Hussein" who was recenly executed for crimes against humanity. Shalom is Hebrew, but Saddam was Sunni, so I don't understand that one.

This one gave me a laugh, too. Just what kind of Russian fighter jock loves I LOVE LUCY?!? And Why would he enjoy it with his "comrades"?? 0____0

This one takes the cake on the Saddam Hussein gag. Put up or shut up, ok marine talk. But.... Slap and Tickle?!?!?!? SLAP and TICKLE? NO!. Walk your dog on my lawn? sick. Then take my girlfriend to town, and tell me to HANG LOOSE? absoloutly freakin HILLARIOUS. =D

Old-School Gaming: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

At long last, one of the greatest games in my lifetime that brings back so many memories, and so many hours of joy and gameplay. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 picked up where 1 left off, with a few 8-10 brand new levels. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 came out in the year 1992 produced by Sega and the Sonic Team. I can't really say much in terms of gameplay, because you are going through the levels collecting things and breaking open the TV things, and its FUN. I have gotten as far as the "Metropolis" stage and as far as the Fortress with my 2nd best friend from a LONG time ago. Here are some screenies if you have never seen the game before. It is available for download from ROM, however that is illegal and I cannot tell you where to get it, because I have no idea. Do some searching around, or support Nintendo and buy the game (I think for 800 points) off the Wii Shopping Channel.

The Flatulator: Moderate Sucess

We tested the fire machines today: and to my suprise not many people could keep either consistency with their fire traps, or actually landing a hit. Actually many people landed a hit, but the goal is consistency, which is what we did not have. I was able to land one hit with the Flatulator, but it did not count because the balloon left pieces. Consequent tries landed results, but the machine either knocked the candle over or out of the box.

The design was simple and it would work: but the thing.... *scratches head* just didn't want to work. Nothing could really hold the tension of the spring on the mousetrap except rubber bands, and even those snapped after a few uses. Another problem was that the thread was not rolled in an organized manner, causing it to either not go, or the mouse trap to unwin half way.

I am still very proud of my design. I was disappointed, but the Flatulator DID put out the birthday candle at least once. Also, you can't blame us when many of us have never done something like this before. I am proud of my design, I am proud of my vehicle. Engineers were never bread to be perfectionists: but we learn a lot from failure.

The Flatulator: The Finishing Leg

I have the body to the flatulator practically done. Ive tried adding rubber bands that go through the body and tie to both the axels and mousetrap for propulsion, however I have had numerous problems, the most problematic being 1) rubber bands snap 2) there is a kick back when rubberbands go flaccid 3) Rubber bands will not roll on axis. Ill explain what each are doing.

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1) There is too much stress on the rubber band. Being under 1/4 inch thick, these rubber bands dont have a lot of surface area to hold extreme tension. They snap very easy. These are god rubber bands, not your newspaper ones.

2) Due to the elasticity of the rubber band. The flatulator kicks back (although not severely) about 6 to 8 inches when the rubber bands return to a normal, unused state.

3) The axes are rolling in the pocketed "loop" the rubber bands ceate. I have to fold the rubber band to get it started, and this helps to snap the rubber bands.

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Being an Engineer, I need to come up with another method of doing this, and I have found my solution. Where yarn didn't work, I am gong to get some fishing line going. Its thin enough so that it won't slide, and its STRONG enough not to snap with the power of a mousetrap. The only other material that could really work would be 20lb kite string, which I don't have any to butcher (but I've got some). Once that is done, I am switching a front plate around to the front, punching five holes for various heighs, having a balloon stick out and touch the flame. Since the end of the balloon is technically inside the vehicle, balloon shards SHOULDN'T land everywhere, disqualifying the run as "leaving something behind". I won't be taping the final test runs, but I will let all of you guys know how the flatulator does. Now if I could only get the work ethic to go down right now and finish it...

Katana Shopping Getting That Much Harder

Just when I came home with high grades on tough quizes today, I browse to find this... -__-


http://cgi.ebay.com/Hand-Forged-Shirasaya-Katana-buySAFE-SquareTrade_W0QQitemZ280038620314QQihZ018QQcategoryZ43338QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem


It seems like this shirasaya katana just jumped 316% in price, and that is way too much for a 1045 blade. Well of course I am complaining about individual sellers jacking up prices, and boohoo pitty party on how its not fair, but this is an alarming trend with a lot of Katana dealers. 97% of them out there are fake blades. 3% are either real antiques, or are genuine, real replicas made to be used. That 3% today is getting smaller, and I expect the balue on my Masahiro just went up too. Who knows, maybe the seller made a mistake, or this is a brief inflation. Either way, it makes me upset to know that it will be harder to continue a good collection going. Of couse if this seller in particular entered the price wrong, all of course, is forgiveable.

Brief Hiatus

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Sorry folks Iv'e been under the weather and sick lately, coming back to classes from winter break. My sleep schedule is so S.N.A.F.U. that I am sleeping an extra 6 hours in the afternoon, and not having enough time to do homework, schoolwork, etc. I will be on a brief hiatus (a day to a week) to clear everything up.