COBRA Sort of a Flop- Sort of

Just coming back this weekend from a trip/vacation to Maryland to see the grandparents. I brought the COBRA system along and oddly enough my grandfather wanted to help out (instead of standing around) and I really appreciate his help in getting my new schrader valve into the pressure chamber. We sealed it up and I let it dry overnight.

Yesterday morning I tested the gun and it held even more pressure than before, however there was one issue- there was a spot near the endcap that was still leaking- the hole was maybe 1/16th of an inch (1cm) wide but it was getting rid of 4-5psi per second and I could not pump faster than what I was losing at about 35psi. When I hit 40psi the 1 1/4" pvc connecting pipe disconnected and the end of it exploded. I was fine: the pieces exploded into the pressure chamber (it didn't sound violent) before disconnecting. I will cut out the pipe and install a new piece: the disconnection was due to improper construction: when I stood the gun up I could feel that pipe trying to move ever so slightly. It is now out, and I will definetly fix the problem.

Other than that tiny leak and the pipe, I have come VERY close to getting the cannon to work properly. It's just very frustrating to have something work then another problem come up. Oh well, that is just how stuff goes I suppose. Get it right, find a problem, get set back two or three days. Hopefully the kinks can be worked out with this gun- having the gun sealed and the valve put in has been a major plus for me. Hurrah to epoxy!

(Off-topic) I need to post more anime entries, I promise I will very soon and I will cover more anime for 2008 ^^.

Hooking the Worm

UPDATE- We (myself and tech support) think that there is an error somewhere while the computer attempt to read the C drive. Tech wants to "play" with it, so we will see... They told me they are itching to get ahold of this computer to tinker... -1/3/08
UPDATE- Here is the link to the website. I strongly encourage you NOT to download ANYTHING off of this website.

I have been thinking lately about what could have infected my other computer with the undetectable worm infiltration and I can think of one remote suspect other than a random jacking.

Dead smack before the problems started I had downloaded a few anime soundtracks from a certain "trusted" site.... once I find that web address again I will post it here to prevent you or anyone else from downloading content from that website. Due to the sophistication and high sensitivity of the worm, I seriously doubt that it came from this website, however it could have and there is a "slightly good" possibility. I just don't see a worm of this "exceptionally high" caliber coming from a website like this.

I had my first problems when it was connected into the University's network so I immediatly suspected a hacker infiltration into the network. I still suspect that it is more likely that I received a virus from a network with over 100,000 users on it rather than on an encrypted network at home with 3 or 4 users on it. Make no mistake that my server at home, in my opinion, is much more secure. When people create their own servers or hook up game consoles at the campus, the Penn State network is made more vulnerable to hackers. Why I am a high value target, I have no idea. There was nothing of importance on that laptop- for this exact kind of emergency I keep all school files on a flash drive and I back them up every 1-3 days as necessary on multiple computers and on the Penn State server.

If I can't hook this worm then I am calling in the worm eating fish to deal with it once and for all.

The Kinks Worked Out: COBRA Tests Tomorrow

After frustratingly going around from hardware store to hardware store (Lowes and Home Depot) I have finally found the solution to my parts dilemma. Instead of trying to fit 1 1/4 pipe into a threaded coupler I hammered out that said coupler and put in one that was not female. BING! The pipe fits in perfectly. I need to go locate one tomorrow then assemble and seal the gun. After that I will fix the schrader valve by drilling a new hole and adding a new cap (this time sealed). After a few hours the gun should be ready for testing. I will use my dads camera for any video!

-Rob

1/350 HMS King George V

I went out this afternoon and picked up the King George V model from my local Hobbytown USA. the kit has been there for the longest time and I finally decided to pick it up and give it a whirl. The kit looks very nice: there is a lot of deck detail though that I need to go back and paint. The hull is full hull of course and it was nice of Tamiya to mark out the bootline for me. The box art looks great and there wern't that many trees (4 or 5) but it appears that the kit builds up nicely.

Unfortunatly, I looked at the interior of the hull and there was no battery compartment or trees for hardware assembly. There was no gear box either. A logical solution is that I will add two 3 volt motors and wire them as such they take power equally from the 6 volt battery (to avoid meltdown). I don't want to go out and buy another RC truck so I think I will try and contact New Bright to see if I can get some spare parts at a price. I want to RC this ship and thankfully Tamiya left it open for modification (from what I saw).

Unfortunatly I cannot share images with you guys- my card reader for my laptop has been disabled with the recent sophisticated worm/hacker attack that hit my laptop. I don't have the cord for my camera so I cannot import pictures. I apologize and I will get them up as soon as I can.

Wii Contributes to Weight Loss: Not Primary Burner

Article 1- Austrailian Press
Article 2- Chicago Times

A few articles have been floating around recently that claim the Wii is not a fat burner- and they would be half correct. The Wii is a contributing factor in weight loss- many, if not all of the articles are misleading in the fact that most Wii users have lost weigt not on the Wii alone: but with workouts and better food choices you can lose weight. I mean hey, it's better than being a couch potato.

And here is the American media creating hype about something that is rarer than a bolt of lightening. Thus, why I do not watch the news.

Last Night Twas the Night on Christmas...

Looks like I got some pretty neat stuff- this Christmas was a more applicable one than other stuff. I got a 200 dollar gift card to Hobbytown USA, which I will be using on a dremel drill press rig along with a couple of models. My mind is undecided at the moment, I want to build both the Bismarck and the King George V, however I can always get a Bismarck another time and that may prevent me from building it. There are many other kits out there that I wish to build, so I am not sure exactly what I want at this point.

Got a Penn State trashcan- those things are nearly impossible to find. I also got Super Mario Galaxy, Battallion Wars 2 and Call of Duty 3. All are excellent games and I have been chilling out all day playing them yesterday. Mario has a fresh clean look and feel to it and it is a great game- however I have found it slightly on the easier side. Still enjoyable though. Call of Duty 3 was one of those "holy bleep!" games where you get into the thick of the action and you have no idea who or what to shoot or where to go. I love the game despite the bad control scheme (I am getting used to it, but the Wii-zapper could help the game out). Batallion Wars II, despite the reviews and ratings its getting is a solid game; I enjoy moving pieces around, especially in a virtual setting (I love table top RPGs) so naturally I would like the game. It is fast paced but not too fast where you can't catch up. I failed one mission because I drove my recon vehicle off a cliff and blew it up (I needed it to finish).

I also got some clothes and the like, etc. This christmas came out alright in terms of gifts, but somehow I feel empty from the experience- partly due to some family relationship issues, the laptop, my illness, etc. We may have to take the laptop and get it repaired by tech, but mark my words I will get the thing back online and healthy. I was slighlty lax on security and even though my security was great- something got through. We restored the machine and the worm followed it along with the process, so it has been a very bad 48 hours as of late. I would like to wish Jesus Christ a happy birthday and I would pray that he forgive some of the things my relatives say or do- because I am having a very rough time right now getting around to forgiving them. I will sooner or later- but my independence mixed with my experience tells me it's time to move on alone with minimal parental support.

Merry Christmas! Yeah Right

My laptop is now toast, I have become a victim of a very sophisticated worm/hacker attack. No one or anything picked it up and I have lost a good chunk of my stuff. I am also not getting along with relatives so my Christmas has been ruined. Kudos to the hacker: I never found it or saw it coming. -Wii post


Im back on my home PC here: seems like a worm somehow got into my machine and past my detection. This is incredible yet frightening: The worm must be brand new for me not to detect it. It is one of those bad ones too: the backdoor. It will stick its tentacles through a port and reak havok with the system, laying undetected. Just when I thought I was safe with my computer but it really isn't safe. Maybe I am overreacting because of a one in a billion hack attack but for the past couple of weeks we could not figure out what was causing all the random lockups. Symantec picked up nothing, I manually picked up nothing and Lavasoft and Spybot picked up nothing.

So thanks to the hacker/worm handler that ruined my day: they didn't get my college files though so hah. I managed to get what I wanted off the machine before I had to blow out the C drive, and lost minimal data that was important to me but not all vital. I guess I will have to build back up from the beginning again: hopefully a hacker/worm attack will never strike me again. I don't remember opening unauthorized files and I don't remember downloading anything that could jeopardize my machine. Maybe it was Irfanview: but I seriously doubt it. I am sick, a bit depressed, having family issues and now my main machine is out of action- so it is idle for me until I can get running again and all started up. I will post from my main machine here.

1/35 AUSF.D Panzerwagon 251/1 Work

Today I decided to bring out the Ausf.d and give the kit some work. It's great to be home on break: I get to work on all of my models and browse the internet all day so I don't go crazy! I decided to add the front MK 24 assault rifle today along with finishing some accessories that I am portraying in my diorama. The case that holds the german grenades does fit inside the half track, however I felt that it would be neat to see all of the german soldiers taking a brief break, counting their inventory during a moment of peace in the Battle of the Bulge, one of the most deadly battles of World War II in the European Theatre.

I was scouting a local Hobbystore around Reading PA and found a nice, same scale motorcycle to go with the diorama as an escort. They were used in the war all the time as well in the Battle of the Bulge. I assembled the kit (tiny thing) in about 2-3hours. 1.5 hours of which were spent cleaning, painting and detailing the motorcycle and it looks fantastic. Better yet it came with 4 soldiers and so did my half track. Hopefully I can depict a few soldiers counting inventory before they move out and pack their things. Hopefully I can get this done just before the end of the year; she is getting there. The snow I am putting on the vehicles adds yet another realm of realism: during the Battle of the Bulge there was a fierce snowstorm.

Hasbro Interactive's Battleship

I know this is an "odd" post however I spotted my roommate the other day playing this game. I told him "You are not playing what I think you are playing?" and he was. Battleship! This game is a classic and I can let the review speak for itself. Reviewed by myself.

1/96 Constitution Work: Shes Getting There!

Shes Getting There! Ths ship has been a test to my modifying and rigging abilities: the USS Constitution is probably one of the roughest ships I have built to date. She is looking fantastic though; I went for a blend of Testors paint and Pollyscale. I used testors on the decks, hull and bootline. I then used pollyscale on all minor/major fittings such as some beams that were molded in brown. The cannon bases were also painted to provide a much more realistic look. The kit is so complex that master builders have turned this one into a masterpiece.

The other day I began tying up some loose ends (no pun intended). I began installing some final deck detail as well as adding the final beams and fixing whatever came off during the transport from my dorm room home (I had two lower deck cannon doors come off and the main beam of the head mast). I also attempted to straighten out the beams the best I could: that's why you see the tape running down the length of the mast. I was technically supposed to have the masts removed first and THEN put the beams on however it's a little late for that. They came out alright and I am sure the rigging will counterbalence each other.

I need to paint/engrave the other side of the ship in gold and then touch both sides up with black. I think some final construction parts are:

attach port side life boat
attach rear beams and fly the american flag
touch up gold paint
adhere stand to wood base

just to keep a list going for myself.

Wii is Holding On: Why it is Not a Fad

The Wii has been holding on the past few months, quickly becoming the console everyone wants for Christmas. Analysts are saying that the Wii only has a few more months left to it and that the Wii is just a crazy fad. I have a few counterpoints that suggest that the Wii is not a fad AND has a forseable future. I won't talk about how unavailable the Wii is because we all know of the situation: A-Holes like me stand in line at 12am and wait 8 hours to get their Wii; if you don't want to use Ebay or wait in line you arn't getting one! (except for the new Gamestop raincheck program, but you are waiting a month or two).

Upcoming titles such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl will allow players the goodness of a Super Smash Bros. Game with the added addition of online play and stage creation- basically the best super smash bros. out of any of the games in the series. Although the game introduces what I think are "questionably authentic" characters such as Sonic or Solid Snake, nonetheless the game should be spectacular. I can't wait to see how the game utilizes the Wii controller and I bet it will utilize the nunchuck.

The virtual console also allows gamers that wish to revisit the oldies play all of the old games that they are used to. The virtual console is a bed for loads of cash as players spend it for "Wii points" which they can use to purchase games. roughly 1000 points costs 10 dollars USD if I remember correctly. Nintendo has a team that constantly updates the virtual console list. I don't see how Nintendo will have a drop in Virtual Console sales in the near future.

Being a university student I don't have much time for video games- however the two systems that I find I play most are the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS. I am still trying to beat the Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and on my Wii I am playing a combination of Wii sports and Twilight Princess for kicks. I am looking to add Super Mario Galaxy to my collection, another Mario game that I heard is very promising. I also want a certain golf game.. not sure of the name but it has anime characters (I know its the "2nd" game in the series, anyone know what game I am talking about?)

There is nothing bull or faddish about either systems. The DS has been going on strong for a while now and is still pulling out major sales over the PSP. The Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii: both offer innovation at an affordable price with a slew of ok games and a pocketful of good ones. I think the Wii needs a bit more time actually before unique and amazing titles come out; in short the Wii's delivering power is just beginning. I am almost 19 years old and I have been gaming since I was 5: that is about a decade and a half of gaming. I don't care about graphics to a great extent: if the game looks good but plays awesome I will purchase it. Don't get me wrong: I love fantastic looking games however if they are too short or are crap then I am not shelling my hard earned money on them. Simple as that.

I think game analysts are full of themselves and definetly Wall Street is full of itself to the max. It's very hard for a non-gamer to see value of game systems like this: it's not Wall Street who picks what system will be good like they think: it is the people who play video games that will ultimatly decide. Note to the hardcore gamer's circle- you are screwed. I enjoy hardcore games too but if you are a fanboy of a particular system and side with analysts- you are full of yourself.

More 1/96 USS Constitution Work

Got a bit more Constitution work done today. I had attached the forward beam yesterday however if fell off and the peg broke off, so I am going to have to take some drastic measures to fix it. Last time I bump the ship around like a bafoon! I also attached the holders for the smaller boats near the front of the ship. I am adding in ladders to the lower deck and I am painting and installing the rims which look fantastic. I went back and repainted the name plate however I'm just not happy with the gold trim so I will be sanding and painting over it once I clean it all up. The letters came out perfect. I also painted the stands black to make them blend in. I also did touchup work on the rudder and made sure any copper was not seen.

The hardest part of the work was doin small scale painting on the engravings at the rear and front of the ship. My brush was too large so I resorted to a toothpick. Other than some minor touchup work the results were fantastic; I can let the pictures speak for themselves.

System Failure

It seems I am having trouble with my computer. For some reason it freezes and crashes when it wants to. It doesn't matter what I am doing: the mouse locks, nothing works and the computer will not respond to anything; it will not respond to control+alt+delete. Looks like I may need to do a complete reformat of the computer so I am on emergency mode here backing up all of my files. The blog for the most part should be fine because the data is on blogger servers. Hopefully things will work out. I can post this week but during the weekend I need to throw the blog into hiatus mode once again.

note: never buy a gateway or a computer for that matter: they SUCK.

(Late) 1/350 Yamato Complete

Oops! looks like I didn't make a post about this one. A few days ago last week or so I completed my 1/350 Yamato. The kit was very easy to put together thanks to the inginuity of Tamiya. There were minor deck to hull fit issues but we worked them out. I would say the hardest part of the entire kit would be the rudder. We had to work around a lot of stuff to get the rudder to properly function, and to a degree we got the rudder to work.

Actually, perhaps the stern was the hardest. Those airplanes were tricky and the only disappointing part of the kit was that the seaplanes did not come with propellers. I did my best anyways and I am pleased with the results. I stood back and looked at my work- wondering what it would look like with a bit of photoetch since my out of the box/non airbrush work looked spectacular.

The ship is a lot of fun to drive around- we have one motor hooked to the circuitry and a gear box to turn four shafts. We plan on RC'ing my future Bismarck, Prince of Whales and Tirpitz kits. I tend to not bother with a duplicate ship but I may as well buy the Tirpitz if I am out of projects. For my Mini-Hobbies USS Missouri we will be hooking two motors in series that I salvaged from a battle-bot toy hooked up to a new battery compartment and circuitry board; hopefully my old RC truck can be of some use; I need to go get a few 9volt batteries so we can hook them up to the truck to test run it. It should be a lot of fun!

1/96 USS Constitution Progress

Phew its been a while since I have worked on this one! I've added the deck cannon as well as a few more features. I am now working on the masts and the forward mast. Hopefully with some work it will be done by the end of January 2008.

Robotech: The Macross Saga

I purchased the complete robotech collection from BestBuy quite a while ago however I have not had the time to watch due to classwork. I just finished watching the Macross Saga and I have to say for an anime that debuted in 1985 it was pretty good. I have quite a few gripes but I can see why the series was a classic; as I watched the anime I felt that they ripped many elements and plot techniques of other anime titles when I realized that it was the other way around! For 1985 the series was groundbreaking and many enjoyed it.

The Macross Saga, at the end, like many anime series, leave a lot of questions to be desired. Episode 36 never specified what happened to Max or Miria. What happened to Exedor? (I have an idea) and the writer of Macross never explained what the hell happened to Britai. Like I said, a lot of unnecessary questions that were left unanswered. I can see in no way how leaving these questions unanswered will build any kind of suspense. The series in my opinion rushed a few things and attempted to go into detail explaining the lives of the characters; however they did not go deep enough for my tastes.

My gripes here. I have to say that although she is central to the story, I absoloutly hate Minmei. She is annoying, she is a brat and I was waiting for the creator to kill her off. Her voice is annoying and her singing makes my ears BLEED! They made my ears bleed 11 years ago and they STILL bleed!!!! Probably the biggest letdown is that Harmony Gold left out the original Japanese Audio and substituted it for spanish. I will understand the spanish sure but NO ORIGINAL AUDIO TRACK? That irritated me a lot. The intro screens were all the same for each series too with the same music. I understand about the lack of available openings however the Macross theme is BRANDED into and onto my brain: very annoying after a while. The art was fine: the anime was made in 1985 and that is acceptable. Rehashed and reused music really brought down the excitement of the series.

All in all I enjoyed the Macross Series: The dubbing was average and I really want to see the series in the original audio track. SDF-1 forever! Here is a trailer for the Shadow Chronicles: I can't remember how long ago this movie came out and I remember something "remotely" about it being released in the past.

PCA Berks Gets Rolling

The Pumpkin Chunkin Association of Penn State Berks made its beginnings today as interested members decided to form the club. The PCA of Berks Campus aims to construct a pumpkin chunkin machine for competition and is looking for new members. I myself am a part of PCA Berks. Check out the website!

Criticism on Brad Pitt: Are the American People Really Helping New Orleans?

I saw this article and I was a bit perturbed by its message. Brad Pitt and the Make it Right foundation are restoring homes in the lower 9th Ward of New Orleans for people to come back and move in. The article cites that Mr. Pitt said and I quote ""To build those 150 homes, we need the help of the American people". Maybe my understanding of this statement is wrong?

Two or so months ago I sent an email to the MIR foundation on hopes to assist with the construction or whatever aspect I could. I sent a professional and courteous email but I have not received a reply in about 2 months. I am very disappointed and a bit confused with Mr. Pitts statement. Does he mean that people must donate money to be of help? I have plenty of muscle and inginuity that could go a longer way. I am very disappointed with the professionalism of the MIR foundation and I was hoping that if they said they didn't need me that they would at least send a courteous email. I would accept it and be done with it; however I think a no reply is just plain rude.

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/03/pitt.nola/?iref=mpstoryview

I support Brad Pitts efforts to restore the lower ninth ward and I hope he accomplishes his mission.

1/700 CV10 Work

Well I tried a test fit of the BB-55 and CV-10 yesterday evening and the ships are way too close together. I cannot easily locate another base so it looks like I may have to go searching for a smaller subject to escort the Yorktown (I am going to attempt to hunt down a 1/700 DD-445 Fletcher). I can add the USS North Carolina escorting the USS Essex, a future purchase, at a later date. The water came out absoloutly fantastic. I was thinking that if the paint and acrylic gel medium came out this well then what are the possibilities with airbrush/ a mix of colors? If I remember correctly on the inlets of islands in Japan (Iwo-Jima?) the water was a slighter green. I've had 110% success with waterline models so I will be doing quite a few of them in the near future. No lower hull to worry about!

1/700 Work in Progress: BB-55 and CV-10

I've meant to start this project for a while and finally I can get off to a start on it. The USS Yorktown (CV-10) was a WWII aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. This model is of the SECOND USS Yorktown and not the first one, which was sunk. The Uss Yorktown is being escorted by the USS North Carolina (BB-55). This is my first waterline build so we will see how it goes.

Originally I thought the build would be difficult, however now that I have tweezers it shouldn't be a hard task. I will be painting both ships in their respective battle camoflauges and I will post more when I can get some work done on the project. Now onto finishing my art project.....