The Suiteness

The End of an Era

2011-06-17T16:24:00.002-05:00

Alas, that I should live to see the end of the Powersuite! It seems that this last semester, too many of its residents graduated and there will not be enough of it left to keep it going. While its legacy will live on in the several other rooms that are "powersuite-ing," the original will be gone.

In lieu of this (and also because nothing seems to be happening on this site anymore), I have branched off and started my own blog. It's new and subject to change, but you can find it here.

Be seeing you.

It's About DECENCY People

2011-02-22T01:24:00.005-06:00

Over the past two weeks, I have had no fewer than three meetings canceled or moved in a way which I found unacceptable. I find these things unacceptable due to the fact that I like order in my life (despite what my desk looks like). Therefore, I am proposing the following:

THE 100x RULE:

If you EVER want to schedule a meeting with someone, take the amount of time that you think the meeting will last. Multiply that value by 100. Add that time to the current time. This is THE EARLIEST TIME that you can possibly schedule the meeting. What does this mean? For a 1-hour meeting, the earliest time that you can actually have your meeting is four days after the initial planning meeting. This give presenters a minimal time to prepare, and interviewers time to investigate the interesting questions about the presentation that they want answered. If this is not a presentation meeting, then everyone has time to do their work and know exactly what to report during the meeting, eliminating most of the awkward pauses that contain the "you go next" connotation. It is far easier to book rooms this far in advance, as well, and this would lead to far less scheduling conflicts. Secondly

THE 10% RULE:

If a meeting ever needs to be moved (and this should ONLY be for a cataclysmic event, such as a volcano warning on the day of the meeting in the exact vicinity of the meeting) then the meeting can only be moved by 10% of the time from the time of meeting movement to the initial meeting time. It would play out like this:

I set up a meeting on Monday for next Monday at 3 PM for a status report on Widget X, the new and improved Widget W. However, on Friday at 1PM, I find out that a portal to another dimension is going to open in the exact meeting location 15 minutes after the meeting is supposed to start. I decide that this is unacceptable. There are currently 74 hours before the meeting. I can now move the meeting by 7.4 hours in either direction. However, if I find this out on Monday morning, say at 9:30 AM, I can move the meeting by half an hour at best. Lets hope this meeting can be compressed to 45 minutes, or that the other dimension isn't so bad.

Just some thoughts at 2AM from a cranky engineer.

They Gave Me Free Time! The Fools!

2010-11-04T17:54:00.008-05:00

Well, now. I can't let you Fall Fest people go and have all the costume-y fun, now can I? Fortunately for me, a certain event known as Halloween occurred recently, giving me a wonderful excuse to create an outfit of my own. This combined with the large amounts of free time I acquired upon graduation resulted in my most ambitious costume to date...

Behold! General Grievous!!

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Built entirely out of cardboard, clothes from GoodWill, and some bits of Velcro. It took me about two weeks of construction, and my apartment was an absolutely cluttered mess the entire time. The head was definitely the hardest part, since General Grievous's head is much narrower than mine and only half as large vertically, but it still had to fit. The chest was the next hardest part. My first attempt was so form-fitting that I couldn't get it off, and ended up having to rip it open. Just about every other piece had its own snags, and there's a distinct drop in quality with the legs as I was running out of time. I wasn't even able to finish the feet and had to just wear black shoes instead. Still, I think it turned out pretty awesome.

It was a big hit at the party, but it was a bit difficult to eat and mill around while wearing it. Also, and you may be able to see from the above picture, I had to be continually wary of the Velcro keeping the cape attached from coming undone. (A slightly disappointing aspect of the cape is that you can't see much of the upper arms or shoulder guards.)

Apparently, Grievous is also quite the ladies' man.

Copy and Paste

2010-10-30T09:38:00.005-05:00

This post should be dedicated to the whole month of October, but I will focus on the first week for now. We can see where it goes later.

Fall Fest!

As can be seen from the picture, my outfit was a bit...

Well, mad. I was the Mad Hatter from Alice and Wonderland. G2, our awesome sister floor, decided that my life just wasn't crazy enough. They got me an awesome costume and they decided that they would all dress up to make me feel less awkward.

In the end, all the hard work payed off, with another 41/G2 joint monarchy. 41's theme this year was V for Vendetta, and I was extremely impressed with all of the work that everyone put into the construction and events. It was an excellent year.

Every meeting, in my head

2010-09-26T13:12:00.001-05:00

It was a cold, dark night. The wind howled above the colar of my coat. Stepping inside and flinging off the few drops of rain which had landed on my shoulders, I knew immediately what was wrong. I strode with purpose for the lab. Begrudgingly, I swung open the door to reveal the usual suspects. James Frank, electrical engineer, senior. A shifty sort, but usually not dangerous. Justin Thomas, mechanical engineer, senior. Occasionally mischevious, but mostly harmless. Finally, the dreaded Richard DeBellevue. A junior bio-med, Richard had a streak that measured up to few that I have ever encountered. "Greetings, gents," I said as I entered the room. All eyes were on me, awaiting the great reveal to come. "Yo, fix it an' ged odda here," the cold reply from Mr. Thomas. "Calmly, calmly," I was nervous, but I couldn't let on. Thomas would surly sieze any chance I gave him. He was edgy tonight, moreso than usual. "Mr. Frank, what seems to be the problem?" "The voltage, it won't go over 2.5 volts without goin' all to crap." The answer came from DeBellevue. "And what makes you think that I can fix it?" My question was genuine. I had no part in this portion of the re-wiring. "Jus' DO it." Mr. Thomas again, this time visibly agitated. I turned to Mr. Frank. "We are in it this time, aren't we?" Mr. Frank and I had been partners on several previous assignments. He was bright, if occasionally nervous. All I got in reply was a sigh that could have birthed a thousand woes. "Have we checked if we are shorting anything?" I asked to no one in particular. Mr. DeBellevue expounded "Ain't no way there could be a short. The problem is all over the board, it is in EVERY LINE. Don' you get it? This is exactly what I was afraid of. We get into this and now WE WON'T GET OUT." "Cut your crap Richard" the first time Mr. Frank had spoken all evening, "I know that you tied power and signal ground together on all of these connections. I ain't gonna stay quiet about this any longer. They have to know." "This stool pidigin tellin' the truth?" asked Mr. Thomas. "Yeah, but it ain't gonna hurt nothin'. They the same voltage reference," spat DeBellevue. "Well, there you have it," I said, "Just make sure to un-tie the grounds, and you should be right as rain." I chuckled to myself. The inclement weather had made this turn of phrase more ironic than it usually was.

This is pretty much what every meeting I have looks like through my eyes.

Heart of Darkness

2010-08-09T19:26:00.002-05:00

I think that posting this automatically makes me a terrible person.

Oh, well. The Dark Side is the fun side, after all.

The terrible thing is that people would actually want this for their pet.

Ben Franklin is METAL

2010-07-31T20:59:00.002-05:00

As the seconds tick away for the month of July, I realized that I had not made a blog post.

To rectify this, I decided to share this small nugget with you.

And for those of you who think that this is just empty fluff, I firmly believe that this accurately captures the essence of what the Founding Fathers were trying to say.

Specifically: Ben Franklin was the most awesome bass player in history (haha) and that no man should wear black eye shadow.

It is summer!

2010-07-16T14:37:00.003-05:00

I am surfing the blogosphere at McAlister's Deli, my favorite restaurant. I got the fabulous souvenir tea cup! I am pretty sure that everyone who knows me is aware that I love McAlister's sweet tea.

On another note, I bought Starcraft yesterday. I am good with the Protoss, but I stink with the Terran. I just played an hour and forty minute game against the computer. We used all the minerals on the map, and I killed his last building with only 6 marines left to my name. XD Needless to say, I have to get better with them. I also signed up for the Starcraft II beta, and I really want to get in. If you want to get an idea of what it's like, youtube HDstarcraft. He is a good player and gives interesting commentary. In fact, I think I am about to watch one of his games. Hey, it's summer. What else do I have to do with my time?

Let me explain... No, There is no time. Let me sum up...

2010-06-18T19:55:00.002-05:00

All times in Post Final Final time (final final time started at 12:00 PM, Wed. May 5)

PFF + 1H 20M - Finish Final Final, feel cool brush of freedom

PFF + 2D 21H - See Roomate Graduate

PFF + 3D 1H - Leave Longview for West Chicago

PFF + 1W 6H - Buy First Car

PFF + 1W 1D 20H - Leave West Chicago for Virginia

PFF + 1W 4D 20H - Start First Engineering Job

So, a lot has happened. And the fun is only getting started...

It's About Time

2010-05-06T19:10:00.009-05:00

They finally got me.

After five years of actively hunting and ponding others on the floor while myself remaining immune, I was ponded under what is being dubbed "The Shrug Clause." Basically, I hadn't been ponded yet and I needed to be before I graduated.
The devious fiends got me Sunday afternoon. Of course fearing that I would be too much for them to handle under normal circumstances, they waited until right after I returned from a Chinese buffet. They didn't even let me get onto the floor, but pulled me right out of the car.

Out of one vehicle...

...and into another.

Having a stomach full of food somewhat impaired my fighting and running abilities, but I think I did a decent job.

One of the few times being tall is a bad thing.

Oooop...

"Not one of you's gonna survive this!"

The trucks were slow to get moving after I went in, and I managed to beat them to the stop sign and block their path. This resulted in everyone bailing out of Scorch's truck, and Treads nearly running me over with his Jeep. Back on the floor, I was able to hunt a few people down before I started feeling unwell. Just eating, struggling a lot, and getting thrown in the pond are not a good combination. Overall, though, I greatly enjoyed the whole thing. A lot of the floor was present, and it was good times all around.

...speaking of things that have taken long enough...

I'M FINALLY GRADUATING!!!!

Five years, two majors, and, if my calculations are correct, Suma Cum Laude. Take that, engineering curriculum!

Not that it hasn't been difficult; the reason there wasn't a April post is because the last month has been madness, especially the last week.

Things due last Friday: Everything for E-Lab 3, including all minilabs, a 15-V power supply, a function generator, and a 10-W power amplifier (I didn't even get the last one done).

Things due Monday: Most everything for Senior Design, including a poster, web page, technical abstract, and Final Presentation.

Thing due Tuesday: Senior Design documentation (shudder) due at 9:00 am, after which Hopps and I drove up to Oklahoma City and back to finish signing our apartment lease for the summer.

After that, I was done, but routinely forcing myself to stay awake inadvertently caused my brain to switch into live-without-sleep apocalypse mode, and I didn't sleep Tuesday night either simply because I wasn't tired.

2010-03-31T22:08:00.004-05:00

Another month has gone by in a flash. Both good and bad things have happened, but I am happy to say that in the long run, things have been great. Certainly, we have been blessed with good weather and good times. Day after day, I am reminded of how good God is. Each time I look at the sky or feel the warmth of the sun, I remember His power and goodness.

Finally, after weeks of watching Stargate Atlantis, I am on the last episode of the last season. Great show. Having seen it, I will start watching Stargate SG1. I know I am watching the seasons backwards, but I think I will enjoy them better this way.

Just a little while from now, the semester will be over. Knowing this, everyone here has been working very hard for finals. Lots of time has gone into projects and tests, but it is finally almost over. Most of the semester has been easy, but I have a feeling that it will get very hard, very quickly. Not many students will be playing video games and staying up all night if they want to pass now.

On an related subject, many people have been working on some really cool projects. Possibly some of the coolest things I've seen in a while. Rube Goldburg machines are complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect ways. Some students are having a competition by making these machines. This is a video that has a rube goldburg machine, and is the music video for a song called "This Too Shall Pass."

Usually, rube goldburg machines are like that, if smaller. Very cool, right? Well, that just about raps up what I have to say. Xylophone music would be appropriate now... Yes...

Zephaniah 3:17 :
"The LORD your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."

The March Post

2010-03-31T00:52:00.003-05:00

Because I don't get enough sleep as it is, because I needed a 10 minute break on my birthday, and because March didn't have a post yet, I give you the March Post!

Happy birthday, me. You have somehow managed to get here, maybe you can make it another 21 years...

Maybe.

Anyway, in case any of you hadn't seen this, here is a guy who single-handedly won choral music.

Another One?!?

2010-02-22T09:42:00.007-06:00

It's not my fault! The webcomic made me!

Comic invasion!

2010-02-17T13:45:00.005-06:00

Well, as most of you know, I am rather busy this semester, so I don't have time for a lengthy post, just a few pictures.

I did, however, have time to attend the G2 Masquerade costume party earlier this month. I really like making costumes, and who better to go as than the eccentricly conniving Hatman from xkcd? (For those of you who don't know who that is, he's the stick figure with the hat in the comic from the previous post.)

Ah, good times. The costume is basically a white painter's suit with black duck tape on it, a wife-beater over my face, and a cardboard hat.

The comic madness didn't stop there, either. This last Friday there was a power outage due to all the snow, so I had to figure out something to do. No classes, no power, no computer, and no internet, so I decided to draw a comic of my own:
I'm going to submit it to the YellowJacket; they won't publish it, but I'm going to submit it anyway.

New Recruit

2010-01-24T23:17:00.003-06:00

So... This is my first post on the power suite blog.

When I first moved in to the power suite, I knew that I would be experiencing several changes. I decided that I would use my change on environment to change my habits and have a better semester.

Change 1: Sleeping. Last semester, I would regularly stay up until 3 o'clock in the morning. Now, I usually go to bed before 12:30. This drastically improved my QOL (quality of life). I started eating breakfast, I fall asleep in class less... Just thumbs up all the way.

Change 2: Showering. I know some of you may be grossed out, but I promise, I used to take a shower every night. Now, I take them in the morning. It is a small change, but I definitely feel better after a shower in the morning. It is just a good way to start the day.

Change 3: Homework. Last semester, I started out behind on homework. I had a huge work load, and I procrastinated. I have much less work this semester, but the main difference is that I get it done quickly, usually the day it is assigned even if it is not due for days. The practice has reduced the amount of stress I am under and has helped me to have more late night freedom and more sleep.

I thought that my first two weeks of this semester would also make a good topic for this momentous occasion. So here we go:

Day 1: Moving in. This was a crazy night. I was reunited with many friends, and I stayed up late playing video games. This would not have been a big deal, but I forgot to make my bed, everyone else was asleep, and it was past 3 in the morning. I managed to completely make my bed, even without the night vision goggles that I forgot were in my closet. *face palm*

Day 3: Class. The first day of class was pretty cool. We went over the syllabi (I looked "syllabus plural" up on Google, and Wikipedia gave me "syllabuses or syllabi." I looked further into it and came up with this from Mr. Morrison of www.usingenglish.com: "Both are in common usage therefore both are correct. However, since syllabus is derived from Greek, just as octopus and hippopotamus are, the prescriptive grammarian would prefer syllabuses just as they would prefer octopuses and hippopotamuses. If the etymology had been Latin, then just like alumni and foci, the answer would have been syllabi. Nevertheless, English grammar is descriptive rather than prescriptive and since there are two ways of saying it, you can decide. Unfortunately, whichever word you choose, you are likely to irritate someone who uses the other version and is convinced that his or her version is the only correct one." Personally, I like syllabi.) and that was about it. Oh, I learned that electrons flowing is electricity. (I heard once that we pay like $68 dollars for each class. Waste of tuition dollars FTL?)

Day 4: Class (Cont.). See Day 3.

Day 5: More Different Class. Today, we did stuff. I had DC, Bib. Lit. and Karate. Pretty straight forward. I have been playing DotA a lot lately. I used to be way better at it and stuff, but I am kinda rusty.

I am getting kinda bored of posting for now, and you have the idea. Before I finish, let me find something interesting and post it...

Tad ah!

New Year, New Member

2010-01-24T23:08:00.002-06:00

As several of you doubtless know, the powersuite has received a new member from the floor. Wrench, purveyor of fashion, CS major extraordinaire, and generally all around awesome guy has joined the ranks of the few, the proud, those strange enough to put their beds in one room and desks in another: The Powersuite. May God have mercy on his soul.

Conclusions and Ponderings

2009-12-16T12:57:00.005-06:00

No, Synk, now it is over.

Having taken Dynamics several years ago, my concerns rested with with deadlines on or after the Thanksgiving break. However, death week was survived, finals completed, Dozer's graduation attended, and travel accomplished (by the way, Dozer, you can still write normal posts on this blog and not just comments). Now I can relax.

And now that school is done with for a while, I actually have time to think. And what else is there to think about besides politics?

Don't worry, I'm not going to discuss current politics; my thoughts started with musings on the kind of speeches I would give if I were running for president. First of all, I would write them myself. This would gain me big points already. Second, I would try to be as honest about my views as possible, which would make popularity difficult considering my conservative standing and opinion of the public (I would definitely try to sneak in something about how the masses are idiots just to see if I could get away with it). I wouldn't promise to do anything, but rather expound upon what I would like to see changed while explaining the constitutional limits on the President's powers as well as the possibility of unforeseen circumstances. I would try to get elected on the basis of a representative republic rather than a pure democracy, since that's how I would conduct business. Elect me based on my values, priorities, and character and then I will make decisions based on what I think would be best for the country, not necessarily what the country wants. Do you think people would listen long enough to understand? Perhaps this is where the part about the masses being idiots would come in.

After a while, my thoughts changed from aimless musings to considerations of logistics: Could I get elected? Should I? The later refers to the fact that I still have resolved in my own mind whether or not I am a pacifist. If I am, I seriously doubt I could be President. How could I order troops into battle to kill others when I am not willing to do so myself? Is it necessary to kill in order to preserve what is right? Does this change between a person and a government?

Assuming I got that straightened out, there is still the issue of how I would get support. Currently, I don't think I have enough notoriety or money to get a position with a political party. I'm not sure I'd want to, either. It seems that the major issue with political parties these days is that you need to have a lot of money and clout before you can even speak: not anyone can become President. What, then, could be an alternate route? The first thing I thought of was the internet; it was used to a great advantage in this last campaign, could it be used to support an entire campaign? The problem with the internet, though, is the fact that anyone can speak, and this includes a great number of imbeciles. Therefore, in order to be heard, you need to already have a name behind you. Even then, most of the people you will be speaking to are your supporters. Judging by the number of comments this blog receives, I'd have to do a lot of work to get a following on the internet (though by referencing this xkcd comic, I automatically win).

On the other hand, even though it isn't perfect, is there a better and viable alternative to the two-party system? There are a great number of popular bloggers I wouldn't want as President, third parties are easily crushed due to the current state of the electoral process and the media (good luck making that go away), and a no-party system would run into the same problems as people trying to be heard on the internet.

[Warning: topic change ahead]

Speaking of the internet and blogging, there is a trend I have been noticing. In the early days of the internet, the big thing was having your own web page. Here you would describe yourself and your hobbies and interests in a semi-permanent format. This developed into blogging, which, while still a form of personal expression, was a bit more fluid and was a record of the person's thoughts in a journal-type format. Then came Facebook and its Wall, where users post announcements of significant (or not) events in their lives as they happen. And now there is Twitter, a near constant stream of trivial (or not) details. In regard to information available to strangers, postings on the internet have become more and more fleeting and less and less deep. I say that Twitter has about a year or so until the next big thing. I wonder what that will be.

Oh, hey! I just got it! I'll kidnap the families of half of the electoral college, then I'll be a shoo-in for President.

It's Over!

2009-11-28T16:25:00.005-06:00

The all-consuming beast that is Dynamics project is finally slain!

Aside from this good news, the Powersuite placed first and second in the LeTourneau contest after a disqualification. I feel really bad for the team who was disqualified, but I am still pleased to have achieved such high rank among my peers. Playdoh's team ranked first in the class, and my team ranked second, and I believe that we were both pleased with this result.

Here are some pictures of the devices, with Playdoh's first.

Here is my device, and who is that handsome devil working on it?

The Invasion Continues

2009-10-12T14:39:00.002-05:00

Due to lack of adequate time or funding, this month's blog title is totally unoriginal.

The Gremlins Are Out Early This Year

2009-09-12T15:09:00.002-05:00

And thus the Powersuite's invasion of the Partysuite begins...

A V8 In Every Pot

2009-08-31T21:43:00.004-05:00

I am presently in a conundrum: which of these three cars is the best? Sound off in the comments below.

Pictures!

2009-07-22T18:32:00.020-05:00

Ok, I finally have pictures from my various adventures.

I'll start with what I normally do on Saturdays: hiking in Monte Sano State Park. The pictures are from when my mom came down to visit several weeks ago. Incidentally, it was the hottest day of the summer.

Me atop a bluff:
The view from the top. The bluff looked down into a quarry with limestone excavation caves:
Me atop "Dry Falls":
The dry river:

Quite different from the hot, dry river bed that my mom and I hiked along was the cold and very wet white-water rafting trip that my company sponsored last Saturday.

General rafting (I'm in the front left seat of the raft, next to the guy in the orange shirt):
Class 5:Launching the raft:
"Riding the bull":
Staying up...:...Or not:

And, of course, my exhilarating skydiving trip. Unfortunately, in-air pictures were an extra $70, so I didn't get any of those. Instead, my boss had a friend on the ground taking pictures.

Joking with my instructor:Matt and I suited up:
The plane ride up (That's my leg; I was sitting right next to the door.):
Gliding down:The crew afterward:Skydive hair:

Oh, and one more thing...

Very Yes:

Adrenaline Junkie

2009-07-19T12:22:00.002-05:00

Sooooo, these last two weekends have been rather exciting for me. In order to combat the slow days at work and the doldrums of living alone, I seem to have taken to extreme activities.

Last Saturday I went skydiving.

Yes.

120 mph free-fall from 13,000 ft.

My boss suggested it, and I arranged a jump for him, me, and Matt Szelistowski (Former member of my Senior Design team who now also works at RMCI). Pretty much all the other guys at work were married or engaged, so their significant others wouldn't let them go. Since the three of us were relatively inexperienced, we did tandem dives with a dive instructor strapped to our backs who would release and controll the parachute.

On the plane ride up, Matt was quiet and somewhat pale, my boss was calmly conversing with his instructor, and my instructor and I were joking back and forth about who would hit the ground first if the chute didn't open. (I think that my coping mechanism for nervousness it to turn it into crazed anticipation.) I got a slight leg cramp when getting up to jump out, but it wasn't too bad and definately didn't interfere with the following experience.

The most exhilarating part of the jump was first coming out of the plane. The instructor counted down and jumped for you, after which you started falling. For a few seconds I was stunned by the sheer adrenaline shock. The track of my thoughts was somewhat along the line of:
"I'm falling!!! I'm falling!! Ok, wait, I'm supposed to be falling. This is insane!"
After I got used to the fact that I was plummeting toward the fields below, I laughed maniacally the rest of the free-fall. There were scattered cumulus clouds, and if I looked forward, I could see them whizzing past as we fell.

A little above 1,000 ft., the instructor deployed the parachute. Here I learned the funner points of parachute guidance. For example, if you pull the chute into a sharp turn, you will do donuts, with the chute in the center and you being flung in a circle like a sling. After a few such maneuvers, the instructor landed us safely on the ground. This is actually the part where the most injuries occur, because if you don't lift up your legs and slide in, you might break an ankle.

It was great fun.

Then yesterday was the company outing: whitewater rafting.

The location was a 10-mile stretch of the Ocoee River in Tennesee. It contained natural class 2, 3, and 4 rapids with a section of class 5 rapids that was constructed for the 1996 Olympics. (For reference, the rapids rating scale goes from 1-6, with 6 meaning the possibility of not surviving.) I was in one of the two front seats of the raft, which meant that I got the brunt of the rapids. There were even some class 3 rapids where I could sit up on the front of the raft, hold onto a piece of rope, and ride it like a bull as it bucked up and down in the waves.

No one fell out of our raft, but there was another raft with people from work that flipped, another one in the tour group that got stuck up on a rock, and one that got sucked down into a hydraulic (a water sinkhole). All but two of the people in that raft decided to bail out halfway down the river, after which the two survivors and the guide had an insane(ly fun) time spinning around and pulling crazy maneuvers through the remaining rapids. There were several times that our guide had us paddle back up into the rapids we had just passed, at which point we would get drenched as the raft got repeatedly dunked.

The whole experience was rather cold due to the skies being overcast and the water having a temperature of about 50 degrees. Several people were concerned that I would get hypothermia, but I was fine. All in all, it was very fun.

I would easily do both of these activities again, given the funds.

Pictures are pending.

A Whistle in the Wastes

2009-06-30T14:27:00.002-05:00

This hasn't been updated this month, so I thought I would relate what I was doing over summer break (if you want to read something interesting, check May's blog post). I am, once again, in school, taking classes through Taylor University's online program (motto: All the dry literature, none of the dry lectures). I decided that I hate Transcendentalism after sitting through both Emerson and Thoreau (respective mottos: I like thinking about things but never actually putting them into practice; I sat by a pond) and now I have to write a 7-10 page essay about a theme in a novel. As an engineer, this terrifies me.

But all of that is boring.

I went wakeboarding several times this month and got a sunburn that fell somewhere between "lobster" and "Mars" on the sunburn-redness scale. I finally learned how to jump on the wakeboard, and after a few more times may learn how not to break bones while jumping (I kid, I kid). There is an open invitation to learn how to wakeboard to anyone reading this, with the only caveat being that you have to come up to southern Wisconsin for the course.

Finally, I found Mystery Science Theatre 3000 this summer. If you would like a fairly representative sample, just click here. I would suggest it to anyone who has ever wanted to be a movie critic so they could mock a really bad movie.

Anyway, back to research.

Everyone I know goes away in the end

2009-05-10T21:29:00.007-05:00

Ghillie, Frisbee, Expo, Blue, Matt Turner, John Martin, Gordon Strodel, Brad Boyce, Justin Rowe, Dan Wert, Tim Hutchens, John Tanner, Richard Godley, etc.

At first, this post was just going to be about all of my friends who graduated/left this year, especially since I did not graduate with the rest of my class and will be staying an extra year at LeTourneau. However, now that I have moved to Hunstville, AL for my internship and spent a week in my studio apartment, I realize that the other side of graduation produces similar feelings of lonliness. Not to the point of depression by any means, just nostalgic. In addition, I don't yet have a computer at work and I just internet in my apartment on Friday.
~~internet withdrawl~~
I really felt kind of isolated. It also didn't help that, as I kept spending money getting settled in, I wasn't able to check on the status of my bank accounts. And, without the distraction of internet flash games, I once again learned that there is nothing good on TV. EVER.

There was also some confusion getting moved into my apartment. When I arrived last Sunday, I found out that there was still some paper work to be completed before I could move in, and the soonest it could be completed was Monday. Fortunately, I was able to spend the night with somee guys from work and, since I wasn't officially supposed to start work until Tuesday, spent Monday running around collecting the necessary forms and was able to move in that evening. Since then, I have kept myself occupied by unpacking in stages and working on my various summer projects that I make for myself.

By the way, I have just completed the first of said projects: I have scrapped my old refridgerator with the broken door and removed the freezer unit. It still works, too. Unfortunately, since I do not have a camera here, I am unable to post pictures of the bare-pipes freezer or the freezer box carnage. I will also not be able to post pictures of any of my future projects, either. Oh, well.

As to work, since I don't have a computer yet, I have spent most of my time reading literature about how a helicopter flies and operates in various conditions. It's a lot of information to absorb, like taking a month of aerodynamics in a week. The guys at work a pretty cool, I even know a lot of them from LeTourneau: Nate Brower, Matt Szelistowski, Cameron Bostien (sp?), and Joshua Hasty are all there. Another third of the workforce is made up of engineering students from Bob Jones University, and most of the remaining third come from similar Christian schools. As such, we all have pretty much the same religious and political views.

I haven't beeen able to go up in a helicopter yet (I don't know when that will happen or if it even will. It depends what I'm working on), but I have seen several up close. These include the AH-64 Apache, UH-60 BlackHawk, CH-47 Chinook, and OH-58 Kiowa. I was even able to sit in the cockpit of the Chinook, but I wasn't allowed to touch any buttons.

Apache (Missile-laden death machine):

BlackHawk (Heavily armed troop transport):

Chinook (Can carry a ton. Or 15.):

Kiowa (Light fighter/scout):

What is that thing?!?

2009-04-21T10:56:00.004-05:00

I believe that my part with my digital project is almost done. And here are the pictures. Pity the person who coded all the VHDL so I could make that wiring. I just want to know how it will be received by the class.

"Infinite Vector Starlight Singularities"

2009-04-07T19:50:00.002-05:00

Here in the Powersuite, PlayDoh and I are working on peer reviewing exegesis papers for our Historical Books class. Both of the papers we received to critique were written by elementary education majors, and they contain some rather humorous errors. Here are some of the funnier ones:

"Are you ready to dive in? Let's go."

"The events would be placed between the temple of constriction und Zerubbabel and the arrival of returnees to Jerusalem that is discussed in Ezra."

"When Mordecai heard of this he tore off his clothes to express the bittter grief he was going through."

"The fact that Moses was such a great leader is evident, which makes sense that the Israelites needed a new leader to take charge."

"After all, the Israelite 'nation' was fixing to become an army and 'conquer' the promised land."

Heh, heh. Good times.

Oh, and the title of this post comes from Touche. The term he was trying for was "singularity functions."

A Momentous Occasion

2009-04-05T00:40:00.001-05:00

The fact that the Powersuite never sleeps is not new information for anyone who frequents the floor, but the occurrence of one member wishing another goodnight and having the reply be good morning is not an entirely common situation for anyone. However, when Play-Doh woke up at 4:00 AM on Friday morning, Grey was still up from Thursday night, making a full cycle from Thursday morning to Friday night not only a possibility, but an actuality. We are the pitiable creatures who never sleep. We are Engineers.

And a cool pic for your trouble

Now, the cool pic

2009-04-05T00:34:00.001-05:00

So it is down to you, and it is down to me (if you ignore the other two guys in the room)

2009-04-02T01:20:00.000-05:00

As many avid readers may have noticed, this blog has not been updated by someone other than Grey for approximately one year. The last non-Grey person to post was Pebble, in late February early March last year. Well, no more, says I! This is to be an open forum for four people to post on; no more, no less. There should be an equal right for all the scourges of the power suite to post the blog. Freedom of the Press! Long live liberty! Or at least until I become dictator. Hehehe.

For your trouble, here is God coding the Universe.

I wonder what language that is...

Clorox Bomb

2009-03-09T14:22:00.004-05:00

Saturday was Film Fest, and this year I finally entered something. It wasn't much, just a short commercial, but I think it came out really well (It also took a lot longer to edit than I expected). It can be found here:

Clorox Bomb

Unfortunately, even though we filmed and recorded in HD, YAC must have recompressed it or something and the quality came out terrible. The YouTube version is probably better. It didn't win any awards, either. Oh, well. I have ideas for next year.

However, the fact that I didn't win didn't stop me from having fun at the ceremony. Lately, YAC has been trying to make the whole thing more ritzy, and they've introduced a red carpet entrance. In the spirit of fun, they still tell people to be as extravagant as they want when dressing up, but I decided to take things a step further.

I had bodyguards.

And then I thought, what if those bodyguards were needed...?

Heh, heh, heh...

When our group entered, the triangle of "celebrities" was myself, Shutter, and Gauge (with date Christy). We were surrounded by our bodyguards Dozer, Beaker, Expo, Treads, and Hopps. After we had posed for a few seconds, Vici, dressed as a hippie and yelling something about the environment, broke trough the paparazzi and made a run for me. He was taken down by Dozer and Expo who dragged him out the back while the other bodyguards swiftly escorted us to our seats. It was great fun.

A video was taken of the whole affair and should be up soon. Further pictures are available on the 41 website.

Edit:
The red carpet video is up now!

Vici meets bodyguards

41st Post!!!!

2009-02-26T11:33:00.002-06:00

The original purpose of this post was to let everyone know that I am feeling better now and that all of my tests came back normal. I'm really busy now, especially since I'm directing a skit that I wrote for Hootenanny and producing a movie for Film Fest.

That's all I was going to write until I noticed that this was going to be the 41st post of the Powersuite blog, which meant that I would have to post something special. So here is a clip of the always awesome Singing Tesla Coil, also known as the Zeusaphone:

Hmmm... it seems Blogger is not cooperating in showing the clip. So here's the link instead:

Zeusaphone

Interesting note: the primary on this Tesla Coil operates at 41kHz.

I'm hoping to build my own Zeusaphone (albeit a much smaller one) for E-Lab 3 by connecting the output of a keyboard to a power amplifier then through a flyback transformer. We'll see how that works out.

I'm not dead yet

2009-01-23T17:37:00.003-06:00

But I may be working on it.

Since about the beginning of December, I've had a nagging cough. It started out as something little and mildly annoying, but over the course of the break joined forces with nasal congestion and got worse. I started coughing up phlegm. I've always had nasal problems at home, so I expected things to get better once I got back to LeTourneau. However, not only did the cough not go away, but I started getting really fatigued. This was something that I could not afford, so this last Tuesday I went to see a doctor. A chest x-ray showed that, while I didn't have an infection or pneumonia, my lungs were 10-15% filled with mucus. The doctor determined that, unless lab tests showed something deeper, this was due to sinus drainage and gave prescriptions for an antibiotic, an anti-allergenic, a steroid, and an emergency inhaler.

The medicines have been working pretty well. My cough is down, I can breathe more easily through my nose, and I haven't had to use the inhaler. Unfortunately, I have to take the medicine three times a day, and it causes dizziness and drowsiness. This has greatly reduced my productivity. I've told all my professors, and they seem to understand, and I've been able to grind out enough homework this week to stay mostly caught up, although my projects are starting to fall behind.

Yesterday, I was called back into the clinic for further lab tests, and I got a call from them this afternoon. It turns out that, while I don't have anything like mono, I do have elevated levels of bilirubin in my blood and they want me to come back for follow-up testing in two weeks. Having no idea what bilirubin was, I did some brief looking on the internet, and it turns out that it is a naturally occuring enzyme that is a result of the breakdown of red blood cells and is typically filtered out by the liver. There is a small portion of the population that has eleveted levels of bilirubin and are perfectly fine, or it could just mean I have a little harmless jaundice.

...or...

It could be a sign of clogged bile ducts in my liver, liver disease, pancreatic cancer, or even sickle cell anemia (I kinda doubt I have that one).

So I could be fine or I could not be, but I won't let it worry me until I'm told I actually have something. I may not even worry then.

On a lighter note, here is a picture of a fractal I've been working on. I originally described it using AutoCAD, but that was taking too long so I had Wharf write a program to generate it:

Haiku

2009-01-02T00:28:00.003-06:00

For some reason, everyone around here has been writing haiku (yes, that is the plural form) recently. Fjord started it when writing something for his birdwatching website, but it quickly spread to the rest of us. Although usually made extraordinarily boring by public school English classes, haiku can actually be quite fun. For those of you who don't know, a haiku is a for of Japanese poetry that follows the structure of:

[5 syllables]
[7 syllables]
[5 syllables]

Here are some that I've written about LeTourneau:

We all have no time
Dr. Kim speed - none can catch
Make sure wife can drive

Dr. Lee's Statics
T is now in the freezer
Because I say so

Dynamics first day
Dr. G walks into class
You've already failed

Documentation
I haven't slept in three days
Still stuck in the Lab

2008-12-31T18:08:00.002-06:00

And here it is - just as some of you predicted - the post for December will occur on the last possible day! And it shall be short, for I have a New Year's party to attend. First, a quote appropriate for both the New Year and the Powersuite:

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."
-Alan Kay

I figure that most of you have been involved in the recent events of interest (such as the bonfire), so I won't really talk about them. Instead, I will simply say that for Christmas I got an eternal golden braid. However, I also came into possession of a saw...

Tempus

2008-11-30T23:19:00.002-06:00

Yes, it is the last day possible for a November post.

No, I don't have time for a review of Thanksgiving.

Update will happen... later.

Warning

2008-10-15T23:19:00.001-05:00

Senior design documentation may result in loss of head.

Type Casting

2008-10-05T00:36:00.007-05:00

Good evening.

In my last post, I mentioned that Fall Fest was approaching. Well, it is now over, and I can discuss the happenings and results of the last week.

First of all, 41's theme was Ancient Egypt, and our queen won. Huzzah!

However, I was not really a part of 41 Fall Fest this year, because G2 nominated me to be their king candidate. And for their theme, they had me dress up as (what else?) a mad scientist:
The girls then dressed up as half-animal/half-human mutants, cyborgs, and other monsters to be my creations throughout the week.
I also had an Igor:
It was very fun walking around campus, eating at Saga, and going to class as a mad scientist. I was told I looked like Dr. Horrible (from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog), the guy from Back to the Future, Einstein, and Yzma (from The Emperor's New Groove).

And, to top it all off, the results came in today, and I was crowned Fall Fest King alongside 41's Queen.Another 41/G2 monarchy!

Edit: Pictures as well as the airband videos for both 41 and G2 are up one the 41 website (link newly added on the left).

Problematic

2008-09-19T11:46:00.003-05:00

Contrary to popular belief, I have been trying to get this blog updated. Blogger is just being obstinate in not accepting the accounts of the new members (Play-Doh, Riff, and Synk). We also finally got a new picture last night, which is shown below in slightly greater detail:
In case you can't tell, Synk is holding a large metal rod, Riff is holding two hammers, I'm holding my railroad spike, and Play-Doh is holding a knife.

In other news, Fall Fest will be starting in a little over a week, which means that things are going to get really crazy (as usual). At least it's really fun.

Lo, I am come.

2008-08-09T19:00:00.002-05:00

All ye who tread the corridors of Thomas Hall: beware! For my personage shall once more cast its shadow over the halls of 41. From my lair in the Powersuite, I shall spread despair among all those who...

Eh, whatever.

I'm back in my room again. Dozer and I finished moving all of our stuff over from the apartment today and we'll officially check out of there tomorrow. Aside from Christian, we're pretty much the only people in the building. Most of my things are still in boxes scattered around the other room, but I have enough set up to live off of while I gradually unpack things when I need them. I also need to start planning how to set up the Powersuite for this year.

I can't wait until the freshmen arrive.

The way things were

2008-07-02T19:29:00.001-05:00

Well, apparently there was a good reason why that 60 Gb hard drive was in Shutter's box of unwanted electronics, because it died recently.

So I'm back to Windows and my 40 Gb. Oh, well.

Born Free

2008-06-15T17:44:00.002-05:00

Greetings! I am currently writing this from my new operating system (Ubuntu) on my new hard drive (60 Gb). This is significant because I used to be running on 40 Gb, and up until last semester was only on 10. Also, this hard drive was completely free, thanks to a box of electronics that Shutter gave me. Hooray for free stuff!

Technically a Gold-Titanium Alloy

2008-05-25T20:57:00.006-05:00

Today, I saw Iron Man. Perhaps this is just the engineer talking, but it was incredible. It also helps that his suit is the colors of 41. Iron Man is now my favorite superhero. Period. (Yes, Paco, it was even better than Batman). And if you have yet to see it, you need to watch to the end of the credits. Just so you know.

I want my own suit now. I probably can't get it that well fitting or with nearly as many features, but just a mechanized exoskeleton would be cool. To quote the movie: "I really like this suit!"

I'll have to get started on my exoskeleton as soon as I finish my Dr. Octopus arms. (Due to the segmental nature of the Doc Ock arms and the complexity of ergonomics, the exoskeleton would take quite a bit longer to design.)

Speaking of Doc Ock arms...

I am currently working at Gospel For Asia (or GFA for short) in Dallas. It is a really cool organization focused almost entirely on reaching people groups that have never heard the gospel before. Due to the sensitive political nature of some of the countries that we're working in, I cannot publish on the internet everything that we are doing. You should check out their website, which has the "clean" version, or talk to me in person if you want to know more.

Anyway,

This last Friday, there was a company picnic during the afternoon. The theme of this picnic was "GFA Superheroes," and we were all supposed to come dressed up as our favorite superhero. Well, I don't really have a favorite superhero that would be fun to dress up as (at least, I didn't before I saw Iron Man), so I decided to bend the rules a little bit and dress up as the person who has my favorite super power. That's right, I went as the maniacal scientist himself: Dr. Octopus.

Major thanks to my roommate, Ian, for helping me build the costume. The bottom two claws are attached to the poles in my hands by fishing wire, and by moving the poles I could "throw" the arms ahead of me as I walked, producing a very cool walking motion. I had planned to be able to open and close the top two claws through fishing wire strung down through the poles and attached to my fingers, but the wires got tangled and mixed up with hot glue at 2:00 in the morning the night before, and the poles had already been glued to the claws, making it nearly impossible to re-string, so Ian and I just decided to make the claws static. It still looked pretty cool, though.

Then things got interesting when another intern decided to dress up as Spiderman (he had a mask, just not in this picture):

Though she didn't seem to be too bothered by it, one of the older ladies at GFA made the comment that my costume was "terrorizing the little children." However, as you can see from the kids trying to attack my with my own claws, this was definitely not the case.

There was actually a contest, and my getup won "Best Overall Costume." The only bad part was that it was a Texas summer afternoon, and I was wearing long black pants with a long black coat. It got EXTREMELY hot. Even for me.

Mad With Power!

2008-05-07T18:03:00.002-05:00

I am currently working at Gospel For Asia as part of a 4-week internship. However, they don't really have any positions related to engineering, so I have been placed in the IT department. This is a bit odd since I don't really know that much about computers, but I've been able to find enough on programming forums to be somewhat productive thus far.

One perk, though: the applications I working concern remotely adjusting printer drivers, which means I am learning script that works at the base level of Windows. The scripts that I write operate regardless of the programs that are open and without showing any sign of their existence.

Excellent....

The ability to open, close, and alter programs, enter keystrokes, and locate system information while being nearly untraceable is giving me... ideas.

I wonder if I could write a program that would write and activate copies of itself...

Chicken!

2008-04-05T22:40:00.002-05:00

Good Evening.

There is currently a metal rooster perched on top of my computer, and I am happy.

Yesterday was Hootenanny, for which I performed two comedy skits, one by myself and one with Play-Doh. Since I had one in each act, I had to be at rehearsals from 6-11 each night Tuesday through Friday, which made my week rather interesting. But it is now over, and my solo skit placed third, for which I received a trophy in the shape of a rooster. The other skit went well, too, but it has been floating around YouTube recently, and so the judges probably didn't think as highly of it.

In addition to placing in Hootenanny, I have also figured the classes I have left to take, and I will only have to take an average of 15 hours a semester for the next two years. Which means that, hopefully, things will get easier after this semester.

Hopefully.

Maybe I'll also have time to study magnetism over the summer as well.

2008-03-08T03:41:00.002-06:00

Stardust is awesome. And so is spring break. Also, this is February.

I'm Not Normal

2008-01-05T02:22:00.000-06:00

What better way to wrap up the Christmas break than by using vector calculus, the golden ratio, and trigonometry to calculate the angles on the faces of this zonohedron:

Now I just need to figure out a way to build it while maintaining its lattice-like structure. Bent wire, perhaps?

Secrets and Lies

2007-12-24T15:11:00.000-06:00

If you are like me, then you have heard that sinks and toilets drain one direction in the Northern Hemisphere, the other direction in the Southern Hemisphere, and straight down on the equator. This difference is due to the Coriolis force provided by the Earth's rotation.

LIES!
Nothing but filthy lies!

I shall now give you the Christmas gift of truth.

It is true that the rotation of the Earth does produce a Coriolis force, and that this force is responsible for the rotation of certain weather systems like hurricanes. However, this is only because such systems are very large and develop over long periods of time. The magnitude of Coriolis force is directly related to rotation speed. The Earth only rotates once per day, so the resulting force is very small. Given time, it will affect large bodies of fluids initially at rest, but things like toilet flushes are too small and happen too quickly to be influenced by Coriolis (the bowl would also have to be circular). Those rotations are instead determined by such things as the way in which they are filled and the shape of the container.

This site offers a more in-depth explanation that I found very enlightening.

Or just ask an Australian.

Merry Christmas!

We forgot November!

2007-12-09T13:38:00.000-06:00

I just realized today that we forgot to post something for November. I'm sorry November :( .
In any case, life in the suite is going on as usual...we still eat Ramen, we still do lots of studying and homework....we still have lots of fun. This week is finals week, which means that on Thursday night we can forget about this whole school thing and pretend life is still easy! If only that were true about the rest of the semester...easy...oh well, it is almost over. Until next time...'may your days be merry and bright!'

There are beings there that do not sleep.

2007-10-26T04:00:00.000-05:00

Aaaaaaaaand it's 4:00 AM!

Hooray for Digital Electronics!

At least it's Friday.

Well that's new.

2007-09-13T12:02:00.000-05:00

I tried to give blood today, but wasn't allowed to because my iron content was 1% too high. That has never happened before. I didn't even know they had an upper limit.

It could be because this was a different organization than the Red Cross and they may have different standards. They had a different testing method, too. They used a centrifuge instead of the buoyancy method.

In other news, my work as a junior member of the ACL senior project has started. The goal of the project is to design an accurate model of the mechanical forces experienced by the human knee during and after ACL failure. My job this semester is basically to learn everything that Nathan Green has been doing the past two years so I can continue his work after he leaves. This is done through a series of research assignments that so far seem difficult but doable.

Another fun activity that I've recently gotten myself into is joining the Longview Chorus and Symphony for their upcoming performance of...

...dum da da dah...

Beethoven's 9th Symphony!
(Saturday, September 29 in the new Belcher Center)

Freude!

Some Say The World Will End In Fire...

2007-08-02T01:05:00.000-05:00

This is a Red Caribbean, a particularly hot type of Habenero pepper:

This is what it feels like in your mouth:

I should know. I ate one today.

I would strongly advise that you do not.

For comparison, a Jalapeno is rated at 3,000 - 6,000 SHU (Scotville Heat Units), whereas this thing weighs in at around 350,000 SHU. VERY HOT.

I got the pepper from a supervisor at work who grows various types of hot and spicy things. He stops eating them at around the Jalapeno level, but grows the hotter ones for their bushes and to watch people at work suffer. I had eaten previous varieties that weren't quite as hot (serannos and lemon drops) and had been joined in doing so by several other guys. I told him that I was interested in getting a bag or two of the hotter varieties to take with me to college for various malevolent purposes, and he said he would bring me an extremely hot one. He didn't disappoint. For some reason, no one else wanted to eat this one and some were told not even to touch it. This was on Monday. At the time, I had a blister on my tongue (perhaps from the previous peppers?) and didn't want to aggravate it, so I told him I would eat it later. I got such a large response from people who wanted to see me eat it that I told them I would bring it back to work and eat it during break time on Wednesday.

I managed to eat the entire thing without touching the quart of milk or package of crackers I brought with me, and am told that my face turned as red as the pepper. Tears started streaming from my eyes. My mouth was pain, and it was getting worse. I quickly downed 3/4 of the milk and several of the crackers and the pain started to subside. After 10 minutes, my mouth was back to normal, but my face remained red for an hour and my stomach started to hurt. This hurt came and went throughout the day even though I continued to eat crackers and yogurt, but I can deal with pain, right? Apparently my system cannot, and it emergency evacuated the contents of my stomach up and out an hour before my shift was over. Fortunately, I had seen it coming and was prepared for it, but the pepper still burned my mouth almost as much as before. I was glad I had some milk left, and came home early.

Before today, I was seriously thinking about taking these different potencies of pepper back to college with me and using them as part of "extended orientation," much like the hot pepper-eating contest I had with Dex when I was a freshman. Perhaps I would even use them as weaponry if 41 was ever wronged. But now that I have actually experienced the hottest pepper available to me, I will ask for no more of it. I will hold no contest, nor will I use them in retaliation. Pain is one thing, but I draw the line once something actually upsets your system. At most, I think I might take a bag of the milder serannos to keep me awake during all-nighters.

And I think I'll avoid spicy food for a while.

End Of Line.

2007-07-05T00:31:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I mentioned that I was designing a retractable desk for my room. Well, after several adjustments and re-engineering episodes (our first try didn't fit through the door), it was completed somewhere around two weeks ago. And now that a digital camera has come within my grasp, I can share some pictures of it:

Ta-da!

The three arms on either side allow me to lower the table top onto my bed when I want to work on puzzles or other things...

...then raise it up to the ceiling when I want to go to sleep.

The top of the table is designed to rest snugly on the outer frame and will not move on its own when in the raised position. Even so, I secure it in place with a bungee cord to keep it from crashing down on me during the night.

The reason the desk and only the desk is black is because of something I remembered from my days in wood shop. After we finished each project, our teacher would cover it with a clear coat of spray paint to seal all minor cracks. I thought this would be a good idea since the plywood boards weren't of very high quality and I didn't want to get any splinters while working. We didn't have any clear spray paint, so I chose to make the desk black, if for no other reason that to look like Master Control from the movie Tron.

The project on the near side of the desk is a puzzle given to me by Trolley, and the papers on the far side are the products of my latest en devour: teaching myself discrete mathematics using an "obsolete" textbook that TOME was giving away. I'm probably never going to take the class at school, so I might as well learn the stuff now. I'll have no computer major outsmarting me!

I'm Still Alive!

2007-06-19T00:29:00.000-05:00

I am still stuck here at LeTourneau on my second to last day of class. I saw that I hadn't posted anything since....well, it has been to long. I cannot begin to describe how much I want to go away from college right now and it doesn't help that I still have a paper finish and two finals to study for, both due on Wednesday (6/20). Well, here's a post so enjoy.

May!

2007-05-31T14:45:00.000-05:00

Ha! And you thought I would let this month slip by without a post, didn't you? Well take this!

Now I just have to think of something worthy to post about.

Hmmm....

Well... I'm working again. At the same place as last summer, so it's really boring. My department is also currently on mandatory overtime, so I'm working 10+ hours a day. That combined with 8+ hours of sleep a night doesn't leave much time for anything else. At least I'm getting paid well, especially for the overtime.

I saw Spiderman 3 and liked it, then I watched Spiderman 2 again. Dr. Octopus is my favorite villain, so I still kind of like 2 best of the series. Seeing those giant metal tentacles has ignited the engineer in me, and I am now trying to come up with a way to build my own set of Doc Ock arms. I think I have a idea that might work, but it will take some development to bring it into the realm of reality, and even more tweaking to make it something that I could build. That's speaking of the physical structure, though. The control programming is far beyond me and I'm sure would be hideous even to someone who knew what they were doing.

In the meantime, I'll be working on a free-standing retractable table for my room (a tower that lowers a flat working surface onto my bed when I want it, then lifts it up to the ceiling when I don't).

Jewish Wisdom

2007-04-25T22:57:00.000-05:00

I should probably put something about the context of the following qoute here, I don't think I will. Who needs context anyway?

"You can't put anything I say on the Power Suite blog because mothers and girls read the Power Suite blog."
- name withheld (aka Frisbee)

Of Banshee Farms and the Advent of Pie

2007-04-20T19:02:00.000-05:00

April is almost over.

There hasn't been an April post yet.

I think I'll remedy that.

It doesn't seem like there's a lot to talk about. That's not to say that nothing of interest has happened since the last post, it's just that most noteworthy things that occurred in the last month have already been adequately discussed through other mediums.

The giant Belcher Performing Arts Center was just dedicated, and as a member of the LeTourneau Singers, I can say that I was in THE first group to perform in it. Unfortunately, our performance was from a balcony overlooking the lobby area as everyone left the morning service, so I don't think may people heard us over the talking of the crowd. We did, however, perform again that evening; this time from the stage. The acoustics in that building are really nice. We were followed in performance by Dr. Richard Allen Farmer and Greg Buchanan, who were wonderful. All we needed was for Ravi Zacharias to give a short devotional and the evening would have been perfect.

Another recent event of interest in my life is that my hard drive crashed on Wednesday. It seemed normal when I left for class and when I came back it was trying to reboot and failing to find the operating system. I turned it off and back on, and things worked fine. At the advice of Fjord, I downloaded and ran a hard drive diagnostic program which told me that the heart of my computer was in poor health. Shortly thereafter, it died again. This time I turned it off and left it off. Through Fjord's computer voodoo magic and a few chicken bones all necessary documents and half of my music collection were able to be salvaged before the discs decayed irrevocably, so that's good. I'm currently back to the hard drive that was taken from my old computer when I switched at the beginning of the semester.

And now, I believe I am done.

The job of Banshee Farmer must have a very high turnover rate.

Then God said, "Let there be round pastries with a thick layer of fruit or other delicious filling." And God called the pastries pies, and saw that they were good.

WOW

2007-03-29T15:07:00.000-05:00

Watch this. It's amazing.

This video brought to you by Stumble Upon, quite possibly the most potent and dangerous slacker tool every conceived by man.

In Case You Were Wondering...

2007-03-29T12:13:00.000-05:00

The probability that a human being being of mass 65 kg jumping with a velocity of 4 m/s could make it all the way to Jupiter is roughly 10^(-9*10^51) or

1 / 10^9000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000.

Yay for Modern Physics class!

Cat

2007-03-27T21:40:00.001-05:00

HELICOPTER

2007-03-22T11:23:00.000-05:00

A fine evening of model productivity from the Dry Suite.

Download movie. It is silent

The Dawn of a New Era

2007-03-15T11:46:00.000-05:00

It just dawned on me that there are no Korean embassies in South Korea. Isn't that crazy?

Maniacal Laughter

2007-03-02T18:37:00.000-06:00

My analyst told me
That I was right out of my head.
The way that he put it
Was that I'd be better off dead.
But I knew- I knew-
I knew I
was a GENIUS!

For behold! I have taken apart a DC electric motor, tinkered with the wiring, put it back together, and it is now a fully functional AC generator. This is so much more fun than homework.

I am a nerd. If you want proof of this, the orb in the upper right-hand corner of our group picture is a paper model of a complex polyhedra that I constructed for fun. It is an intersection of a Snub Dodecahedron (in blue) and a Pentagonal Hexecontahedron (in gray).
I started off majoring in Mechanical Engineering (because I like math and physics), but lately I have been re-thinking this. I would really like to major in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Theoretical Physics, but this just isn't sane or possible. So for now I'm settling for dual majoring as an ME and EE, with the possibility of pursuing a math or physics degree in grad school.

The joy that I got from re-working this motor serves to confirm my choice to add Electrical Engineering to my course load. And so, Dozer, there no longer remains any question of whether or not I am ready for my future.
The true question is:

Is the future ready for me?

Digital Project

2007-03-01T20:54:00.000-06:00

These are a few pictures of the project I had to do for Digital Electronics. There are 8 logic chips, 2 seven-segment LEDs, 8 regular LEDs, and I don't know how many wires. I was up all night last Thursday working on it, but I guess not sleeping paid off 'cause I got a A on the project. Please enjoy the pics. And to you, Grey, I give you your future!

Masquerade!

2007-02-25T22:20:00.000-06:00

The Wisdom of the Power Suite after a communal watching of the Phantom of the Opera...

FULL SPEED AHEAD, CAPTAIN!

Many thanks to Frisbee for the picture. He is our honorary Power Suite member, EVEN THOUGH he has been on a date with, can you believe this, an actual girl? Difficult to conceive, I know.

Shake it, Space Man!

2007-02-23T01:42:00.000-06:00

Frisbee wishes to contribute the following to the Power Suite blog:

2007-02-18T19:20:00.000-06:00

Yesterday's Dilbert just had to get posted.

Breakfast of Champions

2007-02-13T16:32:00.000-06:00

Our sidebar pic, clicky.

Homework

2007-02-13T12:34:00.000-06:00

Why does homework exist? Is it to torture us students? Or is it for the professors to laugh at us when we fail? And what is up with profs not teaching you your homework? Here you go, here's a 60 page tutorial on LabVIEW that you need to know by this afternoon....oh, and here is two more homework assignments as well. Dumb, dumb dumb!!!! There is a verse in Ecclesiastes that says "meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless." I am finding more and more truth in this verse everyday. Homework...some call it a necessary evil. I call it a means by which teachers suck your soul out of your body. As Grey put it: "Give up your soul now, 'cause you sure aren't graduating with it!".

Aston Martin!

2007-02-12T18:18:00.000-06:00

So, this is like the sexiest car ever! Aston Martin! Mmmmmm. In the movie The Italian Job, Handsome Rob says there's not much a girl won't do on the seats of an Aston Martin. I am inclined to agree with him.
In other news, I am proud to announce that this is my first blog. Yep, I'm a noob. Well, enjoy the Aston Martin and watch James Bond movies.

First Post FTW

2007-02-12T16:10:00.000-06:00

Exuberance!