PlasmaFire.org

Welcome 2008 (I guess)! Here goes another year of sporadic blogging, brought to you by Kevin.

Today marks the beginning of the second semester of my sophomore year – and EE 210 is right at the top of my “hardest classes that I cannot afford to get below a C in or face the wrath of my own ‘unstable yet lackluster’ standards”-type courses. People say that “sophomore” means “wise fool” as well; let’s hope I can debunk that definition this time around (considering the…very…lacking performance of this past fall).

And now, some fun things to speak of:
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Clearly, there has to be something that will assist me through the last stretch of tests.

A little closer…

Yes, nothing like pressing buttons for easy ways out. Unfortunately, it came to my attention that the said button–literally and figuratively–does not function. A good dose of prayer and a whole lot of trust in the Lord will suffice, then; Proverbs 3:5-6 comes to mind at this time.

I’m beginning to think that this weblog is shifting too much towards dancing games instead of a “slice of Kevin’s life.” Oh well, time will tell. Once again, there’s another ITG2 progress post for clicking “Read more »”

In other news, I’m heading back for Thanksgiving soon; even though the dorm life at Penn State is nice, I definitely need a break from the work before the short dash towards final exams. Coming home to my parents and sister again will be pleasing indeed. Thank you, God, for this time off so that I can go see my family, church, pastor, and friends again…

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Here’s a formerly-abandoned article that I wrote at RELAy.PlasmaFire.org months ago, of which I decided to move here today. I’ll continue it again as a blog post series (instead of a page) soon; it’s not worth throwing off thoughts such as these anyway.

Ephesians 6:10-20 has always been one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Paul, locked in prison with Roman guards standing close by, vividly illustrates–of all things–the very clothing that his adversaries were wearing: combat armor. Even then, he doesn’t hesitate to bring the truth of the Gospel to light with an object lesson.

Being a video gamer for years, as well as a recent Anime addict as of this writing, I’ve found that one of the most awesome aspects of science fiction is the concept of physical protection from projectiles while often providing a range of mobility and performance unheard of for a normal human. What do I mean? Oh yes, the very dream of many an Anime otaku, FPS/RTS/(MMO)RPG gamer, sci-fi reader, or for that matter, defense researcher: mobile suits and mecha (giant robots!), powered body armor, human tanks, land walkers, cyborgs, and more. They’re often extremely fast. Incredibly dangerous. Very sleek and refined. Really good-looking (most of the time, and usually for the protagonists). And above all, they don’t exist in real life. How sad, isn’t it? Why, oh why can’t I have my own EVA Unit, Gundam, Arm Slave, or at least something smaller like Master Chief’s MJOLNIR exoskeleton armor to command? Why can’t I wield a gigantic beam rifle/sword while smiling to myself, knowing that this multi-story-high, super-fast robot contains un-gaugeable power? Why can’t I sprint faster than a jet around campus, certain that no one would dare threaten me, or at least be reassured that I won’t ever be late for class again?

WHY?

Because I already have armor. And it’s better than the GF13-017NJII God Gundam, to you MS fans. In fact, it’s better than anything in this world!

[to be continued]

Last night was our DDR organization’s turn to host an event for LateNight PennState, held at the HUB-Robeson student center. While the club, aptly named “Dance Dance Maniacs,” did their duty with panel dance video games for the common people, one of the guys (Joseph Sherman) in our club headed over to the nearby pool room to do some work on the In the Groove 2‘s pads. I followed up later to check it out, and it was safe to say that the inside of the dance pads looked…really bad. Not so much that the sensors didn’t do their job of recognizing taps, but the dirt and grime that built up over the months couldn’t be removed by merely blowing and wiping on the internals. Interesting, considering a snug 1/4″-thick slab of Lexan (for each arrow) covered the box of electronics and sensors.

Since a picture would describe well, here’s one such box before any significant cleaning. Pardon the cell phone images:

We decided that one of the Lexan arrow panels would make a good photo prop. (in order: Joseph Sherman, myself, Jason Gilleece)

“I’m in your base, stealing your arrowz.”

Nevermind. The cleaning effort wasn’t really worth it then; we’re gonna need some heavier-duty equipment.