Haro Mk.II 无-与-有

June 4th Memorial Demonstration - Toronto

2010-06-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

Twenty-one years after the fateful day when students all over China rallied for freedom and democracy, Chinese people all over the world still continue to remember and grieve over what has been lost that day and what will surely come in the future. There can never be a definitive answer to who is right and who is wrong, but what is sure is that popular representation is what China need more than ever. Let us not forget the dreams of those brave students.

The protest started in front of the Chinese consulate, but the demonstration moved south down St.George until it finally reached Queens park where a simple ceremony was held. Speakers each demonstrated their eagerness in seeing China adopt a more democratic approach to governing and the need for a more dependable and accountable Chinese government.

When dusk finally came, candles shone through the empty darkness in an almost, accentuating the sombre scene. People of all ages went up in rows and presented their flowers and took a bow to show their respect to all who stood bravely during what they believed to be a protest for freedom.

Lest we forget and have a good day, everyone.

Anime North - Photo Report Part 1 Cosplays

2010-06-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

To be completely frank, I honestly didn't expect this level of variety at an anime festival, but there he is, standing right in front of me, Arthur Dent from the most succesful book to ever be published by the Ursa Minor Publishing company, the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy! Here's the rest of the photographs I took at the Anime North convention, being posted after a terribly long delay. Enjoy!

Anime North Day One - Fans and costumes everywhere, but not a bit COURAGE to be found...

2010-06-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

28-May-2010

Set out from school for the Toronto Congress Centre at around 4:00 and as soon as I got onto the bus, I knew this wasn't going to be some small convention where only the hardcore will be attending. Interestingly enough, though many of the geeks are dressed in plain clothes, it's very obviously who they are and what they're after when they gather in hordes like this.

About ten minutes into the ride, a fully costumed otaku walked tentatively onto the bus as a character who's name I'm not very sure of, but judging by the funky hair style, the colourful armour and the enormous Keyblade, I'm quite sure is from Kingdom Hearts.

At arrival at the convention centre I shuffled off the bus following the horde of geeks and otakus only to see an even bigger, nay, much bigger gathering of all that is fanboys, fangirls, anime, games and most of everything else geek related. Twas this moment that I realized just what an anime convention was all about and it. is. GLORIOUS.

--But what is Anime North About, you ask? Let's see now, the Anime North is proabably the largest convention in Toronto for anything anime related but it also attract other factions of the geekdom like gamers, comic/cartoon, LARPers. I was genuinely surprised by the diversity of the convetion's demography as I was only expecting to see anime related things for the most part.--

Soon after leaving the bus station, I saw something that surprised and delighted me quite a bit. It's BLUE team from Team Fortress 2! With lightning fast reflexes and uncanny reflexes, my hand flashed to the holster and grabbed the camera.

Despite this, I only managed to snap a single picture before their dreaded and eternal rival showed up! RED!

And a battle promptly broke out.

The look on the Heavy's face is priceless!

After that, time passed by somewhat eventfully as I was greeted by an infinite queuing works, thankfully, there's Dan-Board at the entrance to the main building to lighten the mood before I moved on to yet another queue inside the building.

Ugh, waiting in line isn't nearly as fun, but at least I can look at all the funky costumes in this case!

DANBOARD!!

Although the line-up was quite long and tedious, the rest of the convention was very pleasant as I came across quite a few interesting cosplayers in the dealer room. I am also delighted to say that most cosplayers are quite approachable and do like having their pictures taken!

TENTAI SENSHI - Sunred!

Sailor Jupiter

Doraemon...?

Andy Waltfeld, or any other of ZAFT's desert officer for that matter.

Great Saiyaman!!

Sanjou!!

After having bought the first volume of GaoGaiGar box sets in the dealer's room for about $31, I proceeded to do the one thing I came to the convention to do! To meet Hiyama Nobuyuki, the Gaine of Might Gaine, the Viral of Gurren Lagann and most of all, The King of Braves, Guy Shishio himself!! Needless to say, I was very excited and a bit nervous as well! Just as I was getting excited about meeting him, a pitiful sight struck me as very surprising and disappointing.

There he is, the King of Braves, sitting at his booth, but the line-up in front of his booth is surprisingly short! Looking around, I caught sight of the booth beside his belonging to Vic Mignogna's and with a strange rush of annoyance, saw that his line is, dare I say, thrice as long as Nobuyuki's!

The reasons for this is is quite simple I guess since Vic is the voice actor of Edward Elric, and since this show is much more popular over here than all of Brave Series combined, it's no wonder why fans would flock to him. So with this mindset, I guess a more proper reaction would have been to be more understanding and less of a fanboy, but alas, one does not care to admit the mistakes of ones youth.

The actual act of acquiring Nobuyuki's signature is much easier than my over-excited and nerve-racking mind led me to believe but nevertheless, I let out a sigh of relief as I walked away from Nobuyuki's booth, now with the signature on the first box set of GaoGaiGar. Sweet victory.

I can't describe how cool this is!!

Guess that just about sums up the first day I spent at the first ever anime convention I attended. Met a few old friends, made a few new ones and just about everyone was nice and approachable. This definitely re-inforced my belief that even on the large scale, fans aren't all that different from regular folks, but it also brings up the question of why there's still a sort of stigma against all this stuff. Maybe I'll try to explore this subject a bit more later on, but for now, let's call it a day.

ENGINEER IS WATCHING YOU!!

Have a good day, everyone!

Changing news stories isn't nearly as awesome as change Getter

2010-04-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

Ian Bush, 22 year old and dead from a shot to the back of his head, but that's not the point here.

For the first time, I saw a news story being changed within a day of the initial report.

This morning, CBC Radio 1 reported an incident where a police killed a son of a woman in BC in an act of self defence. The women went ahead and filed a lawsuit against the police, not with the intention of prosecuting the officer, but rather to draw attention to cases like this where the killing could have been prevented and to encourage change in the police's internal structure. Upon hearing from the police that there are plans to refine this internal investigation system of the police, she promptly dropped the lawsuit, acknowledging that the financial burden is also a bit too much at the moment for her. At least this is what is said in the initial version of the story.

Come the afternoon news reports, the story is brought up again, only this time, new information such as the fact that the man whom the police has killed had the police pinned face down when the police shot him in the back of his head surfaced. Furthermore, this new didn't even bother to mention that the mother had learned about the change in the police system and only said that it's because of the financial concerns that she dropped the lawsuit. What the heck happened here?

A better question would be, why did what just happened happen and what does this say about the so called free media? Look, I'm not saying that this is a call to arms nor am I saying that nothing in the media can be trusted. What am I saying is that, it is important, even "free" countries, to always be critical of what you see or hear on the news, as there will always be bias in the material, intentionally or not. In more extreme cases, certain information may be taken out of the pictures and others added in (both are exemplified by this incident) to match a certain idea or to alter how the story is perceived. Sometimes this is done without outside influence, in other cases it could have been a way to keep itself from being criticized. No matter which case is true, the listener still has the responsibility of filtering stories and incident through his or her personal logic with extra care taken to be as unbiased as possible

Personally, I think it is more likely that the first version of the story is true, since she posses the least power to do anything if the story isn't, whereas by the nature of their existence, the police is supposed to be seen as a positive force and changing the story in this way certain has helped with that.

That said, I don't think this story in particular has been changed intentionally and is probably just an innocent case of innocent mismanagement.

Anyway, have a good day everyone and don't forget to think before you know!

*source http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2006/09/07/bc-oppal-bush.html

Reborns Wings 2.0 Preview

2010-04-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well, as I promised last time, here's the new and updated Reborns Wings! It's still a bit ghetto, but I think it looks pretty sweet nonetheless! The formal photoshoot of this beauty will be coming soon!

Yeah, the rear view looks pretty hurp durp, but it's only one angle!

Thoughts on the recent Kyrgyzstan coup/revolution

2010-04-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

Facts:
-Bakiev has low approval ratings and was not elected
-Financial inflation and privatization of electricity contribute to above
-US and RUSSIA both have strategic bases in Kyrgyzstan
-US need the base to transport troops to Afghanistan

Speculations:
-Since old regime allowed for US to continue operation their base and new regime gave no conclusive answer, it could be the case that US hopes for the coup to fail
-Russia has openly supported the coup leader, so it might be the case that they are giving Russia benefits. A new base perhaps?
-The majority of the people support the coup leader, complicating the situation for US, who always try to support the democratically elected government
-Since coup is currently claiming to be government, we might see US trying to negotiate with their leader
-It is unlikely that US will give any direct help to the old regime because of point mentioned two bullets above.

Updates
05-16-2010
-New government vow to persecute ex-president
-Transportation of US troops through Kyrgyzstan has stopped
-Russia and China feel that Kyrgyzstan will stabilize very soon. Are they merely watching or are they taking action to ensure this happens?
-Various sources speculate Kyrgyzstan will form parliamentary government.

Speculations:
-US will definitely side with new government and are willing to gain trust by any means now since old one is obsolete . Probably won't say it publicly, but that's beside the point.
-The battle is now b/w US and Russia to see who can win the favours of the new govn't
-Russia seem to want to take action indirectly to win its stay or even have US expelled from Kyrgyzstan
-US will back new government and encourage them to fully democratize.

Well, let's see how many of these happened to be true.

King Gainer Reshoots

2010-04-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

From time to time, I like to get some of my figures and gunpla out to take a few pictures, especially if I felt the first batch of photos could have been much better. In this case, I've decided to get King Gainer out again and test out the ghetto studio and since the actual figure itself has already been covered here, I'll save the words and commence the photo-dump.

I'm always impressed by how expressive King Gainer's face is when you look at it from different angles.

Some shots of the details.

That's it for now. Expect more things like this in the future!

Have a good day, everyone!

HG00 Reborns Gundam WIP Final: It's finally finished!!!

2010-03-14T23:05:00.000-07:00

Through darkest days and brightest nights,

Through thundering wind and billowing waves,

The great gunpla soul refuses to die,

The lone plamodeller persevered!

Behold the light that shines from the heavens itself,

Behold, the light of rebirth!

Reborn!

This beauty looks even better once she can stand on her own feet! Review is coming up soon, but for now, have a good day everyone!!

HG00 Reborns Gundam WIP Part 3

2010-03-06T21:06:00.000-08:00

Reborns Wings Alternate FORM!!

During another build session, I've managed to install the backpack, aka the body of Reborns Cannon, I'm pleasantly surprised the bulk increased quite a bit.

Onto the transformation mechanism.

HEAD DOWN!

HEAAAADDD....

UUUUUPP!!

*BzzzooooOOOMMM

The transformation is simple and intuitive enough, which is one of the things I like the most about this model. Every bit of mechanism is so simple in design, yet the process is so fluid in execution!

I'm a huge fan of the gun's design. Like the MS itself, it's simple and to the point yet still retain a flair of its own.

It has two modes and both look decent. The first is for Gundam Mode while the second is for Cannon Mode.

Close up shots reveals quite a bit of detail! One complaint is the lack of detail on the red locking piece, but it's only a minor complaint. The shield of this model however is one the most amazing shields I've ever seen. Maybe it's the ultra angular and slim design, or maybe it's the fact that it looks almost like self contained unit, but one thing that I do know I like is its transformation gimmick!

ffffSSSHwwwiing!!

It looks so awesome!! As I played around with the guns and shield, something hit me as I looked at them...

I took the shield, and looked at it....

I took the shield, put it on the GN Rifle and looked at it a bit more....

Before long, my crackpot mind spewed out an amazing idea. I grabbed my HG Nu Gundam, ripped off its fin funnels and stuck them onto the rest of the abomination and thus, Reborns Wings is born!

The thing is held together by tape and my relentlessly creative soul, but with the magic of photoshooping, I can make the tape disappear!

Well, that's all for now. More progress will be made with the next post and for now, have a good day everyone!

HG00 Reborns Gundam WIP Part 2

2010-03-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since my last (real) update, hasn't it? I suppose it has, but fear not dear readers, for this time, I bring you some legitimate content!

I've been working on this kit on and off and have finally got the upper body finished! It's not that big of a step forward, but it's a step forward nonetheless. So without further ado, let's spam some pictures first!

When I started this kit, the first thing that I decided was that the gold colour used for the kit looked inexcusably horrible, so I decided on the spot to switch to using a much better looking Tamiya X-12 gold. As it happens, this is one of the best decisions I've made and the result looks amazing. Another thing I noticed is how much of a difference using the properly sized brush makes. Always use a properly sized brush that's of decent quality! The detail brush should be more or less durable and have a flexible, but pointed tip. Another proof that this was the right choice.....

Look! With the gunpla spirit, the golden paint is burning red!!

Ahem... Anyway, onwards with the WIP! Transformation mechanism for the head is quite simple and intuitive.

The shoulder joints are connected to a locking mechanism so that if you pull the joints a bit out of their sockets, the collar plate will be unlocked and the whole collar area can then be retracted into the chest.

I IS NINJA!

One thing that surprised me is how well the stickers work for this kit. Almost every one of the stickers included (save for the fugly yellow ones) looks pretty amazing! One complaint however is that Bandai has again refused to provide a sticker for the rear camera. AGAIN!! Everything lees fine though....

Alright, this is it for this post. Next post will show the model with the backpack installed as well as the shield and beam weapon.

Have a Good day, everyone!

Reborns Gundam's Secret Mode......

2010-03-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

Reborns Wings!!!

Don't tell me I'm the only one who thought of this when I saw the shield and the gun. As for the actual WIP, it's coming, so please bear with me. More pictures after the break.

The edited picture with the background removed.

Original picture.

*updated with cleaner "clean" pictures.

Storm after the calm.... HG00 Reborns Gundam WIP Part 1

2010-02-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

After a long stagnation, it's back to business as usual! I can make all sorts of fancy and convincing excuses, but I won't, so without further ado, let's just jump right into it!

I got the Reborns Gundam quite a while ago, all the back at early January actually and the process through which I acquired it is a whole story by itself, so I won't bore you with all the details. I will say that although it wasn't easy to get, it is worth it through and through. The first thing that will hit you when you see this beaute has to be its amazing box-art, which in my humble opinion conveys not only the grace, but also the tremendous power that Reborns embodies! Just think how many other, "fabulously fancy" MS with similar design elements as Reborns was shown in a non-functional, posy situation and look look again at the Reborns' box art. All the other fancy MS can do their fancy poses for all I care, but Reborns? He's got his gun in one hand, pointed right at you and beam sabre in the other hand, microseconds from making contact with its intended target. Yes, it is fancy, but no it's not going to let you live enough to bathe in its glory.

What I like about Reborns' design is how it's able to meld the two eternally conflicting elements of aesthetics and functionality into one single elegant powerhouse. Much like the Hi-Nu now that I think about it. Upon opening the box, you will discover 6 ABS plastic runner plates and a polycap plate.

First up is of course, the most colourful A plate. Nothing out too out of the ordinary here, but I do really like how the shield is designed. Also worthy of note is the beam sabre, which is completely clear this time. I wonder if I should be lazy and just use my clear green, but since I'm not completely insane, I refrain from that course of action and buy the appropriate colors and paint it later.

Next up is the B plate, which is not white for once! On it are piece for the funnels which does lack a bit of detail, but considering the scale isn't that big of a deal. One thing I really have to give Bandai kudos for is the choice of using a darker shade of red since it really emphasize just how powerful Reborns is. *sorry for the bad lighting, but the red is a bit lighter than what you see here.

Next up is are the two white C plates. I'm not sure if it's just my imagination, but it seems like the white they used is a bit lighter than most the colour used for most other kits. Maybe I'm just high. Other pieces for the legs and GN Drive Taus can be found on this plate.

Next is the dark grey coloured D plate. Nothing too special here, so we'll jump right on to the last one.

Last but definitely not least this time around is the PC plate. Very interestingly, I'm surprised to find quite a few new parts.

These parts that I've circled are, as far as I know, completely new parts that didn't exist on any HGs of the past. As for the manual, since it's already scanned at quite a high resolution over at Dalong's I'll just post some highlights along with comments.

Amazing pilot, but can you look anymore like a douche than you already do?

"Come and give me a hug, Setsuna!"something about this shot strike me as disturbingly odd.

Seeing how they had a perfect reference picture for the battle scene, the battle scene in the picture above this one is just lazy and sloppish...

"Fuck yeah awesome" screenshots. And a leg...

I'm pretty sure the guy who made this awesome pose wasn't responsible for that lazy battle pose.

This took much longer than I expected, so I guess I'll cut it off here. In Part 2 I'll continue with some shots pictures of the actual kit along with a surprise.

That's it for now, folks! Have a good day!

2010 Canadian International Autoshow

2010-02-23T21:29:00.000-08:00

Recently went to the Canadian Autoshow in Toronto and snapped a few pictures that I'll probably use as a reference for future modeling projects. Here's a few of the picture in the gallery.

That face says, "Give me your soul.....!"

With ISO and exposure all the way up- FFFFF MY EYES! THEY ARE BLIND!!!

Dat....

...ass

As you can see, I really have no love for most modern production cars and IMO, the last time that standard production cars are still cool was in the 1960s. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the photos and keep mind that there's more in the full gallery.

Have a good day, everyone!

Robot Damashii: ARE YOU GOING FOR MONOPOLY, BANDAI?!!

2010-02-15T09:50:00.000-08:00

These are simply mechas that fans want to see adapted into a figure by Bandai as a part of the Robot Damashii line, but looking at Damashii team's history, it's really not that much of a stretch to say that they will consider or may even be designing these already. After all, this is the one line of products that has released many figures of mechas that have been for the large part, ignored in the past. I mean, who could have thought they'd have the guts to revive the age old classic adventure anime line and release the Ryujinmaru? Who else has in the past had enough guts to bet on MSs that are fairly popular among hardcore fans, but due to it's obscurity have never been released in any other format, things like the Den'an Zon and Kapools? Which other line would dare stray so much from their prefered size and release something like König Monster and Sutherland Sieg right alongside other much smaller mechas like the F91s? Oh yeah, they also released things that even many fans of Gundam may never heard of or have altogether forgotten about, things like the Zondo Gei.

Well with all that said, without further ado, here are the winning mechas and some awesome pictures of the respective winners!

(1) ShinkenOh from "Samurai Sentai Shinkenger"

(2) L-Gaim Mk-II from "Heavy Metal L-Gaim"

(3) Gundam X from "After War Gundam X "

(4) GaoGaiGar from "The King of Braves GaoGaiGar"

(5) AV-98 Ingram from "Patlabor "

(6) Ryuohmaru (龍王丸) from "Heroic Legend of Demon God Wataru"

(7) Gear Fighter Dendoh from "Gear Fighter Dendoh"

(8) God Gundam from "G Gundam"

(9) Alteisen from "Super Robot War"

(10) Layzner from "Blue Comet SPT Layzner "

Wait, that's not it. This is the real Layzner.

The scariest part isn't the fact that they are releasing a plethora of mechas from a wide range of genre, but the fact that they've released this many figures in a time of just over 1 year since the creation of the Robot Damashii line! At this point if they are not trying to take over the world of 12 inches mecha figure, I'm not sure what they're trying to do!

*sigh, All in all, I'm glad that we finally have a line that is willing to explore the market to this extent and am even more happy about the fact that they are quite consistent in their ability to continue dishing out high quality mecha action figures. Whatever the case, the winner will be , for once, the fans so with all that said, have a good day everyone!~

-Images of Damashii figures courtesy of NgeeKhiong

Cosmo Fleet Collection's rendition of Gwadan class

2010-02-13T08:59:00.000-08:00

Goddamn this ship is sexy! This is a mini-sculpture of the Gwadan Class from Z Gundam released as a part of of the 2nd Volume of the Cosmo Fleet Collection line. Considering the fact that the ship's miniature sculpture is just around 5cm long, the amount of detail they managed to fit onto is incredible!

The only legitimate complaint I have is that the eyes of the Qubeley is a little too messy, but that can be fixed easily with a custom paintwork.

I know this post is a bit shorter than most others, but I just had to get this out there!

Since I have nothing else worth saying, have a good day, everyone!

On Nozick and the Essential Contradiction of the Idea of "Individual Rights"

2010-02-11T21:21:00.000-08:00

Pic isn't really that related, but seems to be on the surface level.

What makes an individual if his rights are given by the state? Is this really radical individualism? Even it more individualist if there were no government at all and everyone would either have to live and fight, or cower and die? In this sense, isn't the idea of indivualism be completely contradictory to the notion of rights? How can people be individuals if their rights are given and ensured by an external force? Conversely, how can people have rights, if everyone are truly individual and uphold their own livelihood and future with nothing but their own power, which in the process may stop other people from being able to do the same?

Case in point "the only rights of which we can legitimately speak are the inalienable (natural) rights of the individual which are independent of society which include, above all, the right to pursue one's own ends so long as they do not interfere with the rights of others." (Held 2006 pg 202)

Unless he meant traditional rights, how the heck are the natural rights "inalienable" and "independent" when you can't "interfere with the rights of others"?! Just what does he think individual and society mean?!!

But why are contradicting statements such a good description of our world?! Why is everything that we see and do essentially a contradiction?!!

"Ownership of property and the appropriation of of the fruits of one's labour are fully justified if all that is acquired is justly acquired originally originally and/or the result of open and voluntary transaction between mature and knowledgeable individuals." (Held 2006 pg202)

How is the right to ownership and property "inalienable (natural) rights of the individual which are independent of society" when it HAS TO BE "justly [ACQUIRED]" OR HAS TO BE OBTAINED THOUGH ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL?!!

When will we wake up and realize that individualism as a concept is nothing but a false and self contradicting concept that serves no other purpose other than allow and propel greed, self gain, and self righteousness? I'm not saying that this is right or wrong, as I am not God, but if this is indeed what human live for, WHY THE FUCK DO WE HAVE TO BE CONSTANTLY DENYING THIS FACT?!! IF THIS IS REALLY THE WAY HUMANS ARE MEANT TO LIVE, WHY DON'T WE JUST COME OUT AND ADMIT IT? To ourselves, to the world, to the whole philosophical spectrum, to the entire human race?!!! WHY can't we do that?!! *Edit: This is what it would be if I took away all the emotions, "Just how justified is the assumption that individual should be the basic unit of societies? Logically? What do we ultimately want? Are we more honest when we say we want world peace? When we say that we only want the best for ourselves? Could is it possible for man to really be able to justify this one way or another? "

...is self contradiction, instead of lie, the root of all problems? Is contradiction the "original sin"?

Why are human so capable of not just living with, but BY contradictions?

Have a good day everyone... if you still can anyway.

SEFR-001 - Egg and Mushroom Fried Rice!

2010-02-07T17:05:00.000-08:00

For some strange reason, I have developed a strange enthusiasm for making fried rice, often with a very mix of ingredients. To make sense of all the data gathered from various experimental formulas, I have decided to create a database of all of the various SEFRs - SpeedStriker Experimental Fried Rice - that I'll make, starting with the prototype SEFR-001 EgaM, Egg and Mushroom. Hopefully, the information gathered from these experimental prototypes will eventually lead to some finalized models that will be ready for mass production.

Basic Technical Information:

Production Facility: Standard Electric Stove w/ Non-stick Frying Pan
Production Tools: Spatula, Bowl, Eggbeater or Chopsticks
Main Ingredients: Eggs x 2, Mushrooms x ~10, Ground Beef x 100ml, Boiled Rice*
Auxiliary Ingredients: Oil, Salt, 1 Slice of Cheddar Cheese

Rollout Date: 1 Feb 2010

Serving Size: 1

Pre-Production:
1. Remove the stem of all mushrooms.
2. Take about 4 or 5 mushrooms and cut them into slices and with the rest of the mushrooms, cut diagonal slits on the cap to make them cook faster.
3. After cracking them into a bowl, bat the eggs until they have more or less of a uniform texture.
4. Tear or cut the Cheddar cheese into small pieces, about 1 cm squared in size or so.

Production Log:

1. Heat pan on medium-high temperature until oil poured onto it run freely, but not hot enough to boil the smoke.
2.When oil is hot enough, pour the egg from the bowl into the pan and spread the sliced mushrooms and cheese across the frying egg, but NO NOT BREAK THE EGG. You want the mushrooms to be lodged into the frying egg!
3. After the mushroom is lodged into the egg and the cheese has melted, flip the whole thing so that the other side is cooked as well. Don't worry about breaking it at this point.
4. When the whole thing is finished cooking, take it out of the pan and put it into a bowl, with the spatula, not your hand of course.
5. Deposit ground beef into pan and pour in a bit more oil if you have to and while it is being cooked, dice it into smaller bits with spatula, all the while stirring. Repeat until beef is fully cooked.
6. Add the eggs back in along with the rice and do make sure the rice is separated and not clumping together. Stir fry this whole thing until the rice is has separated, which will take about less than 2 minutes, then add in the slitted mushrooms.
7. Finally, add in a table spoon of salt and stir fry some more to make sure the salt is equally distributed in the fried rice.
8. Carefully push the finished fried rice from the pan into a dish, bowl or plate, it doesn't matter too much and enjoy!

Final Remarks:

Aside from the aroma, this dish is also surprisingly tangy and chewy. I just put the banana is just there for the colours, but as it turns out fits quite well with the meal. The cheese contribute to the overall taste, but isn't too noticeable, which is slightly dissapointing, but isn't too dominating either, which could be a good thing. I'll try a variation of this dish with a bit mroe cheese and see how it turn out. Hopefully it will make the rice all goooey and sticky with cheese strands everywhere! Muahhahahaha!

Ahem. Right, so all in all, the EgaM isn't too bad for a prototype, but I'm pretty sure it can use a bit more refinement.

*More specifically Korean Rice
----Entry by SpeedStriker, dated to AD 2010, February 07.

Re-release of Revoltech Xan from Overman King Gainer

2010-02-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

2800 yen...

The figure will be re-released during this year's 2010 winter Wonder Festival for the price of a whopping 2800 yen. As much as I like this figure, the difficulty of me obtaining one is three fold. First of all, there is no way for me to actually attend the festival to buy it in person, two, it would be cost a ridiculous amount of money which wouldn't have been that big of a deal if it wasn't for the third reason, which is the fact that I'm desperately poor at the moment....so poor.....

Sorry for my mindless ranting and as compensation, have a couple of awesome pictures of Xan itself.

But yeah, hope you liked the pictures and do expect a lot more of them in the future since I have so many pictures I have no idea what to do with them.

On that note, here's a preview for what's coming up soon and please, as usual, do have a good day everyone!

Where do old applications go to die and why is it so hard to press "yes" in the delete dialog box?

2010-02-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

Are you still sticking with Firefox? I've been using Chrome almost exclusively, and although I hate to do this, but I think I might just delete Firefox altogether, since I've yet to use it once in about three weeks.

The only thing that's keeping me from switching over completely is a strange sort of emotional attachments. I mean, it just doesn't feel quite right for me to decide to throw away something that's served me so loyally and faithfully so easily!

But when push comes to shove, I guess at least as far as computer applications are concerned, it is only logical that we keep whichever software outperform the others and is more practical.

Following this train of thought, I guess it is fine before Chrome started to publicize their arsenal of extensions, since I can still say, "oh, I'll still keep Firefox because of all the extensions that it has." Now that Chrome has officially announced its own line of extensions, I just can't think of any good reason to keep Firefox anymore!

Call me crazy, but I think for once, I WILL keep an application if for nothing but measly sentimental reasons for what is the internet if it wasn't that humble browser that brought it to us in all its glory?!

Firefox, you will be remembered indeed for showing us the world that is the World Wide Web, for your valiant efforts to battle the infamous IE and for your ultimate achievement of bringing up an entire generation of Internet users during the Web 2.0 era! For these reasons and many more, you will not be forgotten! Long live Firefox!!

RIP, old buddy!

Please tell me if you have had a hard time throwing away old applications or games that you no longer use, but keep them undeleted anyway?

As always, have a good day everyone!

Homemade Photo Studio- This is no store bought DIY product, boy, no DIY product!!

2010-02-02T15:03:00.000-08:00

Yes, this is a can of Coke, and no, this is not what this entry is about...I think. Nevertheless, read on for more exciting pictures!

After years of using whatever I can find as background, I finally decided to make a photo studio from scratch. Funnily enough, it worked much better than expected, especially considering that it was made from a piece of a spare cardboard box and a few pieces of printing paper, and is held together by a few pieces of tape.

The result is much better than expected, especially in terms of color balance.

What surprised me however, is how much easier post editing is once you have a uniform background. I can finally do more than adjust the brightness settings! As a result, I made a couple of wallpapers with a picture of one of my favourite MS design, the GN-X.

Finally, if for nothing but its bright colors and crazy shapes, I just had to tune King Gainer's picture to make it even more refreshing than it already is.

For some strange reason, this picture of King Gainer reminds me of Tidus from FFX.

Disregarding my curious ability to connect completely unrelated things, please tell me what you think about my noble endeavor to improve the quality of the pictures I post, in the comment section of course.

I do hope your poor eyes don't bleed as a result of looking at my humble homemade studio.

PS, The thing the Ahead is standing on is actually a cover for Vaseline.

Please comment and as always, have a good day!

Revoltech No 007 King Gainer Review

2010-01-30T22:52:00.000-08:00

Alright! After a long delay and numerous excuses I've made up for myself, here comes, at last my review of this amazingly designed figure. To start, I just want to say this: I was completely blown away when I first took it out of its box and started playing around with it. To my surprise, its sculpting is more than decent and its articulation is as impressive as I've heard and saw from many Revoltech collectors.

"Gee whiz SpeedStriker, I'm all excited about this figure, but just what's so great about this King Gainer figure and Revoltechs in general?" you ask? Well, dear readers, let's just say that it wasn't until I bought this figure that I realize one of the biggest difference b/w gunpla and Revoltech.

More picture of the GP01 Zephyranthes here.

While gunpla's main concern is with the accurate visual representation of an MS, Revoltech's business come from their ability to bring out the spirit of a mecha.

You see, Revoltech's ingenuity isn't just in the way they sculpt a figure, but the way they place the joints. The joints are placed in a such a way that just about any reasonable pose you can think up will be perfectly represented by the figure, often so naturally that it's scary. Before we get on to the joints though, let's take at some detail shots.

As you, my dear readers, can clearly see, the Revoltech figure is quite keen on the smaller details in their figure, which greatly surprised me. I always imagined Revoltech to be a line of toys with decent detail and great articulation, but toys nonetheless, which is one of the reasons I've been so reluctant to shell out $27 dollars for it, but thankfully, this King Gainer figure was quite a wakeup call, partially from the very decent amount of detail sculpted into the figure, but most of all, I have for the first time learned, through this figure, the difference b/w articulation and poseability, for reasons I will explain after a rundown of this figure's range of motion.

The shoulder design is quite ingenious, in that it is based not on a traditional Revoltech joint, but is composed of two rotational joints, which gives the figure not only a wide range of motion, but also create a very natural look no matter how the arm is placed.

This is the amount of motion you can get out of using one of the two rotating joints, which isn't too impressive, but then again, this is only one joint.

Using the second shoulder joint alone will allow you to bring the arm outward at a degree, which is again, not worthy of applause, but when you use the two joints together....

Two joints suddenly works flawlessly as one and the shoulder obtain a full range of motion!

The leg uses a very similar double rotating joints system that allow for about the same range of motion as the shoulder joint. As for the knee joint, it bends a bit more 50 degrees.

Its waist joint is quite flexible and allow it to bend nearly 90 degrees, but most importantly...

Also allow it to rotate its torso 180 degrees. What scares me the most isn't the fact that it can do this, but the fact that it looks quite normal and even, dare I say, quite comfortable in this position. King Gainer's asymmetrical design proves to be superior once again it seems.

The head of this figure also boast a fair bit of articulation, but again, isn't extremely impressive if examined separately.

The wrist joint took quite a bit of getting used to for me in terms of posing, since I work mostly with gunpla's ball jointed wrists, but once I figured out how to manipulate its three rotational axis into various positions, system boast a ridiculous amount of articulation. Another thing I'd like to point our about this joint is how well it blend into the rest of the design, even though it's just a plain, exposed Revoltech joint. Kudos to Revoltech.

As one of this figure's most well kept secret, the mane has a deceivingly simple design, consisting of four solitary Revoltech joints and the mane that is attached to them. Like many other things I found about Revoltech, this is just a misleading cover-up.

Despite the simple design, the mane is able to adopt quite a wide range of positions that will make any pose infinitely more appealing. I really like this thing to be honest, and not just for the novelty factor either, although how often do you see mecha with dreadlocks like these? No, I like it because it just add that bit of much needed sense of speed to the design.

It's one of those design elements that makes a mecha look like it's moving at high speed even when it's just standing still. It's what I call a sense of flow.

It's not something that I can quite describe clearly, but what I know for sure is that this is what flying in the air, free of direction, of restraints, being able to soar without a worry in the world must feel like, and this to me, is what King Gainer is all about.

Slowly but surely, I seem to be running out of things to say about this, but then again, King Gainer itself is quite beyond words' description, so it's only natural.

Looks like this is the end of the review, my dear readers and what's a better way to end it all than with the good old "figure with all accessories" shot?

At this time, I'd like to thank you all for going through my wall of text and please do tell me how I can improve my blogging prowess. Other than that, have a-King, a-king ah-Gainer day!

In summary, this is definitely a figure that I'd recommend to anyone who like King Gainer, a decision that I can back up with the figure's great range of motion, more than decent amount of details and a flair that is all too fitting of King Gainer. For a figure that cost 1900 yen, or about $19 US dollar, there really isn't any reason you shouldn't get one.

☆Kira~!☆

Have a good day, everyone!

Democracy and popular participation

2010-01-25T19:24:00.000-08:00

Pic unrelated.

I was doing a bit of research on the media's portrayal of the 2010 Olympics and its surrounding issues from 2001 to 2010, I noticed that very strangely, people who live in a democratic society seems to have no bloody clue about how the system work, or even things that are happening that may drastically affect their lives or the kind of things and issues that are directly against their beliefs and ideal, but due to the general ignorance, no one is doing anything about.

If political participation and the public promotion of which is so central to a democratic government that all of its various forms emphasized it to varying degrees, why is it that there is so little concern about politics in modern North America unless something major happens?

If we truly live and think democratically, then why in the world does sounds of dissent and protest emerge only AFTER a matter is decided, but get almost no promotion or coverage while it is still BEING decided? This is especially clear when you look at the amount of media coverage that the 2010 Olympic games got from 2001 to 2010.

During the time when the city is seriously considering bidding(2001), there was no voice of concern or protest from the media or the people. When the city finally decide to send in the bid, there was still nothing from the people or the media. When the bid is finalized and passed, there was still a ridiculously small voice of concern even after it has been approved. When the city started to start finalizing the budget for the Olympics developments, there was only a very faint voice of concern. At this point, I would like to remind you that there is no going back now for the city regarding the Olympics. While living in BC, I still remember that the first real wave of protest and unrest came only after the plans are already in full execution and the constructions are going full steam ahead, which was already sometime around 2005 or 2006.

So the fact that the Olympics are decided without much input from the people isn't exactly undemocratic, but more of a result of a population that while living in a democratic system, doesn't seem to know how the system work. This of course is also a sign of the system's failure to promote more active democratic citizens, which is another issue that I can't really figure out how to go about solving.

Finally, I would like to conclude by suggesting that in the 2010 Olympics' scenario, think of how much of a difference it would have made if all the hollering activists and torch grabbing protesters made their case when the city is still trying to decide whether or not to bid, or even after the city sent the finalized bid to the Olympic committee for consideration. I'm pretty sure that if the protests and rallies were held during those times, the city would have a much much slimmer(read: nearly no) chance of winning the Olympic bid when the committee compare it to other much more enthusiastic cities.

tldr: Our democracy is seriously flawed due to a system that doesn't encourage participation and the general ignorance of the population, which also could be argued to be a result of living under such a system. Are we really living democratically if we don't take initiative and the system doesn't encourage us to?

Broken hinge... is Fixed!

2010-01-23T20:27:00.000-08:00

Against all odds, with nothing but a few humble tools, and nothing but my willpower and ingenuity to guide me, I have overcome all obstacles, conquered all technical difficulties, brushed shoulders with failure itself to finally fix the joint that no man has fixed before. As I lifted up my numb fingers to carve away the final portion of hardened epoxy putty, I have come face to face with God himself. This is a story....

...that would have been nice if it were true, but is, in fact complete bogus. Turns out that the solution to the broken joint isn't nearly as complicated as I imagined.

When I finally started fixing the joint, I rummaged through a few of my old gunpla boxes which were largely abandoned and dutifully gathering dust. There inside one of the box was some spare polycaps that I kept as spare parts in case something like this hinge need to be replaced. So basically, all I had to do is cut out the front portion of the polycap for the wing joint to attach to, trim the front corners so the wings can pivot more easily and then just sheer off enough of it from the side so that it can be fitted into the wing's joints.

This is the result

The polycap's peg was a bit too small for the hole on the backpack, so I just used the age old method of painting a layer of black paint to increase the peg's thickness.

With the wing attached to the modified polycap, the result is quite good and other than the color, which I plan to correct later, really have no blatant flaws. While fixing this hinge system, I did at one point consider replacing the whole thing with one single ball joint attached to a peg, but since I have neither the material nor the time to gather them, this will have to wait.

So that's basically all I had to do. The joint works pretty well and I'm glad with the result, but to be honest, it was a bit too underwhelming since I really did expect an epic quest of re-constructing the broken hinge. After all said and done, one lesson has been learned and that is to always keep track of your inventory, or you could waste a lot of time trying to come up with and carry out solutions to problems that you could have easily fixed if you knew what those gunpla boxes of yours held within them!

Broken hinge

2010-01-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

A friend I met in my school's anime club brought in a SD Wing Custom Zero one day and it turns out that one of the "U" shaped hinge joint that connects the smaller stabilizer wings is broken. Being such a good person who also cannot bear to see gunpla remain broken like this, I immediately offered to repair it.

After examining it a bit more in detail, I found that the problem is much worse than I thought. The biggest problem is that the hinge is so small that any attempt to fix it by inserting something like a metal rod will not work and is so thin that if it was just held together by plastic cement, would break again very soon.

Nevertheless, I removed most of the peg that's still stuck in the blue backpack part to make it easier to work with. As you can see from the following pictures, the joint is supposed to hold the stabilizer wing so that it can pivot horizontally, but the design also allow the wing to rotate.

The biggest challenge right now is finding a way to replicate these motions. One way that I may be able to do this is to shape out a block of epoxy roughly the same size as the old hinge, cut and sand it into shape and drill a hole through it.

The problem is that something this small will not be able to hold itself together if a metal rod is inserted inside it. So what I might have to do is to attach the rod to the backpack itself and just drill a hole into the hinge.

Another way I can go about replicating the original function of the hinge is to, well, simply replicate the hinge. I've never tried it before, but I'm somewhat tempted to try casting a mold and just replicate the hinge, but have no idea where and how to start.

Basically, my main concern is to replicate the articulations of the original joint and if anyone have any other idea about how to go about fixing this joint, please send me a holler.

SpeedStriker Signing Out--

Stargazer

2010-01-20T20:52:00.000-08:00

Waxing Crescent phase of the moon as seen during Spring.

I finally decided to visit the astronomical observatory at my university today and was thankfully reminded me what the night sky, which I have neglected for the longest time, meant to me.

Ever since I was a kid, there's always something about the night skies and its stars that attracted me. The wonderful ways the stars twinkle and form numerous patterns that I used to group into my own constellations is just tremendously amusing to me... although I didn't exactly see too many real stars.

See, growing up in a big city in China like Shenzhen during the 90s doesn't exactly allow you to see many stars, or even anything in the night sky for the matter. Ironically, I think it's probably because of this that I developed a strange attraction to the stars, based not on from what I see, but on something constructed from things that I can gather from science encyclopedias, TV programs, movies and anime shows. In other words, I was attracted to them because I believed them to be something wonderful and fantastical; my attraction to the heavens was based on faith rather than substance.

The first time that I looked up during the night and saw a sky filled with nothing but stars, very understandably, I was flabbergasted, as this was almost like an experience that reaffirmed my faith. Constellations appeared, the stars rose and set and behind everything was the vast strip of billions of stars called the Milky Way(I knew all this from the illustrated scientific encyclopedias I've read). Some stars were brighter than others, some were darker, some twinkled faster, others slower. To be seeing something that you've always believed to be true, but never saw in real life like this was was nothing less than a miracle for me.

As time went on, however, and I started to slowly get used to the night sky above west coast Canada, the stars that was once a fascination for me also seemed much less interesting. As ironical as it is, the more accessible the stars are in reality, the less interesting they were to me. Eventually, the night sky full of stars became the status quo and my interest have all but disappeared. Fortunately, though my interest in real stars have waned, my general interest in the field of science and technology never quite went away.

I guess this must have been the reason why I decided to check out the astronomy today despite the terrible weather and freezing temperatures. As I looked up through the telescope into the night sky, my eyes saw things that I've never seen in real life before. Nebulae, open clusters, moon's surface, double clusters Mars' polar ice caps, Sirius -- all of them I knew from the books and news that I've read over the years but have never seen with my owns eyes before -- appeared in front of my eyes. This time however, my awe is no long based on faith alone, for this time, I was able to match the knowledge that I have collected and analyzed with real substantial data. I can now formulate theories based on what I already know and test them against observable data to see if they correspond with reality.

At the end of the day, I guess the real fascination still lies within the realm of faith, since even though I can't give any specific reasons, I still think Orion is the most amazing constellation in the night sky. Hey, it's a frickin' celestial warrior hunter going after the biggest whale the world has ever seen! What more can you ask?

Have a nice day.

King, king, king....Gainer!

2010-01-19T19:13:00.000-08:00

Recently picked up this Revoltech King Gainer at a local hobby store and initial impressions are very positive. This is my first Revoltech and after playing around with it a bit, I can definitely see what the attractions of Revoltech figures are. I will post a more detailed review of this figure soon, but for now, let's just say that this is definitely a good introduction to Revoltech figures and what they are capable of.

Happy New Year Everyone!

2009-12-31T23:14:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and here's hoping for a better decade!

Lights of Christmas

2009-12-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

First of all, Merry Christmas everyone!

By my irresponsible tradition and lack of a sense of responsibility, I have once again decided to post right before the end of Christmas Eve and at the beginning of Christmas day!

The post consist of various pictures I took on a incredibly cold day with freezing fingers of various Christmas decorations in my neighborhood. Some are more reserved, and some are incredibly fancy, but all of them, I would like to think, are made and created with the best of intentions!

Words are not exactly necessary, so here are the pictures. Enjoy!

Once again, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Everyone!

Asian Ukulele Kid

2009-12-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

Putting guitar players around the world to shame with his eagerness and confidence all the while being cuter than a paper Acguy.

Twilight according to a Grade 8 boy

2009-11-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, while attending church, I got a chance to ask a grade 8 boy some questions about Twilight and here's how it went.

Q. Have you seen the movie?

A. Yes.

Q.What did you think about it?

A.Awful.

Q.How many girls in your class have read Twilight?

A.All of them.

Q.How many of them liked it?

A.All of them.

Q.How many guys in your class have read Twilight? Have you read it?

A.Yeah. A lot of guys read it.

Q.What did you think about the book?

A.Terrible.

Q.And the other guys?

A.Same.

I have deduced from this conversation that Twilight is nothing short of complete utter shit for any men, no matter what his age is.

*This is completely true according to what I can remember from the conversation on Sunday.

Would you like a Jelly Baby?

2009-11-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

While attending the Toronto Hobby Show 2009, it was something other than the scale models and hobby models that caught my attention. There was a stand, a candy stand that was selling imported sweets and snacks from UK, and immediately I thought of the one single thing I knew about English snacks. Jelly Babies.

Now, there were quite a few kinds of Jelly Babies, as it turns out, so since I didn't know which ones were the ones that Doctor Who was so very fond about, I decided to get two of the most legit looking ones. As it turns out after a bit of research, the show doesn't seem to mention specifically the brand, which is quite different from things are done here in North America, where brand names are everywhere.

Further research revealed that Jelly Babies were first launched in 1919 under the name Peace Babies to celebrate the end of the First World War, but production was suspended when WWII started due to both a shortage of material supply and the irony of the name. All is not lost, since after the war, the brand was relaunched in 1953 as Jelly Babies. In 1989 however, the company that was producing the Jelly Babies, Basetts, was taken over by Cadbury Schweppes, but the production of the product Jelly Babies, thank goodness, was not stopped.

By this logic, if the 4th Doctor Who's tenure, who single handedly gave Jelly Babies more publicity than it will ever need, lasted from 1971 to 1981 then it is reasonable to conclude that, unfortunately, it will be quite impossible to enjoy the exact same kind of Jelly Babies that Doctor Who was so obsessed about since the company that produced the Jelly Babies at the time was acquired by Cadbury Schweppes.

I cannot say persoanlly if the quality and taste of Jelly Babies changed at all since I wasn't even born at the time of the aquisition, but if Coca-Cola is any good comparison, then I'm fairly sure that over the years, the product would have changed regardless of whether the acquisition happened or not. Products must change in order to keep up with the times and meet the requirements of the customers. Change is both a proactive force and a reactive response, which over time will produce something different, even if the name remain the same. One does indeed grow tired of Jelly Babies, but so as long the Jelly Babies continue to change and evolve, it will be nigh impossible for people to stop asking the question "Would you like a Jelly Baby?"

Have a Jelly Baby, and good day to you.

Is it just me, or does this barely look like a baby at all?

Aren't papier mache cuts the worst?

2009-11-04T21:19:00.001-08:00

I was asked this random question when setting up my profile. Thought I'd share my opinion regarding this subject.

Paper, big deal.

Not really, no. As a matter of fact, I can never understand why it seems like such a big deal to many people. I mean, sure it hurts, but there's many other things that is much more painful. If it's about the blood, heck, I've seen too much of it to be really bothered anymore (from a combination of nose bleeding for no reason, to be exceptionally clumsy), unless it's hardcore gore, of course, which is quite disgusting. In fact, the only plausible reason why paper cuts could be so terrible of an experience wouldn't be physical at all, but rather psychological.

Like I said, there's much more things that could hurt you more than being cut by a piece of paper, but that's just why it sucks that much more to be hurt by it! Think about it this way, of all the damned things that could have not only cut you, but also make you bleed, it just had to be an apparently harmless piece of paper! A damned piece of paper not only cut you right open, but also made you bleed and feel surprisingly painful!

FFFFFFFFFFFFFUU- PAPER!!!

Damn you paper! Damn you to hell!!

... ahem! Although I regret the overreaction, these basically is my thoughts on paper cuts.

Good day.

1/100 Gundam DX

2009-11-01T16:28:00.000-08:00

I finished this a while ago, but it remains one of my favourite among my gunpla collection. The simple shape of its silhouette coupled with fine details in every part of the MS makes it one of those designs that just seem to wear out no matter how many times you see it! Although my modelling skills are still a bit lacking, but there's certain things that I experimented with this model that I think turned out quite nicely.

Balance: The one thing that many newer kits should pay more attention to!

I usually don't like a lot of panel lines on my kits, but this is definitely one of the few exceptions. Unlike some of the Wing 1/100 kits, the panel lines on this kit just look so bloody good!

The internal parts for the Microwave Receiver has been detailed with metalic paint. It looks quite nice in person, but doesn't show up too well on camera though.

The way the white panel lining lit up the otherwise black armour pieces contribute quite a bit of detail to the overall look and fell of it.

Satellite System On!

Action Poses and Angle!

Overall, I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. White paint for the panel lines was a huge game for me, but it gave the dark armors a very refreshing look, which suits the rest of the model quite nicely. I also extended the neck by a millimeter or so to give the head a bit more range of motion, which also worked fantastically. The DX is deiniftely one of the MS that could use a bit more attention from modelers.

What is a man's worth...

2009-11-01T15:42:00.000-08:00

...save for the value assigned to him by others? In other words, is there such a thing as self worth? A value that will hold true independent of external

factors?

Well?

PhotoSynth (Microsoft's Got Groove!)

2009-10-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

For the last few years, it had seemed that Microsoft's has lost what's left of its zeal with the fiasco of Vista and numerous plans to at once salvage what they can from that terribly broken system(SPs anyone?) and to, against all rationality, "improve" the Vista system by completely failing at integrating various features(lol "Are you sure you want to_____?" message boxes) and softwares(Live everything, except for even the slightest chance for success) into its cruddy Vista OS.

For the last time, I am DAMNED SURE that I want the goddamned file to be moved the recycle bin!

However, despite Microsoft's shortcomings during the Vista era, it seems that somewhere along the way Microsoft has finally discovered its inner zeal. This ofcourse would be puntuacted by the tremendous success of Windows 7, but this article, like its title suggest is not about Microsoft's newest money grabbing flagship, but rather a software that appeared during the same year of Blackcomb was renamed Windows 7. This is software, the Photosynth, is Microsoft's new and much groovier approach to personal computing.

Photosynth is a software that allow you to create 3D environment simply by providing the program with a sufficient amount of overlapping pictures taken from a single point of view. In other words, all the user have to do is stand in one place, take pictures of the surrounding environment and the rest of the work is done by the program, which will analyze the pictures for edges and recreate a 360 view of the entire area. This innovative way of viewing pictures not only allow the artist to show more than just one part of a whole, but also it may also technically allow truly 3D films to be constructed and shown in real time. As of now, it already has the ability to zoom into a certain object within a whole panorama and rotate around it independently to allow for a truly 3D view of, well technically, any given object within the scene, really.

Enough talk, since if one picture is worth a thousand words, I'm sure that the 205 pictures that make up the world in the link below will do a much better job at explaining potentials of the Photosynth.

Enjoy the show.

￥500/kg(or $160/lb) Beef Sold in China

2009-10-23T17:25:00.000-07:00

Recently in China, various super markets started to appeal to the high-end luxury consumers by importing various food products from other countries and sell them as luxury food items in China. As the market becomes more saturated with numerous small super markets intended to appeal to the general public with the main strategy of lowering prices, competition between stores rose and big companies soon began to realize the much higher potential for profit at the other end of the spectrum. Thus, the luxury super markets are born.

Various stores such as the "International", the "BHG" and "Olé" import their products from countries over the world and redistribute them for a much higher price. According to reports various items like import fruits from Thailand sold for 100s of yuan per kg, imported European bread sold for 10s of yuan per loaf and even imported beef from Australia being sold for nearly five hundred yuan are now becoming a common sight in these luxury stores.

To put that into perspective, one US dollar is equal to 6.82 yuan. Which means that import fruits with price tags of up to $44/kg or $97/lb or higher(from a 300 yuan price), bread sold for $7.3 per loaf and beef sold for up to $73.22/kg or $161/lb are being sold as luxury items in China, where the average wage is approximately ￥1500 or $220 a month.

This may seem like a shocking development in the Chinese economical structure, but in reality, it was only a matter of time before the businesses recognized the business opportunities the growing upper middle class provided. With newfound wealth the demands for high quality products imported from foreign provided business with nearly limitless opportunities for profits. As of now, China is the world's second largest consumer of luxury products, having just surpassed in the most recent survey. Additionally, a research survey published by Abrams Research recognizes China as the largest potential market for future luxury products. At this rate it's no wonder why there's market for those beef.

But still, $161/lb beef?

Holy. Shit.

Sources: http://news.sohu.com/20091021/n267576727.shtml;http://www.abramsresearch.com/files/abrams_research_luxury_industry_survey_0609.pdf

While in Sunrise Restaurant on Jane Street

2009-10-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

Monday about 4pm.

Was looking for a washroom, so I went to Sunrise Restaurant on Jane Street and Falstaff. There was about three people there, the customers of course, as there weere about four more employees, I'd reckon. There was music playing in the background and some birds flying over the telephone poles, with numerous cars passing by on Jane, it feels frankly quite nice. The chicken itself was not delicacy, but the friendly server and the simple taste of the food makes the afternoon snack experience a very simple and comfortable one. Everything felt right.

Time in China, Time well Quarantined.

2009-06-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

Quick post about my time spent in quarantine. How I got here? Had a cold and it turned out to be swine flu, so when I got back to China, boom, I was in the hospital for islolation. Overreaction much aside, this is pretty understandable, seeing what happened the last time China got a pandemic. Now, I'm just hoping to get out of here asap and actually do something.

Pictures after the break.

EDIT:
As promised, here are some pictures of my room in the hospital. Size is fairly good and accomadation is decent. I'm, of course, the only person in the room so it does get a bit boring quickly, but meh, that's just nitpicking. The food is decent and is usually served with soup. There's a TV mounted on the wall, but as you can see from the pictures, the colors are quickly fading and makes it a bit of a chore to watch. Air conditioning is a huge plus and the bed is decent. Enjoy the pictures.

.

Dalong.net reviews MG Zaku II ver. 2

2007-05-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

Don't want to spoil the review, but here's some preview.

Dalong.net has completed the review for the much anticipated MG Zaku II ver.2
Link here:
http://dalong.net/review/mg/mg97/mg97_p.htm

1/100 Red Frame Astray

2007-04-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

I've finished this model quite a while ago (three years ago, I think), but of all the 1/100 that I've made, this one really stand out in terms of design and execution. The appeal of Astray in terms of design is two fold for me. This is one of the few Gundams that is not only able to break out from the mold, but has enough innovations in terms of design to influence future designs (I see Exia as clearly being inspired by the Astray). Second, the design incorporates some very organic elements that contrast against other more mechanical bits, giving the MS a very fluid and dynamic look even when it's just standing still.

The 1/100 Astray not only managed to keep all the design elements and detail, but also managed to give the model an incredible amount of articulation for a 1/100 at the time.

The legs bend nearly 180 degrees.

The amount of detail Bandai managed to pack into a 1/100 is also quite refreshing at the time.

To be honest, I honestly have no valid complaints about this kit, except for maybe that time when the rotating bicep joint snapped and I had to fix it. Maybe I'm just blinded by my affection for 1/100 Astray's design, but I will argue that this kit is a better representation of the Astray design than even the MG in proportion and the sculpting for the head, which despite its peculiar shape, managed to look sharp and detailed from every angle.

Unfortunately, I left this kit back home when I moved to Toronto for university, but it will always have a special place in my heart. The day I forget about the kit will be the day the 1/1 Gundam statue is fully functional and weaponized.

Merry Christmas and Huzzah for Snowday!! Photos included.

2006-12-25T00:43:00.000-08:00

Its the holidays and I thought I'd publish some photos of my models in the snow.

It might be a bit late, but, anyway, enjoy!

Hello from the Gundams!Season's greetings... or an INVASION?
And here come the SD's!
Some figures that I have!
And Finally... The solitary NU Gundam!

After all this photo taking in the snow, its time to bring them inside for some drying!

And the sneaky Wing Zero finally got a good shot of himself as the King of a VERY small Hill! XD

The 'Not- so-new' Hyaku Shiki!

2006-11-24T23:48:00.000-08:00

1/144 HGUC GP01 Zephyranthes, My Best Model yet!

2006-10-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

This is the newest of my, uh, 'refined' (which basically means those that are not complete OOB builds) models. Currently, I'm renovating some of my older kits so, um, enjoy.

Front

Back

Side

Shots