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Welcome to Paanjang's website , where a typical SMK Seafield student brings his school to the world through his own means for honor , glory and driven by the urge to be ahead. Currently studying in Adelaide Australia, where catching up with the demands of university life and letting lose through Mechwarrior is a daily affair. Also looking forward to the day he meet the girl he loves.
Friday , 28th May 2004
The 2 major assignments that are due this week has already been handed in. The 2 assignments are the FEA project and the heat transfer assignment. The heat transfer assignment I handed it in on Wednesday, 2 days before it is due. My friend returned it to me on that evening and both of us complete it , with me doing some corrections for the mistakes he spot and some questions I wanted to ask the lecturer first before I do it. After it was done, the assignment was dropped into the lecturer's inbox next to the School of Mechanical engineering office at 6 pm. With that one down, I can finally get a go ahead on the big thing that need's to be done : the FEA project which is due on Friday (today).
I went to have dinner first after I came return back to uni at half past 6. I have to return back to uni because my FEA project teammates are planning to complete it tonight where the CAT (Computer Aided Teaching) suite is empty and available. Prefer to use it during off-peak hours where we can use the computers as long as we want. My teammates will return to the university back at 8, so I got some time to burn before we get started. During that time I settled in at a computer with some of my course mates which are also doing the same FEA project with their teams in the same computer lab. The computer lab is open 24/7, and for good reason too, because we sure as hell need to use it when we need it! I warmed up by checking my university e-mail, etc.
At 8.30 pm, the rest of my team arrive and we got to work. Our FEA project : a FEA (Finite Element Analysis) of a simple rectangular aircraft wing using the FEA software ANSYS to find the stress distribution and deflection of the wing under so and so loading conditions. We choose a very simple aircraft wing, or followed the KISS philosophy to complete it. Other teams have done wayyy more complex stuff and ran into all sorts of problems. Cannot mesh because too many nodes (since it is the academic version , only 32000 nodes max) , problems even making the model and problems applying the pressure onto it. In fact, in the instructions, it says that we try to simplify the entire and keep it simple. The most important thing it says is that we understand how to do the analysis and interpret the results , not how complex the problem is. Good thing we keep things simple in he first place, because ANSYS is a hard software to use and interpreting the results is also as hard.
That Wednesday night all of us worked right up to 2 o'clock in the morning the next day. I did some section of the analysis while the others did the other part. I don't think I can explain it here on what I did, since it was a complex task and only those who use ANSYS will understand. Basically I mesh the model , apply loads, tell the software to solve and read the results. A bit time consuming at first , but once I got the hang of it , it is easy. Should have thought of a short-cut in the first place to save time.
So how did I went home at 2 o'clock? Well definitely not the bus at that hour. The good thing about this university is that they have a security bus and escort service for we students who stay up late to do work. From 6-11 pm there is a security bus which sent students back home for free. From 11-4 o'clock in the morning the uni's security will sent students back by car (because so little ppl crazy enough to work that late) for free. I didn't know that there is such a service until one of my teammates who wanted to work late told me about it. So luckily got such a service, otherwise I don't think I can work at uni until so late. That Wednesday I thought that was the latest I have gone home from uni, because the following day I came back even later!
I woke up very late on Thursay. After working in front of the computer for nearly 9 hours I don't think I can wake up early enough to catch the 11 Structural Design lecture. I decided I will skip that lecture and come to uni later that day to finish up the project. The lecture wasn't important anyway, since by half-time half the class is gone. There is a Solid Mechanics lecture at 3pm which I attended. This is the subject in which the FEA project is based on.
I think the lecturer must have faced a lot of student's grievances about the FEA project because he extended the dateline to Monday. However he will give an extra mark if the report is passed up tomorrow. Not that we need an extension though, but the reward of an extra mark made us even more determined to hand it in on Friday. The joke is that even if we get 4/10, with that extra mark we will get 5/10! We all knew how strict the person going to mark the report is (not the lecturer btw), so any mark is important!
After that lecture it is off the CAT suite we went. Our ANSYS analysis has been completed yesterday, with only the report remaining. Since I wanted to start work on the report at 4pm, I brought my laptop to uni to to do it. Don't want to fight for the computers in the CAT suit. Also the CAT suite computer has the tendency to crash and with the limit on how much disk space we can use (and internet restrictions) I prefer to bring my wifi enabled laptop. Didn't went wireless immediately though, had to ask my friend to configure my laptop to surf wirelessly.
Suddenly felt so canggih during that time. It also marks the first time I brought my laptop to uni. I brought my mouse and the power cable , except one very important item: the adapter so that my Malaysian socket power cable can plug into the Aussie socket. After dinner I bought the adapter for a whooping AUD 9.88! The one I am using is only RM 7 something. Kept one of the adapter in my bag so that I won't forget to bring it.
From then on it was the race to finish it before 4 o'clock. Four o'clock is when the last security bus.. no, car will sent us home. The 3 of us in the team has set a goal of printing the entire report by tonight, and handing it in tomorrow. Get rid of this annoyance once and for all. It was hard work come to think about it, having to figure out what to write and how to explain what we just did and making sure we learn something from what we have done. I did a lot of explaining in my portion of the report on the ANSYS analysis I did. Others added in some input to the report too. Finally at 3.30 am (yes, 3.30 in the morning the 28th) , we have finally completed the report and it is ready for print. Could have done it earlier but we lost an earlier file when we didn't save it :( Fortunately the only thing we lost was the arrangement settings , header and footer, numbering and not the important explanation we crack our heads for. I did add in some bits of info, but forgotten what I type it in earlier.. oh well.
Since there are so many color pictures, we decided to print the 29 page report at 30 Aussie cents per page! Totaling up it is RM 25 to print! Doesn't matter, I still got a lot of money in my print quota (all students have AUD 50 before they need to pay) and at the time of printing only used up AUD 9.30.
I came back to my room at 4.20 in the morning. That was one heck of a long 2 days just to finish up some work. I hope that that will be the last time I have to stay up late to do something.
I didn't go to uni today. Too tired to go to uni. Had to take a break or else I'll go insane from doing work after work after work. This weekend I have to complete some assignments which are due on Monday and Tuesday, plus the Robotics project on Friday. Till then, I'm in shut down mode.
Let's bring up the list of the things I need to do: 1)Engineering and Environment Cyclone Assignment (final one for E&E , due 1/6/2004) 2)Solid Mechanics fatigue tutorial (due 31/5/2004) 3)Robotic 2 DOF Project (due 4/6/2004) 4)ESL Conference speech (due 2/6/204) 5)ESL some very long report (final one for ESL , due 9/6/2004) 6)Structural Design Tutorial 5 (final one for SAD , due unknown)
So 2 down , 6 more to go.
Tuesday , 25th May 2004
I anticipate that this week will be one hell of a hectic week, but since I did part of the work during the weekend, such as my Heat Transfer assignment and the Robotics assignment, the workload for this week is somewhat more relaxing than I anticipated. Took me the entire Saturday afternoon to complete the heat transfer assignment and the entire afternoon on last Wednesday to complete the Robotics assignment. Well, I can say that doing it early does pay off , especially now that I can concentrate on the other assignments that needs to be done ASAP.. ok, still due until next week so forth. Handed in the Robotics assignment today, but will hand in the Heat Transfer assignment later because one of my friends borrowed it to see my solutions; a good thing too, since he can spot the errors for me.
Oh yeah, I forgot, the Structural Design Assignment I did some corrections and uploaded my stuff yesterday night. So basically the hard work of coming out with the solution is over and today my other team members will hand in upload the finish "product" into a digital dropbox online. We still need to search and do the calculations the old fashion way, but handing in the assignment is done the high tech way.
Taking the list of items that needs to be done from the bottom and updating it : 1)Heat Transfer Assignment 4 (need to check and do finishing touches , due 28/5/2004) 2)FEA Project (due 28/5/2004) 3)Robotic 2 DOF Project (due 4/6/2004) 4)ESL Conference speech (due 2/6/204) 5)ESL some very long report (final one for ESL , due 9/6/2004) 6)Structural Design Tutorial 5 (final one for SAD , due unknown) 7)Engineering and Environment Cyclone Assignment (final one for E&E , due 1/6/2004) 8)Solid Mechanics fatigue tutorial (due 31/5/2004)
*** looks at list again****
In the name of Kerensky! It is still the same number of assignments as before! Arrghhhh good work is rewarded with more work!! By the time I finish everything most likely it will be the day before exam :)
When I was in Inti the workload was not that much. Now I come here the workload is a lot ... very alot.
Friday , 21st May 2004
Finally a weekend for me to rest before what could be the most hectic week before the end of this semester. Next week I got to complete the Finite Element Project , a Heat Transfer Assignment and get some work done on my ESL assignments etc. Oh Yeah, so many work so little time.
Anyway, I straight away booted up my computer because I wanted to type something that happened just now before I forget. Just now after had my dinner I went over to say hello to girl that originally wanted to get but was later claimed by someone who took her by a direct PPC shot to the head. I did said to myself that she has already been taken, but after some time the what I thought was not consistent with what I have been observing currently. Also, I thought it all out and most probably I overreacted and made decisions on inaccurate recon data. When you get emotions in the way , sometimes your judgment and decisions varies considerably.
Anyway, I just said to her a simple "hello" just to get her attention. Just a simple friendly hello to her like we are friends. Did she respond? Nope. I then said hello to her again. No respond. During that time my mind was thinking ," She's not responding to IFF!" , "send another signal" , "still not responding!"," try all channels", "it's no use!" . What in Kerensky's name has been installed in her? IFF Jammer? ECM? BAP? LAMS ? Before that she doesn't have those equipment on board! Well, so far the only girl I know who has such equipment is the one which I threw a bomb one at the start of the semester . The reason was straightforward (to lazy to type it here) for her to avoid me (and for me to avoid her) , but this time the girl I said hello too was mounting such equipment even though I did not say anything or talk to her before. Haih, my do girls I wanted always end up like that?
The only reason I can think of at the moment is that most probably she was already taken and her boyfriend sure did an awesome work installing electronic countermeasures to keep her from the rest of us. Among the equipment are as I mentioned , IFF jammer (make her a neutral target, where my cursor appear as green when I target her, also makes her oblivious to any attempts to confirm IFF) , ECM (make her appear invincible on radar and sure is good at making locking on ... err getting her harder) , BAP (Beagle Active Probe , can scan further than me and can be used to avoid me) and LAMS (Laser Anti-Missile System, where it destroys any missiles that are lock on to her , think of it as destroying any attempts to get her attention). Oh great.... now that's what I see as trying to keep his mech... err girlfriend from being hijacked/salvaged by other mechwarriors.
Another thing ran through my mind during the same time as well. Few days ago I was thinking on how to steal a mech (this time it is a REAL mech). Remembered that to steal a mech you have to hack the DI , or Diagnostic Interpreter. It is a small computer in the cockpit that controls everything in the mech. Just like the Central Processing Unit of a computer. Once you can gain control of the DI, you basically control the battlemech. The DI is not easy to hack or gain access to. It can only be unlocked by a voice activated password known only to the mechwarrior of that mech.
To hack and gain control of it needs very good computer skills and sometimes patience (which in my real life analogy , need good courting skills and patience). So to gain control of a mech, you need to have the skills and knowledge to crack the DI. Two months ago I tried to take over a mech (trying to get the girl I wanted) , but during the process of hacking the DI , safety measures , installed by the the mech's present mechwarrior, abruptly stop the process and started a self destruct sequence! So basically the DI destroyed itself beyond repair and I was not able to get the mech. Of course the owner of the mech has the original DI for that mech, but still since he has stepped up measures to protect his mech, I don't think I can get it already. Also, my fault for not checking if it is already owned.
This time, when I tried hacking the DI with a less aggressive approach , the DI computer did not respond to the hacking computer I hooked up to it! " What the ? the DI computer is not responding! It is impossible! The DI always respond to anything which is trying to deal with it!" . Must be one hell of a countermeasure installed into that DI by the present Mechwarrior.
*** can see people looking at me like I am a MWDA geek ***
Sorry for using some Battletech and Mechwarrior lingo, but it makes more sense and it is easier for me to say things because that is what by brain thinks at the moment. But basically it tells what have happened just now.
Ok, so maybe there are other reasons as well beside the above reason. One of the "negative" reasons (I saying it is negative because it involves revenge , hatred and the dark side etc) I think is that the girl who I wanted was told my her friend who incidentally, has the idiot of the house as her boyfriend. Who was the idiot? Look at my post the week before. Among my theories is that to save face (like all we all do, to keep our mechs.. err girls with us) he said that I was the one who caused the lift to stall. So the message gets passed down that the girl I like that I am the supposed idiot in the house when in actuality it was the other guy. The girl I like is smart, and she will definitely not choose an idiot. So basically you get the picture. After typing this paragraph, I realized just how lame and offensive this reason is. Definitely NOT THE REASON WHY SHE DID NOT RESPOND. **** THROWS THE REASON OUT OF THE WINDOW****
Another theory is that she might be annoying the heck out of me for fun. You see, there is a possibility that she, like me, is scouting and making recon passes on a suitable partner. One of the methods she is using might be the one she used just now. She is doing psychology, so she might have lots and lots of ways to try and grade and look for people. *** looks at my posts below***( I am sure I an engineer coz I grade and look for mechs.... and trying to adapt the method into something call girls. Engineers do grade and calculate , adapt and compromised where necessary ). The most amazing thing about her is that , believe it or not, even though she has been here longer and have met a lot of other people before I met here, she is still single (from the last time I ask her, after April) . Either her DI is hard as rock to crack or that maybe she is as fussy as me when it comes to choosing a partner (*** looks at my personal requirements ***) . Well , the good thing is that the DI is still factory setting . How valid is this reason? well, it is possible, but it is mainly wishful thinking doing its work. So might be unlikely unfortunately.
There was this thing bugging me for a while : Why do girls keep running away from we boys when we express our interest to them?!!?!?!? It is not like that we are going to be control freaks or rip you off or something like that, we are just honest normal guys looking for someone to be with us. The sad part is that these girls like to pick out the bad apples in our brotherhood... there is a saying, the good guys always end up last. (Taking an analogy from MWDA) Girls are dumb because so many points were spend on SEs like beauty that there isn't enough points left for brains. Of course there are some good mechs, but those are unique mechs and are VERY HARD to come by. Like the Ryoken I was looking for ; lost one at the end of 2001 , some stravag took it in 2004.
I think that is about it for what happened just now. I wanted to "let it out" so that I can concentrate on more important work. You know, I found that writing a blog and letting out my feelings and experience is a good way to let go of stress, disappointment etc. I also found that by writing (typing actually) out the problem from the mess which is in my brain really made me think about what I have gone through more clearly. Certain things that are blur at first clears up when I can see it here. So writing a blog has benefited me , and of course you , the reader , who might be entertained by what I told my friend "my love life". So, all of you who thought that I am a nerd/geek believe I am actually a normal human being now?
Now for a recap on what needs to be done: 1)Heat Transfer Assignment 4 2)FEA Project 3)Structral Design Tutorial 4 4)Robotic Assignment 3 (the correct assignment this time) 5)Robotic 2 DOF Project 6)ESL Conference speech 7)ESL some very long report 8)Structural Design Tutorial 5 (coming soon)
Arrgghh.. it is still 8 assignments that need to be done! But I have already done like, 3 and 4 already! More work? But I already done some work! Wahhhh so lazy now ........ must do work... must.... darn, can't force myself to do work on a Friday night.
About the HL Atlas and SC Sphinx that I mentioned in my previous post, well, my friend has decided that he wants to keep those mechs for himself. I can't blame him for first saying that he might use it for trade fodder and later said that he might keep it because I too was in that position, only this time there wasn't any contract or agreement between us. I remembered when I agreed to one of the MWDA players that we were to share the HL lot that was on sale, on condition that I get to keep HL Zues and he takes the HL Pack Hunter. He wanted the HL Pack Hunter badly, since he has not a single LE mech. Ok, I thought, I really wanted the Zues and a little light mech is of little interest to me.
On the day I took possession of the lot (he was not there coz he has something to do, but I agree to pay up front for both of us) , the feel and look of the HL Packhunter changed my mind instantly. Suddenly the Tara Bishop is better than I thought it would be. It was that time I really wanted to keep it for myself, but since I have already made a deal with the other MWDA player, it will be in bad taste to terminate the deal. Especially since he has put faith in me to buy the lot first. In the end I let go off the Pack hunter, though a bit unwillingly to him as part of the deal. I had to honor my side of the deal like he honors his part. For the HL Atlas and SC Sphinx, there was no contract or agreement, (in fact, he icq me that he was getting them for trade fodder to trade with me, if it becomes trade fodder is another story) so I think legally he has the right to keep them.
Wednesday , 19th May 2004
This week and next week is going to be a very long week. I got hell of work that needs to be done with ASAP. Yesterday alone I have to skip lunch to complete the Solid Mechanics assignment that has been bugging all of us in the course for weeks. As usual in typical Malaysian style is was one heck of a rush job but this time we got some "hints" from some of the other students who did know what to do. The assignment was not completed fully however. We handed in with the last question (there was 2 questions btw, but each is hard as hell) hanging because no one, not even the smart ones can solve the highly complex equation. The type of question is where you need to find the variables, 4 all together, but no one can get any variables. I did the question until a point I couldn't substitute any variable into it. If you look at how much I have simplify and substitute you will know just how much work has been done till that point. Just needed one more equation to put into the main formula and maybe there is a chance. Anyway, that is one less assignment to do and it give some relief for me.
How much time went into it? I went to uni at 9, did the computer analysis part from 9-11 (question 1 require us to do an ANSYS model), have a class from 11-12 , and after that from 12-5 , me and my gang went over to corner of the library to answer the question. Since I already did part of it, I spent most of my time trying to answer question 2. Once we all are done with the "calculation" part, all of us went to the computer lab to see my ANSYS analysis. I think I must be very stressed then, because I forgot to save into my personal drive!! I did save the file, but it is on the earlier computer's hard disk. Arrggh.. got to do the thing again. Good thing I knew how to use ANSYS and the modeling and force application (so does the question) is easy. It was a funny sight you know, a group of us waiting for me to do the analysis. I jokingly said that I require a consultation fee. Everyone was desperate then. They needed the ANSYS data for comparison with the calculated data. It doesn't matter if the my model is different compared to theirs (turns out even with the values I use, the values are different , but consistant). The comparison was ok, like where there is a negative stress the computer reported a negative stress and where there is a positive stress the computer reported a positive stress. The values are different because , simply put, I made my model to be very simple. There are only like 535 nodes, while if you need a DETAILED analysis you need tenths of thousands of nodes. To show the stress in every node requires enough paper to make a book. At first I tried 4000+ nodes. It required 80 pages!! After making the printer print double sided and 2 page per side, it went down to 20. 535 is better and cheaper.
Got home that day at around 6 o'clock. After that I relaxed by playing Mercenaries and surf the internet . Didn't open a single book to study. After a long day studying, it would be crazy to stress the brain again.
One of the original MWDA players at home, now into 40k, is selling his MWDA figures as he does not need them anymore. Among them is the SC Sphinx , HL Atlas , HL Shun ,HL Regulator, HL Maxim and many more. I wish I was back in Malaysia right now to buy those things from him! Oh well, the good thing is my good friend back home is going to purchase some of the figures (namely the Sphinx and the Atlas, need to contact him) so that he have some trade fodder for some of the "souvenirs" I have for him when I go home in July. Finally I can get the Sphinx and what people considers the best assault mech there is , the HL Atlas. Not to mention some HL vehicles with insane stats like the HL shun (come to think of it, the Shun was originally my friend's , now is going to be his , again) with its 23 defense while cruising.
Today is a much better day than yesterday. At least when it comes to the stress level. Did when to the library to do some work, after I have eaten lunch of course. I later went to my MWDA venue (not supposed to go there this week, but what the hell, again) to see if the good co-worker (who has a golden touch for uniques) is there. He was there today , and the there is a MWDA dropship at the counter on display. The store owner has finally received the dropship!
He was kind enough to take it from under the glass counter for me to have a look at it. I have seen the dropship in CC and Wizards back home, but that was behind the glass. Having a look at it while at the same time touching it is when the dropship really looks good. For one thing, it is huge! I finally knew how the dials on the turret are like. I saw the dropship before, but don't know how to look at the turret's dials until that day. The dropship did came with the 4 LE mechs. Too bad the owner is not letting them go at the moment.... haih.
Too bad the Quality control is not as good as the dropship. One of the turrets (turret 004, coincidentally) broke of its base . One of the mech bay doors can't close. In time maybe the bay doors will come off its hinges (a common complaint) . I didn't open any of the bay doors , except for the one that can't close for fear it might break.
I received the fellowship prize that I won last month. I didn't get it last month because Wizkids has some delivery problems. The LE? The LE Garrot. I was surprised that I got the LE Garrot. I was supposed to get the LE Pegasus. However I was more than happy to get the LE Garrot because IMHO it is more useful than the LE Pegasus which has only a 0/6 range! It will be blown to scrap before it can fire. The VTOL on the other hand , can do the infamous tank-drop.
I bought a booster today too. As usual, the co-worker opens boosters like there is not tomorrow and he pulled the ROTS Wolfhound. So I guess maybe I can get another unique hehe :) He did help me to pick a booster for me this time, but he felt that none of them has any unique. He took some CS boosters for me to "feel it". All of them wasn't heavy and my instincts told me that there is likely no uniques left anymore. Oh well, I don't think my luck can be good all the time right? So I went by my instincts and took one CS booster which both of us think has something inside. No shock or surprise here, just a normal elite mech for the Spirit Cats. The pull was :
SC Sun Cobra (I finally got a mech to outrange my opponents... sorry, some opponents) SS Aesir (comparing this unit with the HL one , the SS must have ditched some armor off this vehicle for more damage) SH ATV (Again, I traded off this unit, and I got it back) Merc Gray Death BA (for 17 points this unit is an infantry killer)
Another OK pull for me. The SC Sun Cobra is as good as any unique (except for maybe "Big Bear" , "Miss charge me!" , "Mr. Me can DFA 12 inches!" or "Mr. I have a cool helmet" that are way more powerful than this guy ).
The prizes for the winner for of the earlier tournaments are also there. Got a first hand look at Danai-Liao Centrella (sp?). The paint job on it is waayyyyyyyy nicer than the Merc Shieldturion that I currently have. Too bad the person who is going to have it is a Warpogger. That day he fielded no mechs and he wipe the floor clean. I hope the new artillery rules put tone down his artillery so that my mechs have chance!
Saturday , 15th May 2004
Today is a rest day for me. No mood at all to do any work. Told myself to rest today and start doing my work on Sunday. So what did I do all day? Well sleep and eat of course! I did something else though, like making my very own MWDA dossier! Here's my dossier :
Name: Long Rank : Star Colonel Regiment : Elite Ghost Bears Mech : Ryoken DOB : Unknown Hair : Black Eyes : Brown
Every lead about his origins has ended in a dead end. Our agents were unable to determine which caste or genetic legacy Long comes from. There is some speculation that Long might be a new breed of mechwarriors ; stronger , more responsive and highly accurate than other iron womb mechwarriors the clans are so proud about. He might be the result of a top secret genetics program conducted somewhere in the Clan occupation zone. So far our agents have failed to uncover such a program within the Clans, especially the Ghost Bears. Either such a program doesn’t exist, or the Clans have done a good job hiding the program from us.
Long has risen though the ranks with at an amazing speed. He managed to destroy 2 mechs, when usually most mechwarriors destroy only 1 mech, in his Trial of Position. From there on, his skill and bravery at the helms of any battlemech earn him promotions and most importantly, respect throughout his entire circle of command and his commanders. Like most Ghost Bear warriors, he is patient and calm, and will only strike if he decides it is the right thing to do. When he strikes, however, most of his opponents pay dearly, but he keeps honorable battlefield conduct alive in all of his assignments.
Our agents have reported that Long still have not acquired a Bloodname of his own. Like any trueborn, a Bloodname is the pinnacle goal, a chance to immortalize their genetic legacy. Reports come in that either Long is actually a freeborn, usually not given a chance to have a bloodname, or that he dislike the idea of killing is own warriors just to have his genetic legacy preserved. There is also speculation that the Clans wants to see if this new breed of warriors can measure up to the other trueborn warriors or that there is a defect in his genetic code, proving that he is a product of such experiments.
Mech : Ryoken Serial number : SJ020-84S-25S84 Mass : 55 tons Chassis : Unknown Power Plant : Unknown Crusing Speed : 50 kph Maximum Speed : 86 kph Jump Jets : None Armor : Ferro Fibrous Armaments : 1 Clan Ultra Autocannon 10 1 Clan Extended-Range Large Pulse Laser 2 Clan Extended-Range Medium Laser
Inner Sphere warriors were totally unprepared to face a double-barreled laser mech with the heat sinks to use to them. Many times, the frequent laser fire from its extended range large lasers would tear up its opponents long before its opponents can bring their weapons to bear. Even when its opponents do managed to bring its weapons to bear on the Ryoken, high speed and maneuverability allows the Ryoken pilot to run for cover and seek shelter while reinforcements arrive. All clans use the Ryoken for its high damage output and superb maneuverability and it is a favorite of the now annihilated Smoke Jaguar Clan.
There is as much speculation about Long’s Ryoken as like the pilot. From the mech’s serial number, it seems that Long somehow managed to acquire the mech from the Smoke Jaguars. Where, when and how it was acquired is still unknown to our agents. One of our top operatives speculate that when a Smoke Jaguar jumpship miss-jumped into Ghost Bear territory, the Ghost Bears took everyone onboard as bondsmen and in turn captured the machine intact. For years. the machine fought in countless battles, at the helms of countless mechwarriors , before Long then took possession of the machine in a Trial of Possession. He named it after himself, “Long” or Dragon and customized it. He likes using the mech’s speed and maneuverability to get in close to open up with his fully loaded ultra autocannon
I had this desire to make my own dossier after I read some other people's one online. There are some items that I am not sure like regiment, cruising speed, and other things. But I think it is ok for a first try.
Friday, 14th May 2004
Tomorrow is the start of a long weekend. Next Monday is a public holiday. Not sure what the public holiday is for but I really need some rest after a long week (read post below). Let's hope that next week is much better than this week.
For the entire week, my friends and I have been struggling to complete the solid mechanics assignment which was supposed to be due yesterday but because the lecturer understood our struggle, he extended the deadline to next Tuesday. I have looked everywhere, ask other students (some who actually understand what in Kerensky's name is happening) and search the online notes where my lecturer refer too with no avail. In the end , I decided to take a break and let the tension die down before I start work again.
This solid mechanics subject have been a problem since from the beginning. Compared to other subjects, this subject is totally alien to the majority of us. Even to those who have been at uni since year 1, they simply don't understand what is being taught. The notes were only slightly helpful, with little resource in the library because the lecturer is teaching a totally different concept from the usual solid mechanics. I have heard that this subject is taught differently last year ... great, we are guinea pigs. It didn't help that he teach with a Russian ascent (since he is a Russian). I don't want to "kutuk" him too much, because I don't think he wants to see his students die a horrible death.
Anyway, I have e-mailed him to give me some hints. Hopefully with his hints and some information from other students I have a clearer picture of what's needed. Worst come to worst I have to refer to some of my friend's answer just to hand it in. Rather get something than nothing. I know that copying is bad, but when you have work hard the entire week and refer to every available resource and in the end have little work done , you simply have no choice. Now I know how it feels to face an unbeatable Warpog army.
Solid Mechanics is not the only problem subject. There is Solid Mechanic's partner from Civil Engineering , Structural Analysis and Design . In my uni, Solid Mechanics and Structural Analysis & Design are combined to become a single , 3 point subject (we need to do 24 points per year to graduate on time) . Like Solid, Structural has an assignment to be done too and like solid, my team has problems trying to get it done. The question looks simple, but because it is a CIVIL Engineering subject, we Mechanical students are at a lost on how to do it. How on earth does the uni expect people like us who builds machines (like mechs) to build buildings made out of concrete? Do they want us to build weapons to take advantage of steel , concrete and wood structure's weakness? Maybe :) Even in the Australian ethics tenets, we can't do any disciplines besides the one we are specialize in.
But at least this assignment has some light at the end of the tunnel. As a last resort, I decided to ask the most reliable and trusted source I know; my father. He is a civil engineer ,and thank goodness that I can ask him for the solution to the problem. He says that the Australian standard might be different from the Malaysian standard, but then the working is the same. The only difference will most likely be the property values of concrete , steel etc.
This week I joined an online dating-friendship-meeting-whatever website , Friendster. It is very easy to use, with lots of options to describe yourself. After I joined, I added in some of my friends into my "friend" list. I was astounded by the number of "friends" that some of the people I know have. Some have 100 plus, some have 30-50. Compared to me I only have four "friends" currently, and those are the closest I know. My fault for not blending in to the rest of the SMK Seafield population. I got to take a look at some of the people I know , how there are doing, their testimonials , single or taken. Too bad the Ryoken isn't there though.. oh well, the good part is that maybe it is still in pristine condition and well taken care off compared to some other mechs. The only thing I hate about Friendster is that IT IS VERY VERY BUGGY! For some unknown reason my profile was deleted and I have to retype my profile again. Sometimes I got problems logging in, the changes to my profile appears a later but not immediately after I press save (it did save, but it did not appear until I check the next day). The software is still in beta , so , unfortunately we have to cope with bugs and lag.
I bought a new optical mouse to replace my usual ball mouse. I prefer the high-tech optical mouse because so far the one at home never broke down and never needs to be clean. My usual ball mouse which I brought over with my laptop got dirty and even after I cleaned it , it is still sick. So off I went to buy a new one for AUD 34.90 = RM 105 for a simple 3 button optical mouse with 1 scroll wheel ! It is of the Genius brand, but because it is made in China the cost of making it might be cheap. I think I should have bought one back home as computer hardware is cheaper. Oh well, this mouse will last a long time anyway.
I went to the Chinatown again to eat the "all you can eat mixed rice" that costs AUD 5.50. First time in a very long time I got to eat roast pork. Later I went to the Central Market to buy some apples this time. I don't look for those small ones, I was looking for the big juicy red ones like Fuji apples. I bought 3 big "pink lady" Australian apples which is nearly 300 grams each! I haven't try them out yet , maybe tomorrow, but at more than RM 3 each it better taste good! To give you an idea of how big it is , the circumference of the apple is 11 inches! The smallest orange I bought a week ago is also 11 inches, so the largest one must be a giant! I know what you're thinking, nothing excites me more than food :) the bigger the better.
Wednesday, 12ft May 2004
You will believe what happened yesterday. Due to sheer luck (or bad luck , whatever applies) , the lift in my hostel was stuck. It doesn't help that I was IN the lift during that time. I just finished my dinner, waited for the lift to come, entered the lift with some other people and waited for my floor to come. At that time, the only passengers in the lift was me and another Malay guy (from my homeworld of course) whose floor is above mine.
After the previous passenger of the lift went off , the lift door closed and proceeded to ascend, the other guy , for some unknown reason, jumps up and down in the lift. That caused the lift to stopped as sensors detected rocking movements and the control panel stops the lift from moving for safety reasons. I later found (from the hostel manager , good guy he is) out that the lift's computer and sensors are so sensitive that any rocking movement will caused it to stop. It also tells why it stop the lift and I am sure you know by now what caused it to stop.
I was thinking to myself "You Stupid Savarashi Insolent Oath! What in Kerensky's name have you done?!?!!?" while at the same time with an evil grin "See, now you have to starve for a while (he has not eaten yet, he ordered food and went up) for your honorless action". I just smiled at him with an evil look on my face and some laughter , knowing fully well he is has learned his lesson he he :P . I wanted to call a Trial of Grievance on him, but he was too honor less and too unskilled that I rather not waste my time , resources and energy on him. The Gauss Rifle slug in my Gauss rifle is too precious to be spend on him. Fortunately he was willing to do all the talking to the lift's service center in the COD to get him (and unfortunately me) from the mess he created. Never thought I found the idiot of the house. So that was unfortunately another "first" in Adelaide.
What timing too, since earlier in the day I just found out , believe it or not, that I was looking at the wrong page which describes the assignments that needs to be done for one of my subjects. Turns out that the assignment that I thought must be done by this Thursday was supposed to be done at the end of April. That was why I was so surprised to see that I got a zero for the assignment I didn't do yet (yet alone not due yet) when I first saw it! After I check the fine print of the instructions, only I noticed that I was looking at the list of assignments for LAST year, not this year. Hmmmmm, what was I smoking??!?! Too much plastic crack is bad for health. Thank goodness that it was only 1 of 3 assignments that needs to be done and as long as I hand in the majority of assignments I should be safe. It was that morning I told myself, better to make mistakes now as mistakes now can be easily rectified and mistakes done later will be more serious. Better now than later. Talk about something I said materializing later in the day.
Yesterday was the day I handed in my heat transfer assignment 3. I send it in after checking it with my friends because I wanted to release some load on my to-do list of assignments and projects. I wanted to do a lot of things yesterday, but I was too tired and after that lift incident (more on that later) I was just too tired and angry to do anything. So I am better off having a break than continue with my work since an angry mood isn't an ideal ingredient for a quality work.
Today is slightly better. The lift was ok, and I was more confident of the lift now than ever before (think about the amount of engineering that goes into the lift!) . I will be a Mechanical engineer in the future, so machines such as lifts , air-cons and cars will be my bread and butter. I also seem to have a lot of faith into these machines, but that that faith is lose at best after the Canny Ong murder. Why? Because according to reports, the main reasons the cops can't rescue her was because of a computer glitch. She was ironically, a IT consultant. Work so hard to make a perfect computer and the computer failed her. I was thinking the same too, I am a Mechanical engineer and the lift failed me. Ok, it wasn't my fault or any mechanical fault, but I had that feeling at that time.
Today was a usual day at uni. Went to classes , eat lunch at the same place I always go (Chinese food is by far the most bang for the buck, so much for so little) , went to library to read the local newspaper and lastly trying to figure out how to do my solid mechanics assignment. None of us know how to do , be it the local Aussie course mates or the international students like me , except the lecturer. I was thinking there simply must be a simpler way to do this, some solution somewhere. Till that time comes however I am still looking high and low for it.
Later in the day I went over to my venue to buy a CS booster. The store keeper was not there surprisingly (I think since he keeps drawing unique units he decided not to spoil the market). I was already planning to buy a booster today, so I bought one CS booster anyway. The pull was OK. No unique, not even a false dossier. It did contain some competitive stuff. So the pull for today is :
SSw Mjolnir (a kamikaze mech with a hammer) BR JES II (got one already, so this one is going to be stripped for parts) Liao Infiltrator Mk1 (just one more I can have a formation of these guys!) SW Mortar Team (why why why do I always get the cheating stuff AFTER a rule change!??!?! oh wait, not yet, but it will be sooner or later. Also, why is the best piece in the booster always the infantry or vehicle???!?!!? )
All in all it was an OK pull. Nothing too fancy, no DF ATVs ,no SS Arrow 4s, but those are not what makes Mechwarrior mechwarrior.
After reading the local papers today it seems like the election is coming. On the front page of a local newspaper showed a cartoon of a Minister (I dunno who) with his pockets full of budget surplus to be given away. Yup, everything good for a tax payer like tax deductions , more money for this , more money for that. Looks like even in Australia politicians fish and bribe their way for votes. The budget was describe as "like a good Chinese meal", and from what I mentioned about how value for money a Chinese meal (mixed rice) is, these guys are really fishing for votes. The only difference here is that the newspapers are more open to criticize (with cartoons and articles) about how much the politicians are buying for votes.
I wanted to talk a bit about what happened yesterday once I got back to my room, but I prefer to let my mind rest a bit because I don't want to flame that idiot over here. Let the heat die down a little.
So what kind person would jump in a lift? Well, I did talked to him a little and observe him. From what I have seen he is like one of those spoilt rich man's son or daughter which has everything money can buy. How can anyone so stupid can be have all of life's luxuries, a video phone far more advance than I have ever seen, 2 girl friends (one here and one back home) who have no qualms what so ever that they are only getting 50% attention from him and that the attention to them will later drop to 25% (you know what happens when a girl finds out that you have another girlfriend) ? Just like people who know nuts about computers are given with Compaq P4 laptops with more advance 3D-card than mine, life is not fair sometimes. I know that IS mechwarriors can have an entire lance of mechs (4 mechs) , but from what happened , I just simply don't understand what his 2 girlfriends see in him. Fortunately I don't bother about IS mechs , due to my dietary desires ,but that incident proof my long term assumptions that girls are dumb. I remember a letter to Big Bro in the Star newspaper back home saying that girls are dumb. He said that girls only see what is on the surface. The only thing that matters is how "cool" the boy is. He was bashed by lots of people, mainly girls who stated reasons that his assumptions were wrong. Well, that incident proof that his assumptions are correct to some point. Remember I said that all the points were used up for beauty (and handsomeness for boys) that there are not enough points left for intelligence? Those were a perfect example of my case.
*** Can see you rich , beautiful girls and boys out there hitting me on the head on what I have said ****
Ok ok , I know some of you are rich , beautiful and SMART at the same time , but you only make up a small majority (or maybe the larger majority) of the total population on this planet. It is like a population graph (I have the graph pictured in my head, I just forgotten how to describe it and its name) where the smartest people make up one end of the graph and the least smart ones make up the other end. People of average intelligence make up the center of the graph. The graph is like a sin graph from 0 to 180 degrees.
Oh ya, I just thought about how life is unfair and such. Life is fair. After telling my parents about how such an idiot has everything, they told me something which reminded me how lucky I am. You see, the main reason he/she has all the luxuries (DISCLAIMER : I am speculating here, so it might not be true) it is because his/her parents was too busy working no day no night with no time to spare for their children. They leave the task of raising him to the maid. Also, some parents filled their houses with the things they desire. Did they buy toys or anything to keep the child occupied? Are they always with them to see him grow up? Have the child have to beg for attention from the parents? All these are the ingredients that will likely caused a child to be doing things to gain attention. Compared to how I was raised.....
Something tells me I should be doing PSYCHOLOGY instead of engineering. I mean, look at all my posts, it is mostly about my life , love and hate, grievances , personal experience and how I reacted to situations......... hmmmm
Entries from the beginning of this website to 28th May 2004
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