Amazon + Alcohol == $$$

Being of course the total nerd that I am, I had one too many glasses of sparkling wine and decided it was a good idea to read this paper by Donald C. Hodges on Plato's Republic while I was in this Bacchanalian state. Next thing I knew, I was on Amazon buying books left and right by authors like Hodges and Chomsky before I realized I was racking up a 300 dollar bill on my post-Christmas budget and was thinking that I could simply charge all of this on my credit card and not worry about it until next month. Luckily I came to my senses and closed the browser before I hit the "Process Order" button.

Moral of the story: When you're drinking, don't read papers that analyses post-capitalist societies: Just go out and get a life. However, I do feel confident that most people don't have this problem...

Counterpart 3

Me: Can you take a quick look at the painting?
Dan: What for?
Me: To critique it.
Dan: I don't know how to do that. It looks good though.
Me: No, I mean critiques like, does the birds look real, not real, cheesy, etc.
Dan: ...
You want me to tell you what looks realistic on an apocalyptic painting depicting a phoenix flying out into space from a shattered earth with a bunch of origami birds flying alongside it?

See turtle!!!

"Sea Turtle", taken from Red Rock Canyon on 23 May 2008

A few weeks ago, someone from Mullen, an advertising agency in Boston, MA contacted me about the photo above for commercial use. Apparently, they have been surfing through Flickr for images of sea turtles, and one of my photos came up (because this one was tagged "sea turtle", despite the fact that it only looks like one).

Being completely new to this, I inquired what the photo will be used for. To my delight, the lady told me that they will be using the photo for a new ad campaign for the New England Aquarium. I couldn't think of a better way to use the photo!!! :)

A fee was exchanged (first time I was ever paid for a photo!), and I asked the lady to send me a draft of the brochure, thinking that my photo was only going to be a blip in the ad. Turns out that it was a full page affair...and very cleverly done!!! They did some Photoshop on the image, darkening the sky as well as making the rocks more vibrant. It worked out really well, and you can see the draft below (by Mullen):

I really hope that their draft gets the OK for deployment. If so, I will have to bug one of my friends up in Boston to grab a flyer for me just so I can have one in my scrapbook.

Yet another reason why I <3 my D80. :)

It's not landing baby...

One of my favorite sayings: It's more like a controlled crash...

Flight deck operation for the last remaining Tomcat F-14s

And a nice clip of the pilot who *thought* he was landing on a carrier deck:

Edwards AFB, 1982

Moral of the story: Never have a naval aviator fly passenger planes. I'm sure he will fly very well, but the passenger seats might be a bit messy at the end of the flight...

Requiem

On 2 August, my god-grandmother Marti Bassette passed away from an unexpected stroke. She was my grandfather's half, and with her death he currently feels an incredible void as one would when losing one's spouse/lover/best friend of over 50 years.

On 8 October, my granduncle Tseng Bing Shiang (曾彬祥), died in Taipei after many years of battling cancer. He was a diplomat for Taiwan through many of her turbulent periods. He grew up during Japanese occupation, went to National Taiwan University majoring in international laws. He traveled to Latin American countries, Spain and Portugal, was quintilingual (Mandarin, Min Nan, Spanish, English, and Portuguese), and wrote eloquently. I can only imaging the stories he had during his deployment...

...and now, I can no longer just visit either of them on a random day and hear those stories.

This picture does not do justice, because I only finished it as a sketch/template for a bigger work, but it is all I have to offer for the love ones they left behind. As for words from the dead...a section from a poem by Ronan Harris.

moments lost though time remains
I am so proud of what we were
no pain remains, no feeling
eternity awaits
grant me wings that I might fly
my restless soul is longing
no pain remains, no feeling
eternity awaits

--from "Beloved", VNV Nation

Rikki On A Chair

Lunar X Prize's New Team: Omega Envoy

New Team in Florida

Last year, I attempted to start a group for the Google Lunar X Prize to land a rover on the moon. I failed miserably because I couldn't arouse interests in my co-workers and classmates. (Though I found out that there is a restricted Google Group for the Florida Tech team. I have no idea if that group is still active.) A month ago, a friend of mine mentioned that a group of students at University of Central Florida is starting a statewide group called Omega Envoy to tackle the Lunar X Prize challenge. I went to a couple of their meetings, and now I am committed to the group.

On 6 October 2008, Google announced Omega Envoy as one of the official groups competing for the Lunar X Prize. We are competing against difficult groups such as the Carnegie Mellon team. I am listed as Omega Envoy's Software Lead with a small team of software engineers residing in both Melbourne and Orlando, but currently find myself doing very non-software stuff: Researching engineering design process, systems engineering and concept of operations, etc.

Below is a couple of articles mentioning the team:
Google Lunar XPrize Official Page
CNN SciTech Blog

Call for Advisers

We are currently in urgent need of technical advisers. So far most of the focus had been on the financial aspect of the endeavor, therefore technical advisers were overlooked due to the tight schedule of becoming an official team. We would like engineers/professors (current or former, with a high interest in space technology) to guide the team on several areas: structure/stress, propulsion, materials, electronics/robotics, mission planning, and heating/cooling.

This will be done on a volunteer basis. None of us are getting paid. (In fact I'm losing even more sleep now between work, class, and the Lunar X Prize.)

If you are interested, please email me at: tchen [At) omegaenvoy {d0T} org.

Gothed out A380

A few hours ago, I was coding and listening to the 22 September 2008 edition of ReGen Radio Podcast. For this particular show, DJ Razorgrrl decided to create a list of ambiance electronic music (which I really like), and I was passively listening to the music and grooving with its ebb and flow.

Around 10 minutes into the show, I heard the piano theme to a song by yelworC called "Icolation", which sounded EXTREMELY familiar. As soon as I heard the piano I knew where I had heard the theme before: In the Channel 5 documentary The Giant of the Skies: The Making of the Airbus A380, the last part where the test pilots are getting ready to fly F-WWOW for the first time in history.

That was the moment I realize that I am an utter and complete d0rk.

P.S. If you are actually curious (which I'm sure you're not), I found a clip of this on Youtube. Listen and memorize the first 13 seconds of the clip (pay attention only to the piano section):

If you cannot see the embedded video above, click here.

Now go to the ReGen Radio Podcast site and look for the 22 September 2008 playlist. Click on the "Listen" button and wait a while for the player to load up and that the progress bar is about a third way through. Then move the track to about 11:56 (or as close as you can) and continue playing.

The artists didn't even change the key for the documentary: Both songs are in C minor.

If you watched the video up to 1:15, you pretty much have heard the mellowed out version of the song "Icolation". You can listen to the entire song from the podcast by rewinding the track to about 9:51 and play. Looks like whoever produced the documentary hired yelworC to do the soundtrack, the band reused some of their materials and...voila!

So now I've linked two mutually exclusive subjects in one post: the Airbus A380 and a goth/industrial/electronic band.

A Series of F--- You

I received this email from Continental Airlines, which is (or maybe was after this email) one of my favorite domestic airlines. This email basically has f--- you written all over it.

The penalty is essentially fourfold:

1.) They're charging $15 USD per checked baggage. Not a surprise, a lot of major airlines are doing it now.
2.) No minimum of 500 miles per flight, making it harder to earn rewards for loyal customers.
3.) Reward mileage requirements will increase, again making it harder to earn rewards for loyal customers.
4.) Elite Mileage Bonuses will decrease for Platinum members. Basically, less goodies for being a loyal customer.

I understand due to oil prices airlines are hit especially hard, but CEOs/VPs of Continental (and any large airlines out there), please hear me out:

Instead of cutting jobs from people who are doing the grunge work or make them take a pay cut, have you EVER considered taking a pay cut yourself and take one for the team?

I mean, a pay cut for you just means you won't get to buy that yacht for a couple of years, but afterwards, you will have a host of very happy customers who will continue to fly with you, to the point that when the economy is better you will have earned more than enough back to buy that yacht and a Lamborghini Murciélago LP640.

Please think about it. Sincerely, a concerned Continental customer.

Discovery Landed!

Taken from NASA website

After going outside to hear the familiar "ba-BOOOM!" sound that Space Coast inhabitants have come to recognize, Discovery landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center at 1115h EDT. There were a few minor problems during the mission, which NASA engineers studied intensely before giving the go ahead.

When I went to the NASA website, I saw the stats for the space shuttle and laughed a bit (especially at the very last bit):

Flying 5.7 million miles will get me SO MANY free airline tickets. Too bad the miles aren't redeemable at any airline on earth...

Let It Be

This is a beautiful sequence that intertwined the Vietnam War with the 12th Street riot in Detroit, Michigan, all connected by a gospel rendition of this Beatles song. One of the most powerful scenes from Across The Universe.

When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, "Let it be."

And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,
speaking words of wisdom, "Let it be."

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree,
there will be an answer, "Let it be."

For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see,
there will be an answer, "Let it be."

And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me,
shine until tomorrow, let it be.

I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, "Let it be."

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be

Speaking words of wisdom, "Let it be."

--written by Paul McCartney

I feel replaced

If you cannot see the embedded video, click here.

Seriously, is this what we get for joining the work force?

Doop, dedoop doop doop!

"I was strolling on the moon one day
On a merry merry month of December...May!"

Eugene Cernan and Dr. Jack Schmitt skipping and singing, during NASA's last mission to the moon: Apollo 17, December 1972. Sadly at that point, the public had ceased to become fascinated with the moon, or space.

Return of the Trijets?

Airbus recently filed a patent for their aircraft configuration with three engines in mind.

Currently, the only three engine aircrafts still flying today is the Lockheed L-1011 and the MD-11s/DC-10s.

Now, a lot of people on the aviation forums complained about the "ugliness" of this concept plane, but people really need to think first before speaking.

The diagram below is just a *ROUGH* sketch of the plane. What Airbus is interested in patenting is the tail design to hold the third engine.

The reason why aircraft manufacturers abandoned the three-engine design twenty years ago were due to noise, fuel efficiency, and difficulty of structural reinforcement especially along the aft/tail section for bearing the regular forces of the wind ALONG with the weight of an engine. Having a third engine mounted near the vertical stabilizer posed issues regarding hydraulic redundancy in the event that the third engine is massively destroyed. Take for example this famous DC-10 incident (United Airlines Flight 232):

A CG view of the incident, taken from Wikipedia. Original link here.

The Airbus "sketch" the the three engine configuration basically calls for a separation of the third engine from the main rudder, and replaces the vertical stabilizer with two redundant rudders on both ends of the horizontal stabilizers. This is of course, not a new design, and it has been used by Antonov, the modified Shuttle Carrier 747, and one of the old Avro prototypes.

Airbus claims that the tail design will not only reduce the noise, but will prevent a single point of catastrophic failure should the rear engine have issues. This sketch is NOT the actual aircraft that will be produced in the future, and those who declared this plane to be ugly doesn't realize that Airbus is trying to patent the aft configuration for a potential three engine jet, and not creating an actual plane (at the moment).

Today, we have quieter, more efficient engines, to the point where two-engine configuration is the norm for most aircrafts. However, I am not entirely convinced why we should bring back the trijets (as nostalgic as they are, I don't see them as economically feasible). Between the RJs, the VLJs, the 737/A319s to the jumbos, where will the trijets fit in?

A Day In The Life...

Taken by Kelley Jones

Of course, I'm not that obsessed with my camera. Or planes. Or my laptop in general. (*whimper*)

This shot is the result of my roommie who conveniently had a camera on hand, and myself taking a headache nap after having conveniently fallen ill with food poisoning two days prior. As a result, I tend to pass out at random times (and you don't want to know what I went through Friday).

I'm still not sure if my reaction was from something I ate or from my EXTREME aversion to doing my statics homework... Guess I'll find out with this week's homework! X-D

A Day In The Life...

What does the JetBlue ground crew do during their break?

They play basketball! :D

But as soon as a plane arrived at the gate, within seconds, they were back in position, handling luggages and refueling the plane.

Taken en route to JFK at MCO.

Skylog - MLB At Dusk

Taken during pre-flight. It was a popular night to be flying...only a handful of Pipers were on the ground when we arrived. Usually in the early morning the flight line is covered with Cherokees and Liberties. Slight crosswind.