A Cookie's Life

Warning: This is mostly a crappy blog. Crappers and crap-accepting folks alike: Welcome! To all others: Warning. Danger! Keep Out! Read On At Your Own Risk! The author shall by no means be liable for any damage caused directly or indirectly, implicitly or explicitly as a result of the reading of the contents of this blog.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Aftermath Of A Design Course

Woohooo, the design course is finally over. And as if the previous design wasn't bad enough, this time round, I was the only one doing the 3D drawings. That explains why I haven't been blogging all that often this sem although there were many occasions for ranting. And since pictures speak a thousand words (hmmm, come to think about it, if the drawings were detailed enough, they just might speak a little over a thousand words. Then again... I'd better not go out of point), here they are:

Aircraft Overall View

Aircraft Structures View

Aircraft Cabin View


Aircraft Chapalang (Everything) View


And as usual, if you do not recall the previous mail (seriously, I can't be bothered to dig it up from the archives... think the previous mail was close to 2 years ago), there's more to the aircraft than merely a bunch of blocks. See some colours within the aircraft? They're seats and all the misc stuff that you see in an aircraft...




Notice the windows, seats, curtains, exit signs? You might think this is a simple case of a drag and drop action, but hey, how could a pathetic life in engineering be that simple right? So, let's go up a level to one of the components: The cabin...


The Cabin

OK, maybe the title was kind of unecessary. Anyway, the cabin is made up of 8 business seats and 32 economical seats. If you're still thinking that this is a case of merely dragging and dropping items and placing them nicely together... nah, that wouldn't justify this course as a crazy 4 modular credit/academic unit course. And so, let's zoom into just one of the chairs:


Well... so what's the big deal about the chair anyway? Isn't that just one of those pre-included drag and drop items? Nope nope. This had to be created from scratch. Since the chair's complicated, let's take a much simpler item: The exit sign

To create the exit sign, first, we draw a box...

Then, we create a box by extruding (ie. give the rectangle a depth) it:

Following which we chart out the words 'exit' onto the front surface with all the dimensions:

And then, we extrude the words again...

And since this was such a troubling course that took me way beyond 30/40 hours to model, I might as well display all the freak components that had to be modelled:

The Pratt & Whitney 150A Engine

Window Panels
Curtains

Aircraft Wings

Wheel Wells

Galley Furniture


Landing Gear


OK, I think I'm tired uploading all the pics and dragging them from the top to the bottom and deleting the countless lines that are added between each sentence. And so, I'll be stopping here.

Thought: The end of a nightmare in a*rosp*ce hails the coming of another... sigh...

posted by Glass Cookie @ 9:16 PM  0 comments



Monday, October 27, 2008

WITH REGARDS TO 4**3 AND THE INS NOTES...

Well, I suppose this is one of the rare times that you see any of my blog entries with a title in CAPs. This is in keeping with the quality of the AE4**3 notes that anti-younivarsity provides in one of my modules.


Well, if you're wondering why you read msn nicks (in the previous post) complaining about 4**3 and ins notes being in caps, the following snapshot is a preview on why people say (or rather, 'display') the things they do on msn.

Oh, and did I mention that these are lecture slides? I guess not, although my not mentioning them earlier is probably not the main point. Anyway, before I go into some other unrelated topic again like how I usually do again, here's another snapshot. Perhaps the pic might look a little blur, so you might want to click on it to get a better understanding...


Have you clicked on it? If you have... hey, is it still blur? If it is, relax... it's not the quality of the file I uploaded nor your browser window. I'm serious. Apparently, the prof did a printscreen from another source and pasted the whole chunk in the lecture slides. Hmmm... what happened to the clarity (as if the whole chunk of countless words weren't bad enough)?

So, how on earth and in space did 4**3 get such a bad review from the a*ros*ace cohort? Well, there are basically 2 profs teaching 4**3. If it were only one prof making such notes, it wouldn't be that bad. But sadly, tragically, horrifically, whatever-else-ly, the notes from the other prof ain't any better...


And so, it is no wonder why so many people are complaining in my course over this subject. Anyway, good luck to all those being smoked into coming into my course, when the first head of a*ros*ace promised a starting pay of $5K when fresh grads come into the market during some talk.

Conclusion: Iamtiredofmentioningthatihatea*rosp*ceIamtiredofmentioningthatihatea*rosp*ce...

posted by Glass Cookie @ 3:16 PM  4 comments



Sunday, October 26, 2008

A Peek Into The A*rosp*ce Cohort's View

Well, it is not uncommon to see pretty neutral msn nicks for all my categories of friends, like: ACJC, Army, Cousins... etc. However, for the a*rosp*ce category, one (or rather, anyone in aerospace) cannot help but find oneself identifying with one or more of those comments...


Some abbreviations:

4003 - Refers to the subject code AE4**3 (sensored to prevent this entry from being googled)
INS - A topic related to navigation
FAR25 - Federal Aviation Regulations, section 25
fyp - Final year pr*ject

Conclusion: anti-younivarsity A*ros*a*e sucks big time...
Conclusion 2: I'm not alone...

posted by Glass Cookie @ 11:08 PM  0 comments



Thank You, Lord =)

Interestingly, this were the following sequence of events that took place after the previous ranting entry:

On the day of ranting, exasperation and final-camel-paralysis (ie. the last straw)
- Glass Cookie (GC) posts ranting entry condemning his course
- GG raises a red-alert call to friends and the other cookie to gather prayer support
- GC thinks about the usual Bible verse (Psalm 91:15)* being quoted a hundred times by lots of people over the world and wonders if he doubted the verse.
- GC is convinced that he doesn't doubt the verse, but wonders how the verse will be fufilled with less than 24 hours to the deadline, technically speaking, due to other deadlines present
- GC receives help from a coursemate within 5 minutes
- GC reads through the solution and it confirmed that he is on the right track
- GC goes to sleep as he doesn't have the software required to solve the CA report

On the next day
- GC goes to school and grabs a curry puff to console himself on the series of unfortunate events
- GC goes to the school computer lab and starts solving
- GC somehow (he can't explain it) knows what to do for the entire CA report requirements and fufilled its requirements within an hour
- GC spends the remaining 1 to 2 hours tidying up the report and transferring all the gibberish workings and charts into legible MS-Word format.

And so, once again, like the many, many times GC has called out to the Lord, the Lord answered him. For the Lord is good and his mercy endures forever! Thank you, Lord =)

*Psalm 91:15 - He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him

posted by Glass Cookie @ 10:37 PM  0 comments



Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Arrrgh!!!

After spending 2 crazy weeks on a crazy unsolvable CA, I had enough, enough, ENOUGH! To h*ll with a*ros*ace...

posted by Glass Cookie @ 11:06 PM  0 comments



Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Congrats Buddie!

This blog post is in congratulations to me best buddie for securing his Bachelors in Theology at University of Uppsala in less than a year. Way to go buddie!!! And most importantly...

GOD is GREAT!!!

posted by Glass Cookie @ 11:12 PM  3 comments



List Of My All-Time Big Stunts In M&D

30 Jul 2006 - When Silence Is Golden 2
It's funny how history repeats itself in a different form. This time, I minimised the volume of the keyboard to zero to try out a new song "I believe in miracles". And for yet (again, miraculously, ironically) another bizarre reason that I know not of, I actually turned the volume up WITHOUT knowing - and CONTINUED practising. Somehow the amplifiers were turned off by the sound guys (probably a safety measure against stuntmen like me?) until they could finally silence it no more and suddenly, out of the nowhere (oh, sorry, that would be the keyboard) came a loud note that penetrated the silence. I jerked in shock (very obviously). And yes, once again it's during the announcement time when silence is definitely golden.



04 Jun 2006 - Time and Congregation Waits For No Man
It was another faithful day in church, playing the keyboard for morning service, 9 and 11 a.m. After the 2nd service praise & worship session, it so happened that no one else could make it for the closing song. Well, since I was pretty free, I was asked to play it. So, I went down, charted out the chords, practised the piece in the tabernacle. On my way up the stairs, the first thought in my mind was: "Hey, it's so crowded. I need to get up the stairs. Now, how do I queeeeeze my way through?". The second thought in my mind was: "Hey, why is there a crowd coming down at this time? ... ... ... NOOOOOO!!!!!!" Man, time passes fast when you're practising the piano in church, and painstakingly slowly when it comes to exam pieces.



[No date] When Silence Is Golden
It was during the announcement, when pastor was giving out announcements before the offering song. Silence was observed as the pastor spoke. I retracted my hand from the score folder beyond the keyboard. For some amazing reason, my hand retraction path headed for the keys of the keyboard. And since the word 'fast' to describe the retraction rate was an understatement (for yet another reason I know not of)... you know the rest of the story.



[No Date] When Silence Is... Anything But Golden
Hmmm... once the amplifier on my side was switched off for some reason during praise & worship. And for some other reason that I know not of, I thought that the keyboard sound couldn't be heard. So, I tried pressing some keys. Didn't hear anything - drums were too loud. I proceeded to bang some keys repeatedly until... hmmm... I thought I heard something. Oh oh... ONLY my amplifier was turned off. (Note: Instrument: Brass sect 1, volume - max.)




List Of Other Small Stunts/Experiences In M&D

Fastest Fingers First
As a keyboardist, one usually comes into contact with different instruments within the same piece. It usually varies from strings, brass, violin to organ sounds. The funny thing is that sometimes, it is possible that your mind suddenly goes blank, and when the next instrument is required, I go "Oh no, what's the number combination for brass???!!! Wait wait wait wait...". And as usual, time and tide waits for no man. No. More accurately, a drummer waits for no number-fumbling keyboardist. Yea, that's the description man. Solution (ok, this is not a solution but an undesired consequence): Play a brass part with strings, or an organ part with brass, or none at all.



Cold Fingers
Usually, the atmosphere in the sanctuary is very cold to me. Sometimes, the atmosphere in the sanctuary is deep-freeze cold. Under cold or colder conditions, the fingers may or will harden and lose its dexterity. Then again, stuff could still be played, however stiff the fingers may be (with diminishing quality). Solution? Rub them while resting, or else, take off one playing hand and rub it vigorously without catching too much attention. I mean, what else can i do? I remove both hands when I need them ON they keyboard!!! Oh, I missed out that hand-clapping would be a sure kill to whatever heat you may have desperately tried to generate.



Record Breaker
Well, each week CD-RWs and envelopes used to contain the scores passed to musicians would be recycled. They are returned back to the musician's basket in the metal cabinet so that they can be used again. Of course, each time a person would return his/her envelope and CD used the previous week. Well, just somewhere in the 3rd week of June 2006 I returned a record holding of (prehaps of all-time in Lighthouse Evangelism's 16 years of establishment) of 9 envelopes with 3 missing somewhere at home. Oh well, you can't really blame me cause for the first time in my life, I saw the word "envelope" in the sms reminder about recycling. Or at least I would like to think so, about my first time noticing that word (fingers crossed).



Stubborn Pedal
Do you have any idea what it is like to have a pedal refusing to budge when moved with your feet, only to exceed its ideal position when you decide to set your adjusting strength to "brutal level". At that kind of rate, it just never gets to the position that you want it to be. Last resort: Bend down and move it with your hand just before the drummer starts his 4-beat intro to the next song.



Moving Pedal
Amazingly, although the pedal refuses to budge when you want it to, somehow it also refuses to stay in the spot when you want it to. And the more you pedal, the further it gets away from you no matter how you position your foot. And in extreme cases you may find yourself almost starting to slouch or slip from your seat, not that the keyboardist seat is any immobile than the pedal to begin with. Solution: Try to kick it back (this is the time when the above experience suddenly comes in again). Just what's with the pedal, I wonder?



Confession...
Take a look at the following score:

=)

Well, since strings sound somewhat soft, and somewhat muffled such that demisemiquavers are not to distinct, and considering it does take up time and there are 5 other pieces to go, and considering this is but 2 bars in a 100 bar piece, and considering blah blah blah... sometimes I play just a note. (OK, most of the time, happy?) Hey, I'm not the only keyboardist around guilty right? Someone tell me I'm not the only one... pleeeese....



Lame Invention List + Misc

Inventions
- Metal-coated tea bag to help with the sinking (Edmund Lum)

- Sound-powered telephone (Edmund Lum)

- Sound-powered telephone (Edmund Lum)

- Plug-in phones for plugging into a payphone to call - unable to recieve call. However, 10 cents will still be needed and you pay your monthly phone bills as usual (Edmund Lum)

- A clean dirt-free rubbish chute (Edmund Lum)

- A touchpad keyboard similar to the touchpad on a laptop, with letters on it (Edmund Lum)

- USB-portable touchpad (Edmund Lum)

- A square CD for better storage (Edmund Lum)

- Battery-powered book (Edmund Lum)

- Disposable dustbins (Edmund Lum)

- A "short circuit" switch that help save electricity when there is nobody at home (Edmund Lum)

- A white/black highlighter (Edmund Lum)

- Safety deposit box made of pure diamond for hardness. It is transparent to allow better visual of objects within it (Edmund Lum)

- An optic mouse combined with a decorated ball placed inside like an old-school mouse to allow any surface usage (Edmund Lum)

- DIY handphone to cut cost (Edmund Lum)

- A plastic knife - no rusting and it is lighter (Edmund Lum)

- Quick dry glue, only 0.2 sec of dry time (Edmund Lum)

- Doorless toliet for faster access (Edmund Lum)

- A pen with wider pen hole to prevent that all-time infamous ink jam (Edmund Lum)

- A 5-mm thick paper to prevent paper cut (Edmund Lum)

- Water-proof toilet paper to prevent wetting the entire roll when dropped on a wet floor, or easy breakage (Edmund Lum)

- A thermal panel powered heater (Edmund Lum)

- A faq list for patients who do not want to reply to any visitors (Edmund Lum & Glass Cookie)

- A deodorant that puts people off (Mustard seed)

- An umbrella with a wire connection (to attract lightning) that's earthed (Edmund Lum)

- An earthquake detector that sounds when there's an earthquake (Edmund Lum)

- A water sensor at the shoreline to detect an approaching tsunami (Edmund Lum)

- A energy-saving fridge that switches itself on via a smell senser specially for detecting certain rotting smells (Edmund Lum)

- A fire extinguishing bomb that creates a huge area of vacuum (sounds familiar?) so as to deprive the fire of oxygen (Edmund Lum)

- A solar powered torchlight

- A power-saving exit sign that lights up only when someone is around (Gabriel Goh)

- A self-locking door that locks itself when no one's around and unlocks itself when someone's near (Edmund Lum)

- Pencil lead harder than steel to improve on its fragility (Edmund Lum)

- A water-proof teabag to prevent breakage over long periods of soaking (Edmund Lum)

- A manual powered air conditioner (Glass Cookie)

- A water-sensitive sprinkler (Edmund Lum)

- A auto retractable roof via light and water sensors, hidden in the wall for protection (Edmund Lum)

- An anti-burglary system with the switch and sensor in the same room (Edmund Lum)

- A wooden barbecue pit (Glass Cookie and Edmund Chen)

- An acrylic oil rig and drill bit to save $$$ (Glass Cookie and Edmund Chen)

- A windows based DOS command prompt program (Glass Cookie)

- A wired handphone (Jackson Lum)


Misc
- A birthday breakfast celebration (Glass Cookie and Jackson Lum)

- A domesticated grizzily bear (Glass Cookie, inspired by Amanda Low)