My First Python Program June 28, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in PC, Python.add a comment
After roughly two hours of hard work, I’ve finished my first program ever. It’s nothing I’m going to release, and it’s not a big money maker, but I’m very satisfied. I’ve learned a lot about programming, and a lot about my personal limits 
What it really taught me about programming on the large scale is that I really needed to start with something small, and work my way up. I knew what I wanted the program to do, and I knew what the eventual upgrades I wanted would be. Mentally, I prepared a list of steps, and little by little, I crossed them off my list, until I got to the first working stage. From there I perfected the code and even wrote an optional module to work side by side with the program. The second thing I learned was that I really love Python. I feel a lot more productive in it, and I seem to have gotten farther faster, and I’m better all around with it than I ever was with C++.
The program itself was pretty simple in theory. I’m a premium user at rapidshare.com, and I download a lot. The problem is that RS has a 100mb file limit. So any real file is broken into parts (I hate parts!). So, normally I search through a bunch of garbled, escaped and unformatted HTML to get the links, and one by one copy the URLs into FireFox. What I wanted was a program that would open all the links from a file. So, I made the .txt file, and wrote the program. It has now evolved to take that bunch of code, and transform it into a neat little .txt file, automatically load the links, and open them in tabs in FireFox (the number of links is specified by the user).
So, it’s not much, but I’m really proud. I never thought I would be able to do it, but I did. Maybe now I’ll have the confidence to move onto something bigger. We’ll see.
Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (Anime) June 27, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Anime, Gundam, Reviews.add a comment
War in the Pocket takes place during the latter end of the One Year War (at the very end of it, in fact). It features the story of a child, Alfred, who lives next-door to, and knows the pilot of the New-Type Gundam, Alex. He doesn’t know, of course, that’s she’s the pilot of a Federation mobile Suit. He then runs into Bernard, a Zeon pilot on a mission to destroy said Gundam. Alfred teams up with Bernard, and together they try to carry out the mission originally given to Bernard.
Beginning Enthusiasm (2/5): WitP might be a great anime movie, but it’s slow. It starts out with an awesome action scene, but it decelerates from there on. There’s very little action, and most of the dialog and drama revolves around Alfred and his life. Alfred is a 10-or-so year old. So it starts out very slow. But, when you finish the movie, you realize that the focus isn’t on the action, but the plot and the…
Characters (4/5): I really like the characters in the movie, especially Bernard (even despite his resemblance to Glemy from ZZ). The rest of the Zeon teams are also great, and even the character with the least amount of screen time, Chris, is cool in her own way. But Alfred and his friends make me sick. Granted, he really matures as the movie goes along, but I just dislike his original “stupidness” for the first few episodes. Otherwise, the characters are very likable, and the relationships between them is necessary, and very sad at times (I’m looking at you Chris).
Ending Enthusiasm (5/5): The preparation for the big battle, the battle itself, and the very, very sad goodbye: it’s all great. By the time you get here, the Zeon team is dead, and the sickos from Zeon are planning a nuclear strike on the Colony just to destroy the Gundam. Alfred’s desperate race to reach Bernard to tell him that he needn’t fight, that the Federation has halted the nukes is one of the most emotional parts of the whole movie. But when Bernard is destroyed, it hits hard. The ending is great, and it really calls for a second watch of the movie.
Random, Rants, and Reviews #3 June 26, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Anime, Awesome, Gundam, Mega Man, Random Info, Video Games.add a comment
The Mega Man Dilemma: To start out, I love Mega Man, and this is the Random info part, so I’m not ranting. But I noticed something odd about the franchise; a pattern if you will. Here it is: A unique game (or series), followed by a basic carbon-copy series with just a few new improvements. First there was Mega Man, then Mega Man X (basically the same, maybe excluding x7 and x8); Mega Man Battle Network (GBA), and the new(ish) Starforce series (basically the same as BN, with a new battle view); Mega Man Zero (also GBA), and the also new(ish) Mega Man ZX. Wow. I have to note the exception of the Legends game (unless you count Tron’s game as the copy), and certain games like Mega Man Soccer and Mega Man Battle and Chase. But does this formula make the Blue Bomber any less cool in my book? No way.
Hackers: Apparently, someone has hacked into my Rapidshare account and is using it. I’m hoping that it’s just a simple error, and that tomorrow morning I’ll see that it’s running like fine. If not, I’m going to contact customer service and see if there’s anything they can do about it. When I noticed the problem, I immediately changed the password to a random string of characters and numbers stored only (as far as I know), in my head. Then, I quickly ran a virus, spyware, and a registry scan, and all three came up clean. I checked my TCPView, nothing weird there; I checked my Netstat and found a few odd entries, but nothing too alarming. But the problem persists, which makes me really believe that it’s just a fluke. How else could someone use my account even after I changed the password? Anyway, hackers suck, and I heard the main reason they hack servers is to host pr0n? That’s sewer-low.
Edit: Turns out it was just a fluke. No hacker…
Gundam F91: Just watched the F91 Gundam anime movie and really liked it. I’ll get around to a real review in a couple weeks, but the mecha designs: wow. Now, the F91 is a Gundam, which means by default it’s pretty cool, and the Rafflesia isn’t my favorite. But the Den’an Zon and the Den’an Gei are awesome! I love the Zaku II, and so far no suit can beat it, but the Den’an s come close. Here are the pics from the official site.
How to Get into Gundam June 20, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Anime, Gundam, Random Info.add a comment
I consider myself somewhat of a Gundam fanatic. It’s true that I haven’t seen all of the animes, nor read all the mangas, nor played all of the games; but I aim to change all that. So, in my quest to be a Gundam genius, I’ve seen the question asked “Where do I start?” Gundam can seem very daunting to the beginner, so I¡m going to provide a nice little outline of what to watch depending on your level of interest.
Young Anime Fan: If you’re young(er), and want a quick action-filled Gundam, then try out Gundam Wing. It’s the show that got me into Gundam. It’s quick, lots of action, and will keep you waiting for more. If you enjoy Wing, then make sure you watch the OVA Endless Waltz. It finishes up the story with an interesting twist. If you love Wing and want more of the same, check out Gundam 00. It’s brand-spanking new, and it’s also very action-oriented. If you find 00 too close to Wing, then try Seed and Destiny. I haven’t watched but a few episodes, so I can’t really comment a lot on them.
Older Anime Fan: If you’re a little older, then you’ll most likely want something with a little more story, and a little less focus on action. Without a doubt, watch First Gundam. It’s great, and it really sets up the story and mood for every Gundam series after it. Then, skim to Char’s Counterattack which is a little more mature and ties up the story of the first Gundam.
Wannabe-Gundam Meister: If you’re looking to watch all the Gundam shows, there’s an easy answer here. Watch it in chronological order! At the bottom of that page, you’ll see a list of all the animes, books, mangas, etc in the Gundam universe. I would heartily recommend watching first Gundam, as it’s the base for all Gundam, then go in chronological order from there.
Hit IGLOO, 08th MS Team, War in the Pocket, Stardust Memories, Zeta Gundam, ZZ Gundam, Char’s Counterattack first. It’s the basic conflict between Zeon and the Federation, so it’s the longest story arc. If you want, feel free to skip IGLOO, 08th MS Team, War in the Pocket and ZZ Gundam, they’re somewhat not as central (ZZ Gundam being the most important of those). The other series can be watched in the order of the site, or in any order, they’re not connected at all. Note that Destiny seems to be the continuation of Seed.
Well, there you have it. In any case, First Gundam is one of the best, and is a great starting point.
Mobile Suit Gundam IGLOO Review (Anime) June 20, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Anime, Gundam, Reviews.Tags: MS Gundam IGLOO
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IGLOO is a pair of Gundam movies set in the Universal Century. Each movie consists of three episodes at the normal half hour each. The story revolves around the Jotunheim, the mobile “base” of Oliver May and the 603rd Technical Evaluation unit: a unit that test out various weapons and mobile suits still in the experimental stage. What sets this apart from the other Gundam animes is that it is completely CG.
Beginning Enthusiasm (4/5): I was really hyped to watch a Gundam Anime in CG. I could just imagine the huge battles, all my favorite suits, and just plain Gundam action. However, I very quickly realized that most of the 30 minutes would focus not on the action, but on the characters and the preparation for the short but very sweet battles. The farther I got in, the more I was disappointed with the story lines. Each episode focuses on a new experimental weapon, it’s use in the field (along with Oliver May’s disapproval), and the death of the pilot. Literally, it’s the same for all six episodes. But, the awesome CG fights make up for this.
Characters (3/5): Like I said above, most of the characters are rehashed. The main characters are all pretty cool. Oliver being the best (especially with him piloting the suit at the end). But the pilots of the experimental units are all hashed! Each one has a strong feeling for the weapon, and some background with it. It’s not a big deal, but it did bug me. There are no cameos, except for one scene with Char’s Zaku II (no Char, just the MS).
Ending Emotion (5/5): Despite it’s shortcomings, the series is actually pretty good. It’s main focus is the 603rd unit, but it also outlines the whole history of the One Year War. We see the biggest battles, including Operation British, the battle at Loam, Jaburo, Odessa, and A Baoa Qu. The ending, although very similar to First Gundam’s ending is simple awesome. You’re expecting Oliver to die, but when you see him come back in the hand of the other MS, it’s simply overwhelming. Great ending for a pretty good series.
*Note: MS Gundam IGLOO 2: Gravity of the Battlefront will be out in October! It looks great!
Python is Sloppy… June 19, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in C++, PC, Python.2 comments
After really giving up on C++, I’ve moved onto Python. Why did I give up on the mother of all languages (you know what I mean)? I guess I felt - and still feel - that after spending so much time on C++, I was really getting no where. I’ve read around 5 tutorials and 2 full books, and I still feel that there’s something missing. Something I’m missing. C++ has a lot of extra junk that’s not covered in most tutorials, and there’s no real “basin” or other location where I can find a link to these tutorials.
So what I really wanted was something… young (I know that sounds gay). Not in terms of age, but something that’s a little more appropriate for me. It’s not that I’m not willing to spend a lot of time on my programming. In fact, I spend almost 3-4 hours a day messing around with it. It’s just that I needed a real change of pace. Especially after feeling so confident in JavaScript.
That’s where Python comes in. Sure, at a very superficial level it’s sloppy. There are hardly any brackets (used only - as far as I have seen - in lists, tuples and dictionaries: essentially fancy arrays), statements don’t end with a semicolon, and functions, classes, loops, etc are contained with only indentation! That’s right, indentation now has a function other than keeping your code neat. But underneath the surface, this lack of mostly aesthetic punctuation really cuts down on time, and makes spotting your errors easier.
To make myself proficient in Python, I’ve taken it upon myself to go through each and every resource at this awesome site. There’s over 300, but I’m willing to take the trip. Wish me luck, and if you’re taking the same road, let me in on some of your thoughts on Python.
Robots and Aliens June 17, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Random Info.3 comments
I have been thinking about an Alien invasion lately (I guess my mind in stuck in the Revelations we’ve been studying at Church). And I have a few questions about this. First off, we don’t like aliens, right? Then why are we sending probes to planets to find them? We might have a chance against them, but if they find our probes, then couldn’t they easily find our planet? Second, why do aliens always crash their UFO’s? They have technology years beyond ours, and they just crash? And don’t they have some ejection system of some kind?
Now, about robots. It’s the same thing. We’re afraid of a robot uprising, am I right? Then why in the name of all that’s good are we making more and more robots? Now, insanely smart AIs are fine. Because they normally side with humanity (one even built Iron Man). But robots always kill us!
To finish off this random post, think about this: what if the inevitable alien invasion coincided with the unstoppable robot uprising? Would they team up, or would their lust for our sweet planet make them fight each other, leaving humanity to crawl into some corner and not worry about the battle? And who would win? Aliens have awesome (but seemingly flawed) technology, but the robots are smart. The humans, on the other hand, don’t really have any advantage whatsoever, so we’d basically die.
Robots and Aliens, or as War of the Worlds portrays them, robot aliens, are our natural enemies. So… yeah.
My New Widget June 16, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Random Info, Update.add a comment
It’s not much, but I’ve just added my new text widget. It’ll outline the games I’m playing, the anime or tv I’ve been watching, and the movies I’ve recently seen. Along with a small comment about each. I’ll be updating this every Sunday and Wednesday night. It might be only text, but it’s something I’ve been wanting for a long time. Enjoy it!
Gundam Battle Universe and Whatnot… June 14, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Gundam, PSP, Random Info.add a comment
Well, so much for my being in a writing mood Anyways, here I am again, this time with a little update for what looks to be an awesome game. It’s the sequel to the PSP game Gundam Battle Chronicles. Like its predecessors, the game aims toward covering the UC, and having as many playable characters as possible.
This time, we get over 200 suits, 90 pilots, and scenarios/characters from First Gundam, 08th MS Team, War in the Pocket, Stardust Memories, Zeta and ZZ Gundam, Char’s Counterattack, Hathaway’s Flash, Gundam F91, and V Gundam. That’s a huge leap over the past 79, 83, and 87 separations, with no thought towards the latter end of the UC.
The gameplay seems to be basically the same as Chronicles, but I’m really, really hyped. I haven’t been this hyped for a game in a long time. Chronicles was good, but I really missed out on a lot. This time, however, I’m gonna be ready. To get myself prepared for the game, I’m going to speed watch the rest of the UC anime. That means finishing up ZZ Gundam (which is a lot sillier than I like, but according to one user, “se pone wena”, or gets a lot better around ep. 28, I’m currently at 20). Then watching F91, Char’s CC, and V Gundam. At this point I’m watching 4 episodes a day to finish the anime before the game comes out.
Also, I’m going to be playing through SD Gundam G Generation Portable, also for the PSP, and Killzone Liberation (totally unrelated, I’m at chapter 4/5) to prepare myself mentally. Watch out for a new widget, a buttload of reviews, some preliminary posts on Universe, and the general return of me to my site.
