3 Ways in Which Geekdom Can Hinder Christianity August 11, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Christian Discussion.add a comment
This is a serious post, besides the word Geekdom. I’m not really sure what the correct term is, but as a geek myself, I’d like to share the three main areas in which being one has hindered my Christian life.
Super Dimensional Fortress Macross (Anime) Review August 9, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Anime, Reviews.Tags: Macross, MAL, Robotech
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Story: The main story is split up into two main arcs (from 1-27, and 28-36). While the second arc might not seem very necessary to the story itself, it closes up the loose ends left behind from certain character relationships. The story is very fluid, pretty deep, and all around well-planned. It’s unique, and I never found myself wondering, “Now why are they doing this again?” like in other animes. The anime has a starting point and an ending point, with very little fluff in the middle. Every episode has its purpose, and it’s basically very well thought out.
Mospeada Sneak Peak August 6, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Anime.Tags: Mospeada
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Although my Anime plate is rather full at the moment with Macross 7 and Frontier (trying to watch them all before Ace Frontier comes out on the PSP), and V Gundam and 00 Gundam (want to watch the latter before I crack out the import 00 DS game), I couldn’t resist sneaking a small peek at this anime. Mospeada is the third anime used in the Robotech mesh, but I finally got my hands on the original subbed version, before it was even considered for RT. I’ve only watched the first episode, but I thought I’d share my thought on it here.
My First (Real) Program August 1, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Python, RSLF.2 comments
After having been absent for a while, I’m back with a small update on my programming. Remember back when I wrote about a program that extracts RapidShare links from a site? Well, after cleaning out my Python folder from one tutorial to another, and cleaning out my Downloads folder (by deleting extracted Rars), I emptied my recycle bin… Along with my program. So, I busted my butt to write it again, but this time using wxPython, and this time in its own separate folder. Here are my results for the RSLF (RapidShare Link Finder) v. 1.01
Robotech vs. Macross July 14, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Anime, Random Info.Tags: Macross, Robotech
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After what seems like a thousand years, I’m back with a new post. This time to cover the promised Robotech/Macross post. It’s not really a versus match, it’s just more of a side by side comparison. Macross is a Japanese anime released a while back (early 80s, I think), and Robotech is the American adaptation of that anime. The problem is how they adapted it, and that’s what we’re going to discuss here.
DS Games I’m Looking Forward To July 1, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in DS, Video Games.add a comment
I recently have gotten back into playing my DS, and with some new games on the way, I’m really excited. Especially these:
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.
