Little Milestones: iPod Programming - Caesar Cipher

My humble Caesar Cipher App

Amazing what passes for milestones these days. Just now, I finished an uber-simple caesar cipher application for my iPod. It shouldn't have taken so long, but I wasn't yet used to the Obj-C methods, and searching for, and experimenting with the NSString methods took waaaay too long. But it was a nice and fulfilling experience.

I should have googled in the first place. But I thought wading through the help and documentation system would build more character. Then again, maybe it was just pride. Whatever the reason, I'm just glad I overcame my procrastination. Yup, definitely feels good. ^_^

Hm... I wonder what else I can create. Have to continue reading.

- Ryles

Book Log

I finally finished Crime and Punishment. The poignant ending put a smile on my face. Perhaps life is not all misery. The novel was really heavy and often times crushing, yet it illuminated the great depths of the human mind.

In contrast, my succeeding read was a quick and easy one - Regression by Kathy Bell. It had good reviews, and the Kindle edition was on sale, so I grabbed it. It's good enough for me to purchase the second book in the series.

You can read my reviews over at my Amazon.com and Shelfari pages. They have more or less the same content, but I normally favor using the Shelfari interface then just cut-and-paste my reviews to Amazon. (But yeah, they are both owned by Amazon, just not linked.)

Unfortunately, I haven't made much progress with my iPhone skills. I will need to work on that.

Life goes on.

- Ryles

Quick Treat: Mr. Donut Bento Box

Mr. Donut has reopened near the eki. As I came out of the station tonight, I thought of getting myself a couple of donuts for breakfast, but I ended-up with five! I discovered they were giving out a free present for every 600yen purchase, so I decided to go for it.

I didn't know how it worked, so I just went and got my donuts. As I was paying, the counter person asked me something I didn't understand (well, I thought he asked me if I wanted to get the present... so I just kept saying "Hai.") Ah, apparently he wanted me to choose. (The key-phrase/word being "blah blah purezento dochira blah blah".) Ok, I didn't expect that. I went to the booth, and chose the most useful - a bento box.

Ok, it isn't the most entertaining one. Well, at least I got a present. Although I think I should have chosen the plastic plate with the Pon de Lion mold. Oh well, it's a cheap stress reliever - buying and getting a present, I mean. At least I get donuts to eat too. Mr. Donut here is really delicious, unlike the Mr. Donut in Manila. It costs a whole lot more too, although not by local standards.

Yum, yum! Just finished one with Angel Cream filling. I don't think I'll really get to use the bento box though. It smells strongly of plastic. I used to have one that smelled the same and it practically infects everything and anything you put inside. It's a cheap present, what did you expect? Hahaha... I still have my delicious donuts though, and I'm happy eating them. ^w^

Snapshots, Bits, and Pieces

Mina Tepes (Wikipedia Image)

I'm thinking how I can, and should, blog. I want to post more of my thoughts, and more snapshots of my efforts and hobbies. However, I am too compulsive lately to sit down and type things down. I will be experimenting with this and succeeding posts. Will see what works. ^_^









Finished these anime lately, and here's what I think of them:

• Dance in the Vampire Bund - Grade:A+
• Sexy, lovely, exciting, and romatic. One of my favorites.
• Sekimatsu Occult Academy - Grade:A
• Sengoku Basara 2 - Grade:B-
• As expected. Nothing new here people. Just passing by.
• High School of the Dead - Grade:A
• Not bad at all; and not just because of the rich fan service.

Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Wikipedia Image)

Things to do:

• Start (and finish) SAM's Teach Yourself iPhone Application Development
• (Re)Learn Mandarin
• Listening to audio lately. Just have to keep it up.

• Finish Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• More than 50% through the book. Unexpectedly engaging and thought-provoking. Very mature work. A lot of introspection. I'm really liking it a lot.

Reflections:

• Until when will this life of peace and bounty last? Is it possible for humanity to forget the horrors of war? I am not speaking of just regional wars, but truly great wars much like the World Wars. And similarly, when I say "forget," I do not mean mere memory, but the experience and feeling of the horrors of war. Can humans who were born and raised during a time of relative peace truly conceive of a world at war? I mean, beyond mere idea, or fantastical day dream; to truly imagine oneself scared witless for one's life - that at any time, a stray bullet, a wrong decision by a leader, can end it all; to see all around you death and inhuman suffering. When one looks at a historical timeline, one will notice that great wars come and go. From this standpoint, it seems it is merely a matter of time before global suffering will once again cover the world. So sad, but so undeniable. Should I worry? Should I prepare? Or should I just live as if it will not come to pass - to cross the bridge when we get there, as they say?

And yet I while away time:

• TowerMadness
• So addicting. Got the Spooky and Marshland packs for free via FB. Bought the flamethrower and flash bait too!

- Ryles

The Reading Void

One thing I don't like about reading a good novel is that once you've finished reading it, it's so hard to find the next one to read. I become so absorbed with the world the author has created in my imagination, that it is so difficult to part with it. I want more. But there is no more. I've read [almost] every book from the author, and there is simply no more. It takes effort to open a new book; to forget the familiar worlds and start anew. Such is the effect after I've read The Evolutionary Void, the third and last book of the Void Trilogy. Too many praise have already been said about the book that I feel inept. As such I have nothing more to add. Don't believe me? Try reading the reader comments. It is simply a grand space opera, a masterpiece of world-building and story-telling in the traditional Hamilton style.

The worse part is I knew this was coming. Every time I read a Peter F. Hamilton novel, I am met with this frustration at the end. It is a good frustration, but a frustration nonetheless. I would scour the bookstores for the next best thing, and nothing will satisfy. Sad and quite unfair for the next book I read, I assure you.

I need another cake, and I want it to be like the one I just finished. Please?

I wanted to start the Heechee Saga, but I can't find my copy of Gateway. (Damn, where did I put it!) I wanted to try Neal Asher's Polity novels or Iain Bank's Culture series, but I don't have any of the books yet. For now, I return to a work of another distinguished (but unfortunately not as consistently good) scifi writer - Dan Simmons, with his collection of short stories, Worlds Enough and Time.

Kudos to Mr. Hamilton for another well-written novel! I'm sure it will be a bestseller and a classic. I look forward to his next works. I'm hoping there will be a short story collection about the Commonwealth, much like The Confederation Handbook and A Second Chance at Eden for the Night's Dawn trilogy.

^_^)

Just call me Kindle

One week has passed since my Kindle arrived, so I think it's time I say something about it.

First of all, I love it. It's very light, and easy to read with - basically, it lives up to the hype! I've bought only one(1) book so far - The Evolutionary Void. And to limit it to one book really took a lot of self-control. I also loaded it up with my Apple tutorials and other PDFs, and I should say it provides a better reading experience than the iPod (although I had to rotate it to read PDFs with a proper font size).

However, this post is not meant to highlight how good an e-reader the Kindle is. Instead, I want to say something about what name to call it. I've been using the pronoun "it" to refer to my Kindle. In the tradition of ship-naming (and yeah, yeah, male ego), I would normally give my devices female names. In my case, female anime names. After all, my iPod is lovingly named Chibi Mina Tepes - small but tenacious and mature. (Now that I think about it, I probably should have named her Loli Mina Tepes :P) It's a sign of affection, mind you. It's kind of hard to show my affection if I named my iPod Sgt. Slaughter, right? Besides, I would rather people hear me say "it's so much fun to read with chibi Mina," instead of "it's so much fun to read with Sgt. Slaughter." Perish the thought. And, no, I am not inspired to name it after an author.

I've been mulling what name to give to my Kindle, but so far no good name comes to mind. I'd call it Nagato Yuki (who is after all a book lover herself), but it just feels too long and... ill-fitting. In any case, the search for a good name is still ongoing! ^_^

Aside from a name, it's been difficult to find a dress for her. Unlike the iPod, the Kindle is not yet mainstream, and practically nobody (aside from Amazon.com) sells decent accessories that will protect her. I really wished I ordered the Kindle leather cover along with her. Sigh. (-.-') So far, I'm making do with plastic book covers and a pouch.

What? You want to know what features the Kindle has? As I said, this is not what the post is meant to do! :P But, okay, just to satisfy that curiousity, here is a list of features I really liked about her:

• e-Ink display (crisp and paper-like with no backlights - exactly how books should be!)
• 0, 90, 180, and 270-degree orientation;
• Free 3G access (via Amazon WhisperNet) - sooo convenient for buying books;
• Well-positioned page keys at the side (just right where my thumb would be);
• Tactile-feedback keys; meaning: I can feel myself pressing her buttons (no pun intended) - after all, they are physical keys, not plain-vanilla touch interface - and yes, call me old-school, but I prefer them over touch (although swipe would be nice);
• Multiple bookmarks;
• PDF support;
• Loooooong battery life (beat that iPod!);
• Real-time dictionary (very, very handy);
• Screensaver of classical authors and images (see the pic? That is Mark Twain);

She also has an "experimental" web browser and MP3 player, but I haven't used them. ^_^

Gadgets Galore

Ok, I admit I've been a shopaholic lately. What you see here is my new iMac! I bought it two weeks ago, and has been enjoying it ever since. I've never been an Apple fanboy. In fact, I've never really used one! This will be my first time. But after this, I'm becoming a big fan of that particular walled garden now. ^_^)/

Did I mention I bought an 8GB iPod along with it? :P And the nice thing about it is that, in total, both just cost me less than 115,000 JPY! But hey, it's for development use. Yeah, that's right... development use. (^^;


And today. Today, this very unassuming package arrived:

 And guess what's inside! o_o

An Amazon Kindle.

It arrived earlier than expected. I thought I'd get it sometime October - one day, my Amazon account indicated that they will send me an email once a shipping date has been fixed; the next day, it indicated that it has been shipped already, and I am to expect it to arrive a week later! Now that was a surprise. A pleasant surprise. b(^_^)d










 Nice packaging inside, despite the messy outer box.








The USB cable even comes with a power adapter - something I wished the iPod came with.

So what did I get myself into? Tons of distractions! Lolz! Between the games in my iPod and the books in my Kindle, I think I'm going to have to willfully force myself to go to work. :D Well, I'm hoping that means I can catch up on my iPhone programming (self)studies, which was my original intention... yeah, I did intend that.



Time to prove that I can keep my word... especially to myself. ;P

Banner Update - Momohime

Just in case you haven't noticed, I changed by banner from cute C.C. to the beautiful Momohime. d(^_^)b She arrived 2 weeks ago, and you can see more of her from my figure.fm post.

Book Arrivals: Cordwainer Smith and MOG

Last week was supposed to be a 1-week summer vacation. Instead, it became 1 week of overtime work. And like all overtime work, it took it's psychological toll. Mine came in the form of an order for a Kindle, and, in the process of looking through Amazon.jp, 2 new books.

Unfortunately, the Kindle will not arrive any time soon. The first time I checked, it was due to be shipped on the first week of October (plus shipping time from US to Japan).  The last time I checked, it said I will be notified by e-mail. It's now time for the long wait.

Meanwhile, the 2 new books already arrived. I ordered them because they didn't have Kindle versions. At least not yet. And besides, they've been in my wishlist for so long already. I couldn't order them because they were always out of stock here in Japan. I saw both become available, and one of them was marked "only one left in stock" (yes, I checked after it arrived, and surely, it was out of stock again).

The first book is The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith. It is a collection of classic short stories from science fiction's golden age - the late 1950's to the 60's. According to all the reviews, Cordwainer Smith was not really popular, but he wrote some of the best stories, and this omnibus (read: tome) comes highly-recommended. And also as recommended, I will read it in parts.

The second book is Reinventing Gravity by John W Moffat. It is a book about modified gravity (or MOG) theories - essentially, alternate working hypothesis that try to explain the current leading mysteries (and inconsistencies) in physics and astronomy. Lately, I've been finding the prevalent dark matter / dark energy explanations becoming more and more whimsical, especially as the evidences are not coming in. MOGs seem to be a refreshing take on the subject, and I want to understand more about them. However, save for an article in Scientific American some time back, I haven't  found any other sources, until this book came to my attention. Apparently, people really do have a hard time letting go of cherished theories*, and relatively fewer researchers are pursuing this direction.

Along with my other ongoing books (and the soon-to-be-in-my-possession Kindle and Kindle books), I am looking forward to great insightful and enjoyable reads in the near future.

Btw, it's the Obon period this weekend, so I have 4 days to enjoy them before work interrupts life again. I have no plans of rushing through the books. I am going to slowly savor and enjoy them for quite some time.

Oh yeah, Reinventing came with the first 2 pages torn! Torn! I had to wait 1 week (i.e. today) for a new copy to be delivered. The damaged one also got picked up late this afternoon. So everything's fine  and dandy now. They're now both wrapped in book plastic covers and ready to be read. On a side note, I'll probably be finishing Imago, the third and last story in Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood before continuing with The Rediscovery.

* From the first chapter: historically, the Ptolemaic earth-centered view was so entrenched that it persisted for 2000 years... until Copernicus came by. Wow, 2000 years! In comparison, Einstein's Special and General theories of relativity are just a little over 100 years old, while Darwin's theory of evolution just turned 150 last year. 2000 years indeed!

My Memorable Anime Openings and Endings

Somehow, I just suddenly felt the urge to blog about my favorite anime openings (OP) and endings (ED). I noticed that really good OP/ED helps a lot in determining what I decide to watch and how long they stick in my consciousness. In a lot of cases, I decide to find and watch the anime simply because I saw their great OP/ED preview! It's usually the catchy song that appeals to me, but on some occasions, the animation blends so well with the song and my life that I find it unforgettable. These excellent (and personally relevant) OP/ED's make me pause and recollect when I suddenly hear them outside.

And among all I've watched (and I have seen many), here are my most memorable anime OP/EDs arranged in chronological order starting with the most recent. I included links to any information I can find. Enjoy!

1. My Soul, Your Beats (Lia) from Angel Beats OP  
Video Lyrics Full
This song just flows so beautifully. I loved this song so much (along with #2 below) that I was compelled to buy the album brand new. (Usually I'd wait for a second-hand one from Book-Off.)

2. Brave Song (Tada Aoi) from Angel Beats ED
Video Lyrics Full
Life can be so sad and yet so wonderful.

3. Friends (Aiko Nakano) from Dance in the Vampire Bund OP 
Video Lyrics Full
I like the song, animation, and artistic touches of this OP so much!

4. Paradise Lost (Chihara Minori) from Ga-Rei Zero OP

Video Lyrics Full

I never tire of this song. Something about it gets me going. It rocks, yet it's also sad, and at the same time hopeful. Did I mention I completed all the manga because I loved the characters and story so much? ;P

5. Vanilla Salt (Yui Horie) from ToraDora! ED
Video Lyrics Full
Favorite part: Tenori Tiger!

6. Diamond Crevasse (May'n) from Macross Frontier ED 
Video Lyrics Full
Brings back memories. T.T

7. Northern Cross (May'n) from Macross Frontier ED 
Video Lyrics Full
A really stylish blend of animation and real-life performance! ^_^

8. NEXT LEVEL (YU-KI) from Kamen Rider Kabuto OP
Video Lyrics Full
Now THIS is how Kamen Rider should be. Cool. The airing of Kabuto marked the 30th anniversary of the Kamen Rider franchise.

9. Unmei no Yoru (Fateful night) (Kawai Kenji) from Fate/Stay Night
Video Lyrics Full   
This is not really an OP/ED, but it was what made me look for Fate/Stay Night. The teaser for the series had this enigmatic and alluring song as BGM.

10. A Cruel Angel's Thesis (Yoko Takahashi) from Neon Genesis Evangelion OP
Video Lyrics Full
Classic. 'Nuff said.

11. Moonlight Densetsu (DALI / Moon Lips) from Sailor Moon OP
Video1 Video2 Lyrics Full
Is there any anime-lover who hasn't seen/heard this?! I was surprised to hear this song recently being played in a MiniStop store near my office. ^_^

12. Cha-la Head Cha-la (Kageyama Hironobu) from Dragonball Z OP
Video Lyrics Full
The first time I saw the OP was during an uneventful afternoon, while channel surfing for anything interesting. Then I stopped at channel 9, caught by the powerful music. I watched as Kuririn and Tenshinhan fire an impressive blast, and then I saw Goku charging, and boom! Sparking! I didn't know who they were back then, and what the show was, but right then and there, they got my attention. Next thing I know, I was following the series. Coincidentally, they were airing the first episode of Dragonball Z!

Btw, this does not mean I don't like other anime's OP/ED's. Mind you, I love a lot of others. However, these are so far the most sticky and memorable. (^_^

Picture Archive: Rin and Dessert

「Rin Tohsaka with a witch's brew of strawberries and cream.」

Review: Magical Girl Lyrical NANOHA The Movie 1st

It was only quite recently that I learned of the Nanoha series. It was when I noticed lots of Figma figurines coming out for the series, and when I saw the official movie commercial. I got interested and finished the first season a couple of months before the movie came out. It was only recently that I started watching Nanoha A's. Yesterday I went to watch the NANOHA The Movie 1st, expecting it would be a re-imagining of the first season. Apparently, it was not a re-imagining, but a retelling! I have mixed feelings for the movie, but overall, I enjoyed it. Here are my impressions:

Theater: I watched NANOHA The Movie 1st at Shinjuku Milano 1. The theater itself is big, and wasn't completely filled (which was good). The theater was clean, as expected. The lobby could use some decorations to improve the mood. It still was not Toho or Warner MyCal, but it did not disappoint as much as Musashino. I still don't understand why they did not just show the movie in those 2 theaters. Anyone know why?

Animation: The whole first season was redrawn, bringing the animation and artwork quality up to modern theatrical standards. Settings, character and costume designs, and magical attacks (particularly Nanoha's) were all modernized and improved.

Plot and Storyline: I'll say it again: it is a retelling! Even the setting and angle of shots look the same. Since I just recently watched season 1, it felt like deja vu despite the redrawn animation. Some minor things were expectedly altered to compress the whole season into a 90-120 minute movie, particularly the jewel seed collection at the beginning.

A notable addition in the movie is Raging Heart giving Nanoha what I would call a "Quick Tour" of its features during her first battle. Now that's what I call a real-time Help system.

A new flashback scene was also added that showed Precia creating a new character from her cat. She (the new character) trained Fate and created Bardiche for her. (From my Googling, it would seem the character was probably introduced during the second and/or third seasons... but I haven't watched those, so she is new to me.) Other than these and some insignificant changes, the storyline of the movie was practically the same as the series.

Best scene: The transformations! This wouldn't be a magical girl series if it did not have transformation sequences! Although the original Nanoha transformation was already great, the movie trumped that! I have always thought that Nanoha had a good blend of design ingredients that appeal to both male and female audiences. ^_^

And of course there was Starlight Breaker! The new Starlight Breaker was simply awesome!

Something I would like changed: A new plot twist wouldn't have hurt. I have to admit some talking parts bored me (I was already blinking, blinking, blinking... to keep my eyes open), because I already know what was being discussed from the TV series.

Others: The products on sale at the theater store did not catch my fancy. So I decided to buy the Nanoha Figma figurine at Yodobashi instead. Then again, that was probably just an excuse to buy one. v(^_^

Final Grade: A-

Review: Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works

Fate/Stay Night is one of my favorite anime of all time (as you can see in the side-bar). ^_^ So I knew I had to watch Unlimited Blade Works when it came out - which is exactly what I did just this Tuesday. I watched it at Musashino Theater over at Shinjuku. So how did it turn out? Well, in summary, it was great, but it did not overwhelmingly blow me away, unlike Evangelion 2.0. Here are my impressions:

Theater: I wished they were showing Unlimited Blade Works in Toho or Warner MyCal cinemas. At the very least, they would have been nearer. At best, their theaters were bigger and better - for the same price! I had a hard time finding Musashino. The theater is small and feels a little cramped. It could fit only around 150-200 persons. Honestly, the theater sort of turned me off.

Animation: Unlimited Blade Works features far superior animation quality than the Fate/Stay Night TV series, as expected from a theatrical release. Swords clashed, sparks flew, and blows reverberated. Characters were all well-rendered. Well, mostly. Mr. Holy Grail Shinji seemed oddly drawn; but who cares, I wish he just died or something anyway.

Plot and Storyline: In the visual novel (which I never played and only read in Wikipedia), Unlimited Blade Works is a alternate scenario that can be unlocked after finishing the primary scenario ("Fate"). True to this, you should have watched the original Fate/Stay Night TV series (or played the visual novel) to easily make sense of what was happening. Scenes were being fast-forwarded and skipped especially at the beginning. The movie seems to be true to the original Unlimited Blade Works storyline. Some minor details were probably changed, but overall, it's the same.

I didn't know the whole storyline prior to watching the movie, so everything was new and fresh at that time (although I did already know Archer was Emiya). Some scenes surprised me completely though: Rider just dying like that (with so little screen time!), Berserker being defeated easily by Gilgamesh, and best (worst?) of all, Ilya's heart being plucked out afterwards! o_O Now that was creepy.

Unlike the TV series, Saber takes a lesser role in Unlimited Blade Works, with the focus instead being on Archer, and the relationship between Emiya and Tohsaka. It should be noted that Archer and Emiya are vastly more skilled and powerful in Unlimited Blade Works - with Archer/Emiya being capable of duplicating and countering Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon moves. All these sort of unbalanced me for a while since I was expecting more Saber screen time.

Best scene: Berserker going all-out against Saber. Wow. ^o^

Something I would like changed: Why was Saber wearing a backless wedding gown and bent over like that??? o_O That was weird. Caster was supposed to be "torturing" her... not seducing her. But hey, it was originally an adult visual novel, so I guess it's understandable.

Others: Honestly, I got lost in the plot twists because of my rudimentary Nihongo skill. I had to read Wikipedia afterwards to completely understand what happened in some parts. v(^_^

Final Grade: A

First 2010 Updates

Can't seem to sleep again. I haven't resumed work. Will start working again at the beginning of February. I've been going around town lately with mom, to let her see the nearby sights in Tokyo. I'm really grateful for her begin around, and I want her to also enjoy the Japan experience.

My girlfriend won't be coming as planned, since her visa application got disapproved. It's really sad and depressing, but it can't be helped, I guess. We will be planning an alternative vacation instead, but that will already be around May since I probably can't file any multiple-day vacation leaves - not after this two-month leave for the operation. I'll also need those vacation leaves for my monthly medical check-up.

In any case, I decided to update my long-neglected blog. I've been lazy lately.

First of all, I already changed the picture on the side bar. (Finally!) I also changed the header of that section, since I don't update it weekly anyway.

The list of anime I'm currently watching has also been updated. This time, I added some rough grading of the shows for those interested to watch them. No updates to the all-time favorite anime list, but some of those I'm currently watching may bump some of them out of the list.

Lastly, I already updated the Countdown section - the Macross Frontier movie has come and gone, and I wasn't able to watch it. :( It was still showing last January 1, but I decided not to watch it since I just finished watching Avatar then. And I thought that the theater might already be empty that late into a movie's run, which is no fun. I'm really looking forward to the 2 new movies showing next week! Although I was hoping to watch them with my girlfriend. T.T

*Sigh* Life goes on. (Key in "Life Goes On" from Gundam SEED)

I'm now getting into drawing/sketching again, after DannyChoo's Otacool2 mascot contest announcement. I don't expect to win, but I'm eager to revive that old hobby of mine. To prime things up, I bought myself a manga design book (in Japanese, as the english version is not available in Amazon.jp), and a Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch tablet. Will see where this goes.

Picture Archive: Euphie and Arthur

"Princess Euphemia looking for Suzaku's cat, Arthur. :) A cute little setup of one of my few Code Geass figurines."

Ryles' note: I love this picture so much! The "Code Geass" label, the cute cat, and Euphie simply looks... *ahem* stunning. I think I kept the pic posted for too long. v(^^'