PAS #7 – Almost Finished

 

Above is the most recent screenshot from my game.  As you can see, its coming right along which is good since it’s due on thursday.  Since the last update I’ve changed quite a bit.  I’ve added a fireball counter which indicates graphically how many fireballs you have left to shoot.  The red ball you see in the screenshot is a fireball.  The yellow circle is a token you can collect that adds another fireball to your reservoir.  The black rectangle is a wall you have to avoid crashing into.  The black bands on the top and bottom are the ceiling and floor, which you also cannot hit.  I am quite happy with the progress of my game, but still have a little more work to do.

First, the black ceiling, floor, and walls are extremely ugly.  I think I am going to add a wood like texture to them, but only if I can figure out an easy way to do so.  Also, I want to change the dragon to look like an actual dragon.  It may be difficult, but its going to improve the look of my game dramatically. The next thing I am going to add is a start/menu screen to make my game seem more complete and professional and also easier to navigate.  After I do that I’m going to implement a high score tracker so people are able to compare their high scores.

I’m happy with the progress so far and hope to finish the game this weekend.  Perhaps Ill be able to upload the game online so anyone who wants to can try it out.  Thanks everyone!

***************** EDIT ********************

I have finished the aesthetics of my game, take a look!

CIV #6 – Super High MPG Cars

In recent times it has become not uncommon to see commercials for cars toting forty miles per gallon or hybrids that are saving the plant.  These are well and good, but what is on the table for the future? A couple of years ago people made a big fuss about hydrogen powered cars and how clean and fuel efficient they’ll be.  However, that technology has fallen to the wayside as many people doubt its safety, practicality, and ability to power a car.

Well, PAC-Car II, a swiss engineering team, aims to destroy these views with their hydrogen powered car that gets 12,666 miles per gallon.  That’s correct 12,666 miles per gallon of hydrogen fuel.  The best part is, hydrogen powered cars only release water as their waste.  Obviously, changing our oil hungry form of transportation to run of hydrogen will be enormously beneficial to the environment and may even be beneficial to the wallets of the average commuter.

PAC-Car II got is fame from Shell’s Eco Marathon, a competition they hold for to see who can create the most fuel efficient car in a number of various categories.  PAC-Car II not only won the competition, but is certified by Guinness World Records as having the world’s most fuel efficient vehicle.

Here is an interesting schematic published by the PAC-Car II team describing how they vehicle gets its power:

And a photo of the car:

Obviously this car isn’t fit for the road, but what is important is the concept behind the car. PAC-Car II proves that hydrogen can be an efficient fuel source.  Commuter car companies must now develop road-safe and luxurious vehicles that run on hydrogen power in order to make this dream a reality.  The PAC-Car II team plans to work with interested parties in creating the necessary technology.  In fact, they have retired from the competition in order to do so.

One of the main problems not having to do with a hydrogen cell’s feasibility that is holding back the technology is infrastructure.  Unfortunately, creating hydrogen fuel stations across the world and country is no small task, and no company has yet been up to take the investment.  If we as consumers show enough demand for this amazing and green technology, fuel companies will have no choice but to build the necessary infrastructure.  It is very exciting to see how this technology will pan out.

http://www.paccar.ethz.ch/

PAS #6 – Cool and Difficult class Project

If you were to save every file on your computer as raw data you would run out of space to put anything rather quickly.  Instead, files are compressed.  Your .jpg or .png files are ways  of compressing an image file.  For example, .jpg utilizes the fact that the human eye is more sensitive to intensity than exact color.  What it does is it takes a lot of slightly different shades of a color, green for example, and makes them all into the same shade in order to save memory.

My task was to make a program to compress a file of words down to just a couple of numbers.  For example the sentences, “Hello there blog readers! I hope this topic isn’t too boring for you and you’re learning a lot.” is translated to the numbers, “61 128 92 145 98 245 130 203 22 135 49 92 220 206 52 183 206 149 160 188 26 12 21 132 180 194 145 64”.  How this works is slightly complicated, but very clever.  It uses a structure called a huffman tree, which assigns a binary code to each character that depends on how often it occurs in the entered words.  The more often a character occurs, the shorter binary code it is assigned, that way the least common characters take up the most space while common characters are simple to store.  The binary for the sentence I entered above is, “0011110110000000010111001001000101100010111101011000001011001011000101101000011100110001010111001101110011001110001101001011011111001110100101011010000010111100000110100000110000010101100001001011010011000010100100010100”.

The next step is to break the binary code into 8 number bits then calculate the numerical value in base 10 they are equivalent to.  For example, the first 8 numbers are 00111101, which is equal to 61 in base 10. As you can see, 61 is the first number in the final number string.

By converting the numbers back to binary, then running through the tree we can then obtain the original message again.  This program was pretty difficult to write, but I feel accomplished having written by own compression program.  Hopefully I get a good grade!

CIV #5 – Energy Free Cooling

Researchers at the University of Navarre in Spain have figured out a way to cool devices without consuming any electricity.The first thing I thought upon hearing this was that this is impossible.  Newton’s second law of thermodynamics dictates that energy cannot be created or destroyed.  If this is so, how can you cool something, a process which takes energy, without any electricity.  What the researches have come up with is extremely clever and very cool.

Their creation relies on the fact that heat itself is in fact a form of energy.  They have found a way to use the heat energy of the very thing they are trying to cool to power the cooling of the device.  The researchers claim that their technology can cool something by as much as 30 degrees celsius  This is going to have a huge effect in green energy in the future.  Technologies like wind, solar, thermoelectric, and hydraulic energy heat up when they are producing energy and often need to be cooled down.  Fans and heat exchangers are used to cool these devices, but of course this method requires energy, drawing away from the effectiveness of these green technologies.  Researches believe that this invention will be able to replace fans and heat exchangers and allow for “free” cooling.

The technology could have infinitely more uses assuming the technology is perfected.  One that pops into my mind is food storage. Everyone knows cooling food allows it to last longer.  However, people in places without access to electricity or cooling devices must find alternative sources to cool their food or go without.  If the researches are able to expand this technology to devices like refrigerators it could mean an energy free source of cooling for people all around the world.  It is even possible that improved food storage capabilities may help combat world hunger.

It will be excited to see what the fine scientists at the University of Navarre are able to create and how effective this technology will be in  improving green energy and other uses that have not yet been dreamed up.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130411075454.htm

WIP #6 – KKK

http://kkk.bz/?page_id=305

http://kkk.bz/?page_id=342

1. Minorities Are Destroying the United States and Killing our Civility

“We will no longer be known as the United States of America, but perhaps “Republic slums of Amafrica” or how about “Amexico”!

We will be forced to live in their “rich culture” of poverty and crime, on littered streets, where tribal warfare replaces the ballot box! Is this the kind of America we want for our children? Of course not! Is this the kind of America we as a God fearing race should settle for? Absolutely not!”

http://kkk.bz/main/?page_id=566

2.  Death Penalty for Celebrating Christmas?

This past Christmas season the steady campaign against Christmas was without end. Corporations were telling their employees that they couldn’t wish anyone a Merry Christmas. School children were no longer allowed to sing Christmas carols in holiday pageants. Nativity scenes were taken down in cities across America. Lawsuits were filed by Jewish led groups such as the ADL, the JDL, and the ACLU to stop the celebration of Christmas in any public arena. The Jews simply do not want any reminder of Jesus and as commercialized as Christmas has become it still remains a day – whether the accurate date of Christ’s birth or not – to celebrate the coming of the redeemer. Jewish capitalists love the money made during the season, but hate the reason for the season.

One Jewish website offered leaflets to be purchased at 15 cents each for Jews to distribute among the Jewish community. The title of the leaflet was,”An end to Christmas and Off with their Heads!”

Why? You may ask would they even suggest the death for those celebrating Christmas? Because, according to the Jews, Christians are idol worshippers. The website went on further to explain why the Torah obligates all Jews in this campaign. And under that exact statement. They tell fellow Jews:

“…according to the known Jewish ruling that Christians are idol worshippers.” (Likkutei Sichos 37:198)

A gentile…is liable for the death penalty…if he has invented a religious holiday for himself (Rambam Mishne Torah—Hilchos Melachim 10:9)”

http://kkk.bz/main/?page_id=502

3. End Affirmative Action while Whites receive the most

“Abolish ALL discriminatory affirmative action programs

The federal government has enacted programs and laws designed for the exclusive discrimination against those of White European ancestry. Promotions, hiring and scholarships should be based on ability and not upon a person’s race”

4. The Color of Crime

http://kkk.bz/

*Note: To some random passerby reading this, I do not support the KKK.  This is a critique of their arguments.

 

PAS #5 – Helicopter Game Update

This past weekend I attended HackPSU, a programming competition where competitors have 24-hours to develop an interesting website, mobile app, or piece of hardware.  The winner of the competition gets an all expenses paid trip to California to meet with potential investors and take a tour of the Silicon Valley.  Judges of the event included many well known technology entrepreneurs including the co-founder of Reddit.com, a site I visit often.

I did not compete in the event, but I did take advantage of the free food and the opportunity to hang out with my fellow nerds.  Cooped up in the IST building all night, I decided it would be a great time to get started on the computer science final.

The following is a screenshot of my game, showcasing the progress I’ve made thus far:

GameScreenShot

I’ve been able to include a score counter and a controllable dragon with the ability to spit fireballs into my game.  The dragon flies much in the same as the helicopter moved in the helicopter game.  There is momentum so the player is unable to change directions instantly.  The fireballs fly across the scree, but their code is still giving me trouble.  Sometimes the game lets me shoot 5 fireballs, some times it lets me shoot just one.  I have a sneaking suspicion it is shooting the hard coded limit of fireballs at the same time, so there appears to be just one.  I am unsure that this is the problem, but it is a good place to start looking.

From this point I have to add obstacles, a ceiling and roof, collision detection to allow fireballs to destroy walls and to determine when the player loses the game by crashing.  Also, I need to add tokens that restore the number of fireballs the dragon is able to shoot.  I do not think these things will be TOO difficult, but noting ever goes expected in programming!

CIV #4 – Recycling Tires

Tires are made out of rubber and rubber is produced from oil. Recycling tires is an untapped potential source of energy seeing as in Europe alone wastes three million tons of tires per year.  The situation as it stands is horrible for the environment, 60% – 70% of those tires end up in landfills, strangling the earth.

Engineers in Italy think they have a way to tap into this wasted energy source and create a type of what they are calling synfuel.  A synthetic fuel created from processed materials like rubber.  Tires contain a large amount of volatile gases that, when made into synfuel, will burn similarly to natural gas.  Also, the solid carbon tires are produced from can be recycled and used in the production of silicon carbide. Valerie Shulman, Secretary General of the European tire Recycling Association, ETRA, says, “Silicon carbide is one of the materials of the future, it is used in metallurgy, in ceramics, and in a variety other products. It is quite expensive to produce but you can get from 1,200 to 3,000 Euro a tonne.”

The synfuel is extracted from the old tires by an interesting process.  Scraps of the rubber are injected with steam, then heated up to as many 1000 degree celsius, allowing a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and methane gas to escape and be collected.

There are some people who are skeptical about the process.  The main criticism is that the process is too expensive and does not create enough energy.  Although the procedure of injected steam into the rubber and heating it up a significant amount is costly and energy intensive, researchers working on the project insist the amount of energy recovered from the process is much greater than the cost.  Furthermore, silicone carbide, which is made from the solids of the rubber, can be sold for as much as 1,200 to 3,000 euros per ton.  That is $1,500 to $4,000 is US dollars.  The creation of silicone carbide will also aid in the production of new technologies, which increasingly employ the substance in their designs.

Instead of putting millions and millions of tires into landfills every year, these researchers and engineers have created something that allows us to reuse this waste.  If this process is implemented on a large scale, we could protect our environment from the millions of tons of tires deposited into landfills every year.

However, this style of energy production is not as sustainable as other green energy sources like wind power, as it still relies of rubber, which is created from oil.  However, it is a good short term strategy for energy production and waste reduction.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130404081548.htm

WIP #5 – PUERTO RICO

I plan to write my persuasive essay on Puerto Rican statehood.  Recently a majority of the people of Puerto Rico voted in favor of becoming a state.  As they gain more supports I feel as if this is going to becoming a big issue in American politics.  I do not have a solid position on Pueto Rican statehood, but I hope to develop one through my research.  What economic, social, and governmental effects will adding another state have?  How will the new flag look with 51 stars?  What would even be the advantage of adding another state?  These are all questions I plan to research and answer in my essay.  Puerto Rican statehood will become an important issue in the US soon and I want to convince people to choose the side I believe is correct.

CIV #3 – Fast Food Energy

3 billion people worldwide live in places without access to traditional methods of energy production.  Scientists have been developing a source of energy for people like this, a source of energy that only requires water in the sun.

So far, the only thing that uses solely the water and sunlight to produce energy are plants through the process of photosynthesis.  What these scientists have done is create an artificial leaf made from silicone.  The leaf uses the power of the sun to break water into its component hydrogen and oxygen gas which are then used to power hydrogen batteries.  According to Nocera, the creator of this technology, a single quart of drinking water can provide 100 watts of electrical power for 24 hours.

This technology has seen vast improvements in the last few months. Earlier versions of the leaf required pure water to function as layers of bacteria would form biofilms of the leaf’s surface, preventing its operation.  Nocera has discovered a way to allow the catalyst to repair itself from these conditions.  This advancement makes the technology much more accessible and practical.  He says his creation could supply “fast food energy” in the sense that it would be cheap and simple to acquire.

Other technologies with similar functions require costly materials and expensive manufacturing procedures.  The artificial leaf is inexpensive to mass produce. This technology has a few significant advantages over solar panels.  The primary advantage lies in the cost.  The artificial leaf is much less expensive to produce and install than solar panels.  Also, the artificial leaf can produce energy through the day and night where as solar panels only work when they are exposed to sunlight.

In the future, the team looks to create a method of converting the hydrogen created by the artificial leaf into a liquid fuel that could power electrical generators and possibly even vehicles. This technology is very green too! The only byproducts are oxygen and hydrogen.  If Nocera is able to perfect this technology it could mean an accessible source of energy for people throughout the world, even in places without established power supply infrastructure.

Also, the technology could be adapted for first-world uses.  The fact that it is extremely environmentally conscious makes it very expandable and future proof.  It will be interesting to see how the artificial leaf develops.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130408185855.htm

PAS #4 – Helicopter Game

http://www.helicopterplay.com/helicopter/thehelicoptergame.php

Before you read the rest of my blog play the game above so you can have some idea of what I’m talking about.  Also, post your high score in the comments!

For my computer science 122 class I have to write a program that is at least 1500 lines of code for my final project.  I’ve decided to recreate the Helicopter Game (link above) which was fairly popular while I was in middle school.  The object of this game is to navigate a helicopter though a tunnel, avoiding the ceiling, floor, and obstacles, for as long as possible.  My take on the game will feature a dragon instead of a helicopter and the dragon will be able to spit a limited number of fireballs to destroy obstacles.

I am looking forward to starting this game and learning a ton from making it.  This will be my first game and program with graphics, so I am going to have to teach myself a lot outside of class in order to complete the project.  I plan to use a library called Allegro for c++ which was designed to help programmers create games.  I’m really excited about this project because making a game is a goal I think every programmer has.  It will be fun to watch others play my game and (hopefully) have a good time.

If you have any ideas concerning a title for my game, tell me in the comments.  Also, I’m looking for someone who is going at making computer images because I need some graphics for my game.  Thanks for reading!