Iraqi Elections

I'm glad to see that the elections in Iraq went off relatively well. There were obviously a few problems but at least there wasn't the threatened bloodbath and 400 suicide bombers Zarqawi and his fellow nutbags threatened.

I'm just happy for the Iraqi people. Happy and in admiration of their bravery. Unlike so many of us here in the west who treat our democracy in a blase fashion, these people truly appreciate democracy at work even while under imminent threat of danger and death. It's a good thing to see and brings me hope that other nations will follow suit and begin democratic institutions and reforms across the globe.

The only thing that annoys me about the Iraqi election coverage are those reporters (many from supposedly more enlightened western European nations) who are still predicting doom and gloom even now that the polling stations are closed in Iraq. Many still keep implying that Arabs and Muslims are incapable of creating, running, and maintaining a democracy without Western "guidance" but at the same decry very said same "guidance" as imperialism. That to me is a contradiction in terms. That aside I find the notion that Arabs can't create or run democracies ridiculous. Democracy isn't just for one culture or religion or race, it's for all humanity. Sure there is still going to be violence in Iraq by the die hard Baathists and Islamic terrorists who fear democracy, but it's obvious those people are in the extreme minority.

Anyway, my best wishes and hopes to Iraq's future democracy and with it a speedy (and safe) return home to our troops.

Snow day

Well we had some pretty decent snow fall here in Prescott, AZ last night. Not really all that thick, mind you, but enough so that the neighbor's kids decided to have a snowball fight. When the snowball fight degenerated into them throwing snowballs at peoples vehicles and apartments, I went outside and told them to knock it off. Suprisingly, they listened and went inside.

So there's a nice blanket of snow on everything, adding a kind of peacefulness, one might say serenity, to anotherwise mundane scene in a Southwestern state's town. It hasn't stopped the downstairs neighbor from continuing her move out or the hound across the street from baying at strangers that pass by his owner's property.

I should enjoy it though. Soon it will be spring here and with warmer weather. I'm a desert rat at heart having grown up with 100-110 degree summers with the odd 120 here and there. I love the heat, but I've come to appreciate the snow. Like the hot Arizona summers it too has a soul soothing quality about it.

Rail guns, satellites, and general fun

University has been going fairly well so fat this semester. Lots of interesting projects to work on, plus some interesting classes.

My first Aerodynamics II quiz I got a 70 percent on, but at least I know how specific the professor wants his answers to be now. Besides he drops the three lowest quiz's. Other than that Aero II has been pretty much a cinch. I've even already finished the second assignment which isn't due for another two weeks and the material hasn't even been covered in class yet.

Experimental Space Systems Engineering and Space Systems Engineering seem to be going well so far. In ESSE my group is starting work on our rail gun and the "Marriot drive", while in SSE we're getting into numerical integration, something somewhat easy to do in all honesty.

Structures II is about what I expect it to be. Got a C on the first homework, but that's what I get for waiting until the last minute to actually work on it. Also finally got a study group set up for this class, so we can all compare answers and what not for the class.

Space Mechanics is almost exactly as last semester. Got an A on the first assignment, and expect to get at least a B in the class, if not an A. To pass my time and prevent boredom, I'm in the process of transcribing last semester's hand written notes to electronic format.

Stuff of the day

Been about two days since I blogged anything here I noticed. Guess I was busier than I thought at university. Anyway, here we go...

University

Not surprisingly I've been a little busy with classes, now that they've actually started to get into the subject matter. Still loving Experimental Space System Engineering (ESS) and Space Systems Engineering (SSE). (Note: I'm in agreement with some of the profs who say these two classes should simply be merged into a single 5 credit class instead of a single 3 credit class and a single 2 credit class with lab.) Aerodynamics II is about what I expected it to be. Not overly exciting, though I am interested in the subject, but with enough to keep me on my toes. Structures II is looking to be easier than I expected, but maybe that's because the way the prof teaches it works better with my style of learning.

Humorous side note: Maybe you had to have been there or maybe you had to be a science fiction geel for this one but here it is: While teaching our SSE class the prof made mention of Cheyenne Mountain and a perturbation program named something like SGU4 (or something like that), said comments earned some snickering and mutterings about Stargate SG-1.

Okay, so I guess you had to be there. It was funny at the time.

On that note...

Sci Fi Channel

Stargate SG-1

Gemini turned out to be much better than I expected, though I did correctly assume that Replicator Carter was only interested in setting herself up as the new uber-replicator on the scene. Still it was very well done and for me settled some of the nagging doubt I had over the rather lackluster character interactions in the season so far. The familiar interaction is back, so my doubts are now put to rest.

The best part was that Carter now has a real nemesis all to herself to deal with. Sure there have been other personal enemies for Carter to fight but most of that time those turned into SG-1 vs. the EvilDoingWannabeGod/Alien. Now she has a true nemesis, not unlike the O'Neill character with Ba'al. Should be fun to see where they take this.

Stargate: Atlantis

Finally! Took them long enough but the show really seems to be pulling itself together. While The Storm started showing some inkling of the characters finally gelling and the interactions starting to not seem so stilted, The Eye finally solidifed the characters in my view. The episode was excellent visually, but the story itself was also fairly strong giving viewers some better insight not into one or two characters, but essentially the core characters of the series.

I admit I'm still skeptical about Atlantis because of it's weak stories after the premiere but if the remainder of the season is going to be like The Storm and The Eye then I will happily accept becoming a full time fan to the show.

Battlestar Galactica

I admit I was skeptical of this show before the miniseries aired last year, but the miniseries won me over and I'm pleased to say that the new series continues to do so. The first three episodes have been well done, well written, and well acted. My slight peeve is the occasional scene that is drawn out too long and the sometimes overuse of the "documentary" style shooting which actually take away from scenes that would otherwise be riveting.

Inauguration...Wazzat?

That about sums up the prevailing attitude of my classmates today regarding Bush's inauguration and address, many of whom voted for the man. Of course, I can't say I blame them. It's hard to be interested when you know that it costs $5,000 for the primo seats at the ceremony and you're a student scrounging for money to attend ERAU (or any university for that matter). Besides, I figure the students are the smart ones; they're not paying to freeze the butts off to listen to a group of mostly ignorant politicians expound on how wonderful and perfect they were, are, and will be.
Bleh.

Fun with Sats

Today's Experimental Space Systems Engineering class was pretty fun. We worked a little with Satellite Tool Kit as part of our first lab. The best part, though, was tuning into the NOAA 17 satellite that was making a quick pass over us. We got some interesting images from NOAA 17, an especially nice pic of the Gulf of Mexico, Central America, and the Southwestern United States.

Life of a university student...

Well today was pretty quiet and boring as far as classes went. Nothing really standing out other than getting a couple of assignments to have completed by next wednesday. No biggie there. They look fairly easy, so I'm not too worried about them.

There's a club fair tomorrow evening on campus, but I haven't decided whether I want to bother going or not. There are some clubs I'd consider joining but for some reason I just can't get myself motivated to go right now. Maybe that'll change tomorrow.

And now for some politics...

Condoleeza Rice (I'm sure I just spelled that wrong) as the next Secretary of State just seems off to me. Maybe because she seems to cozy with the Hawks in Bush's cabinet or maybe because she feels like too much of a sycophant to me, I don't know. She certainly has the intelligence and qualifications, but her tendency to conveniently forget facts about situations and manipulate her words to needlessly scare people into rash decisions leaves a number of questions in my mind.

And something philosophical/theological...

If there is only one true religion, then why did God allow the creation of so many religions (and religious sects) worshipping him?

Just something for the muderous, bigoted, and violent sectarians out there to consider.

ESS Project decided

Well, I'm glad my Experimental Space Systems Engineering group decided on our semester project as well as several smaller projects to run over the semester. I'mreally excited about our main project but we've all agreed to keep it kind of hush-hush for now. Hell, we're not sure it'll even work. Right now we're jokingly calling ourselves "Marriot's Minions" after our prof who gave us some hints on our main project. Should be a fun semester.

Other projects include building ourselves a rail gun, a gimball, and a few other silly little projects just to play around with some of the lab equipment.

Been Awhile...

Wow, it's been a while since I lasted posted here or over at my Neveron blog. I didn't realize so much time has passed and with it a lot of stuff happening in life. I'll try to be concientious (sp?) in blogging here.

Well another semester at ERAU has begun. (Last semester went pretty well. No screwing up any classes!) I'm taking it a bit easy this time with only fourteen credits, but the courses look to be interesting and challenging. In some ways it they seem easy but that is probably because we are so early in the semester. I'm sure a couple of weeks from now I'll be singing a different tune.

So far the two classes I like the most are tied together: Space Systems Engineering and Experimental Space Systems Engineering with Lab. Should be fun getting to play around with vacuums, plasma, probes, satellites, and other miscellaneous space related stuff. Right now, I'm just deciding what I want to do for my experimental space systems project.

Kind of a sad note that my brother's cat Samhein died from feline lukemia a couple of weeks befire Christmas. Fortunately his litter-mates Natoth and Hetsepshut are still healthy and doing fine considering both also are carrying the disease. It was just wierd visiting and not seeing the old monster lounging around and making a pest of himself.