We were given a task by a man named Emile, A flash game creator, XBox devotee (worshipper), A gifted teacher and trainer, A husband (and hopefully a father in years to come.)
Our task were basically simple, to produce evidence of the Parachute's Origins. We were shown how to search advancely (pedantically) for information and were told to judge for ourself, a reliable source.
Well, according to most sources, the first known sketches or invention of the Parachute was found in the Da Vincci's papers. Da Vionccin did create the parachute and shaped it in an odd pyramid shape. It was never known if his invention worked but it was he who induced the minds of the curious to investigate and ponder upon it.
It was later in 1785, where a French aeronaut named Jean Pierre Blanchard, claimed the invention. But then, the first succesful descent with a parachute from a considerable height was made by another French aeronaut named Jacques Garnerin who dropped 3,000 feet from a balloon in 1797. It was then, parachutes became an escape system, a failsafe for persons aboard balloons or aircrafts when unable to land safely.
Though it seems to be a simple invention and insignificant, it is actually a system of great complexity of aerodynamic knowledge. It provided resistance for landing and safety for the user. And acording to www.juliantrubin.com, it was Paul Letterman and Kathchen Paulus who invented the method of folding and packing the parachute in a knapsack to be worn before its release.
So, to me, it is Leonardo who initially created the idea of a parachute, but still, are there anymore before him, i guess it's the thrill of the mystery that is more intriguing perhaps.
Monday, March 17, 2008
The inane fancy of the Parachute's Origins (a parody)
In the begining, the Almighty Squid said to the Jellyfish: "Let us leap off the sea into the new world with the likes of you."
The sensitive Jellyfish, ofended by the term 'the likes of you', got offended and encased the Almighty Squid. The Squid, which was almighty, spat a jet of colorful ink at the Jellyfish as it was being consumed, cursed the Jellyfish to be just a sheet of color and to be plunged from the sky, each time suffering the fear of heights and of crashing, and its decendants the same.
And so, for centuries, the Jellyfish who consumed the Almighty Squid whithered and became hollow and thus appeared as the First Parachute.
When Leonardo Da Vincci first encountered the Jellyfish upon his youth -the ancient creature was enormous -He was stunned when the wind spirit embraced it. He was fascinated by how the wind toyed with it lightly, and it floated so gracefully. Immedietly, he fell on the ground, emptied his bag in search of parchment and ink, began to jot down his astonishments and the awe that beheld him.
Suddenly, the wind spirit went out of breath, as an early arcane asthma struck the wind and left it breathless. The Jellyfish descended slowly, its body a light mass of soft, floating with the air, and finally landed with a pathetic gracefulness. It was just then, an unlucky obese person, who just so happened to be having a self indulged picnic, went on to investigate. Being of a surreal appetite, the obese person thought of a giant pudding and tried to eat the colorful Jellyfish.
Angered and awakened by this rape, the Jellyfish, in a fit of mad rage, extended its tendrils (which were merly stingless cords) and wrapped itself against the obese person. As the obese shouted and screamed for help, his pleas were ignored. Then the wind spirit recovered and once again went back to his game with the Jellyfish.
The Obese person was taken up with the Jellyfish and despite being visually impossible to levitate through the laws of gravity, was floating despite his weight and he seemed as light as a feather.
As Leonardo Da Vincci saw it all, in pure esctasy of morbidity, stood up and jumped for joy for an idea had come upon him. He continued to sketch but was now faced with a new problem. What to call it?
Just then the Obese began to scream in Greek: "Para! Para! (which meant faulty), Shiu! Shiu! (a noise made to brush animals away)"
And Da Vincci named it, the Parachute.
Over the years, with the advent of education and new discoveries, men learnt to obey the laws of nature, but retained the sheer cheek of bending its laws and rules. From Da Vincci's sketch, it progressed for the better, and men learnt to go on air with the help of the Wright brothers. Then men learnt to take precaution if the plane crashed, by refering to Leonardo's sketches, and soon many started to claim the invention of the parachute their own. Such as Jean Pierre Blanchard in 1785, and then a better version or a more successful version by French aeronaut, Jacques Garnerin in 1797, and many more attempts.
Over the years, the myth forgotten but the Parachute, lived to serve men.
Disclaimer, This is utter nonsense by the writer.
The sensitive Jellyfish, ofended by the term 'the likes of you', got offended and encased the Almighty Squid. The Squid, which was almighty, spat a jet of colorful ink at the Jellyfish as it was being consumed, cursed the Jellyfish to be just a sheet of color and to be plunged from the sky, each time suffering the fear of heights and of crashing, and its decendants the same.
And so, for centuries, the Jellyfish who consumed the Almighty Squid whithered and became hollow and thus appeared as the First Parachute.
When Leonardo Da Vincci first encountered the Jellyfish upon his youth -the ancient creature was enormous -He was stunned when the wind spirit embraced it. He was fascinated by how the wind toyed with it lightly, and it floated so gracefully. Immedietly, he fell on the ground, emptied his bag in search of parchment and ink, began to jot down his astonishments and the awe that beheld him.
Suddenly, the wind spirit went out of breath, as an early arcane asthma struck the wind and left it breathless. The Jellyfish descended slowly, its body a light mass of soft, floating with the air, and finally landed with a pathetic gracefulness. It was just then, an unlucky obese person, who just so happened to be having a self indulged picnic, went on to investigate. Being of a surreal appetite, the obese person thought of a giant pudding and tried to eat the colorful Jellyfish.
Angered and awakened by this rape, the Jellyfish, in a fit of mad rage, extended its tendrils (which were merly stingless cords) and wrapped itself against the obese person. As the obese shouted and screamed for help, his pleas were ignored. Then the wind spirit recovered and once again went back to his game with the Jellyfish.
The Obese person was taken up with the Jellyfish and despite being visually impossible to levitate through the laws of gravity, was floating despite his weight and he seemed as light as a feather.
As Leonardo Da Vincci saw it all, in pure esctasy of morbidity, stood up and jumped for joy for an idea had come upon him. He continued to sketch but was now faced with a new problem. What to call it?
Just then the Obese began to scream in Greek: "Para! Para! (which meant faulty), Shiu! Shiu! (a noise made to brush animals away)"
And Da Vincci named it, the Parachute.
Over the years, with the advent of education and new discoveries, men learnt to obey the laws of nature, but retained the sheer cheek of bending its laws and rules. From Da Vincci's sketch, it progressed for the better, and men learnt to go on air with the help of the Wright brothers. Then men learnt to take precaution if the plane crashed, by refering to Leonardo's sketches, and soon many started to claim the invention of the parachute their own. Such as Jean Pierre Blanchard in 1785, and then a better version or a more successful version by French aeronaut, Jacques Garnerin in 1797, and many more attempts.
Over the years, the myth forgotten but the Parachute, lived to serve men.
Disclaimer, This is utter nonsense by the writer.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Pride of Proton, The joke of the Nation
Well, as you all know, at least those who are well versed with cars, that Proton is a car manufacturer of Malaysia.
Now Proton isn't anything special but another bias project of the country. The govt didn't consider its people when it first launched proton, adamant that it would be successful or it would be for the good of the people. For 25 yrs, because of proton, people suffered!
Firstly, it is very "Malaysian" to copy. And that's one of the most distinctive trait of Proton. It never produces its own technology but it steals from others. Such as most of the Proton models : The Saga, The Wira, The Putra, The Tiara, The perdana, are all facelifted and rebadged models. The technology of these cars originated from Mitsubishi motors and Mitsubishi themself didn't want these batch anymore as they feel it's out dated and old. SO, Proton decided to buy Mitsubishi's technology and call it its own as its a discarded series, It was cheaper.
So, proton decided to create its own line of cars, all of which were unorriginal and bore a huge resemblance to the Mitubishis.
Before Proton, cars were rather affordable, people could easily afford Hondas, Toyotas, Fords and many more. but since Proton, tax for the other manufactures were doubled, from a $40,000 car with tax became almost $90,000.
And Proton, with its cheap build and sloppy quality, demanded a solid average of $50,000 to $60,000. Personally, i don't think it's worthy as other cars of better build and quality are cheaper, and proton knows it so, it forced its people to buy it.
And looking at Proton's plant, there aren't any Indians or Chinese working there. Actually, to be Pedantically correct, neither of the mentioned race are permitted to work as Proton is strictly a "Malay" company. Well, they reportedly lost $281 million in 2006 and $168million in 2007. And proton was so bold to blame competitors for discounts. What a laugh. other rivals have the technology, have the quality, have the reputation that Proton was never able to keep. Most manufacturers have already acquired the technology of Variable Valve timing, which originated from Honda's VTEC, but most have got it except for Proton.
I do look forward to see proton fall more if they're still so bloody arrogant. Even turning down Volkswagen's help when offered because of a little sales increase. Well, all the best Proton. May your quality quirks be ironed out and that you learn more from past mistakes (an endless complain list of them), or else you'll be our laughing stock, and a good source and entertainment too btw.
Now Proton isn't anything special but another bias project of the country. The govt didn't consider its people when it first launched proton, adamant that it would be successful or it would be for the good of the people. For 25 yrs, because of proton, people suffered!
Firstly, it is very "Malaysian" to copy. And that's one of the most distinctive trait of Proton. It never produces its own technology but it steals from others. Such as most of the Proton models : The Saga, The Wira, The Putra, The Tiara, The perdana, are all facelifted and rebadged models. The technology of these cars originated from Mitsubishi motors and Mitsubishi themself didn't want these batch anymore as they feel it's out dated and old. SO, Proton decided to buy Mitsubishi's technology and call it its own as its a discarded series, It was cheaper.
So, proton decided to create its own line of cars, all of which were unorriginal and bore a huge resemblance to the Mitubishis.
Before Proton, cars were rather affordable, people could easily afford Hondas, Toyotas, Fords and many more. but since Proton, tax for the other manufactures were doubled, from a $40,000 car with tax became almost $90,000.
And Proton, with its cheap build and sloppy quality, demanded a solid average of $50,000 to $60,000. Personally, i don't think it's worthy as other cars of better build and quality are cheaper, and proton knows it so, it forced its people to buy it.
And looking at Proton's plant, there aren't any Indians or Chinese working there. Actually, to be Pedantically correct, neither of the mentioned race are permitted to work as Proton is strictly a "Malay" company. Well, they reportedly lost $281 million in 2006 and $168million in 2007. And proton was so bold to blame competitors for discounts. What a laugh. other rivals have the technology, have the quality, have the reputation that Proton was never able to keep. Most manufacturers have already acquired the technology of Variable Valve timing, which originated from Honda's VTEC, but most have got it except for Proton.
I do look forward to see proton fall more if they're still so bloody arrogant. Even turning down Volkswagen's help when offered because of a little sales increase. Well, all the best Proton. May your quality quirks be ironed out and that you learn more from past mistakes (an endless complain list of them), or else you'll be our laughing stock, and a good source and entertainment too btw.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Butterfly concept
A year ago, i was on the train on the way to a conference. Though taking a train is a wise action or decision as one saves so much on fuel and parking fees, taking trains with services maintained scarcely is horrendous!
Waiting for trains, waiting through the meaningless delays, waiting for the train to come as the delay increased over silly announcements (the guy announcing tried to put on an acent but... it was so stupid and wannabe that i wanted to slap him [to the announcer: You Know Who You Are!!!]). The delays were actually caused by sloppy maintainence. And If KTM (Yes, I am revealing you!) holds a 'title' as the national train, I'd like to take that claim a joke and a childish act.
But after a painstaking delay of 25 mins (not including the whole time i waited), the train came and i was plungged into a compartment of people with all sorts of smells mixed as stench, and I tried to keep a strigth face despite my desire to wince. It was then i noticed something interesting, something meaningful, something Philosophical.
A young lady, possibly around 14 to 16, was wearing a shirt with the words "LOVE IS LIKE A BUTTERFLY". Curious and prompted at that amusing statement, i read on. on her shirt, it says:
'Love is like a butterfly. It escapes your grasp when you try to reach for it, But if you wait patiently for, it will come and perch itself upon you.'
How beautiful and truthful, It was a reflection of today's society.
Most youths and adults suffer most from emotional problems caused by relationships. It's mostly, they try hard to find love to replace a certain hollow in them due to certain reasons, and they wind up getting hurt becaused they were misguided.
If we were to practise patience and wait upon matters to ocsilliate, wouldn't things be so much better and wouldn't things be more stabe as they took the nessecary time to develope?
With faith, all is possible.
Waiting for trains, waiting through the meaningless delays, waiting for the train to come as the delay increased over silly announcements (the guy announcing tried to put on an acent but... it was so stupid and wannabe that i wanted to slap him [to the announcer: You Know Who You Are!!!]). The delays were actually caused by sloppy maintainence. And If KTM (Yes, I am revealing you!) holds a 'title' as the national train, I'd like to take that claim a joke and a childish act.
But after a painstaking delay of 25 mins (not including the whole time i waited), the train came and i was plungged into a compartment of people with all sorts of smells mixed as stench, and I tried to keep a strigth face despite my desire to wince. It was then i noticed something interesting, something meaningful, something Philosophical.
A young lady, possibly around 14 to 16, was wearing a shirt with the words "LOVE IS LIKE A BUTTERFLY". Curious and prompted at that amusing statement, i read on. on her shirt, it says:
'Love is like a butterfly. It escapes your grasp when you try to reach for it, But if you wait patiently for, it will come and perch itself upon you.'
How beautiful and truthful, It was a reflection of today's society.
Most youths and adults suffer most from emotional problems caused by relationships. It's mostly, they try hard to find love to replace a certain hollow in them due to certain reasons, and they wind up getting hurt becaused they were misguided.
If we were to practise patience and wait upon matters to ocsilliate, wouldn't things be so much better and wouldn't things be more stabe as they took the nessecary time to develope?
With faith, all is possible.
Driving a Pick-Up!
A first attempt to drive a pick-up proves to be the best driving experience for me.
Not to be biased as I love large cars and trucks (Mainly for their outstanding performance and durablity), i also love conventional sedans, coupes and hatchbacks. But recently my interest has been inclined towards diesel Engines and cars/trucks with good torque (low-end) such as the ISUZU D-Max, with its linear torque at 1,800 to 3,000 rpm, which is outstanding. To my preferences, i'd prefer a car with more torque than Horsepower. Mainly it's because i reckon its more reliable and versatile.
If I were to travel uphill and around tough areas, a pickup would certainly be highly recomended. Even if i'm not driving in those conditions, I'd still like a pickup.
To me, a pickup exerts a certain appeal, a strong sense of toughness, reliability, masculinity, aggression, versatility, power, size and coolness. To be able to drive one was such a thrill. And the truck that I drove, was none other than the great King of mileage, The ISUZU D-Max.
It was surprisingly easy to drive and power was in every gear. The clutch was light as was the steering, the throttle pedal easy to configure (the behavior) and the cockpit's ergonomics were superb. The dash was clear and beautiful, the interior comfy and welcoming, the driving position good and versatile....
To be honest, I have nothing but good comments about the truck. It was better than driving a conventional car or even a sports car.
Maybe in future, I would be able to own one?
Having driven numerous cars in varioys conditions and choices, The pickup is the best experience i've had and it's for me to look forward to.
Not to be biased as I love large cars and trucks (Mainly for their outstanding performance and durablity), i also love conventional sedans, coupes and hatchbacks. But recently my interest has been inclined towards diesel Engines and cars/trucks with good torque (low-end) such as the ISUZU D-Max, with its linear torque at 1,800 to 3,000 rpm, which is outstanding. To my preferences, i'd prefer a car with more torque than Horsepower. Mainly it's because i reckon its more reliable and versatile.
If I were to travel uphill and around tough areas, a pickup would certainly be highly recomended. Even if i'm not driving in those conditions, I'd still like a pickup.
To me, a pickup exerts a certain appeal, a strong sense of toughness, reliability, masculinity, aggression, versatility, power, size and coolness. To be able to drive one was such a thrill. And the truck that I drove, was none other than the great King of mileage, The ISUZU D-Max.
It was surprisingly easy to drive and power was in every gear. The clutch was light as was the steering, the throttle pedal easy to configure (the behavior) and the cockpit's ergonomics were superb. The dash was clear and beautiful, the interior comfy and welcoming, the driving position good and versatile....
To be honest, I have nothing but good comments about the truck. It was better than driving a conventional car or even a sports car.
Maybe in future, I would be able to own one?
Having driven numerous cars in varioys conditions and choices, The pickup is the best experience i've had and it's for me to look forward to.
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