Plans, plans, plans

I need goals. (12th October, 2016)

I started reading Zero to Maker - Learn (Just Enough) to Make (Just About) Anything and I'm hooked with the idea. As a first-year engineering student with a mountain of self-doubt in my creative aptitude, the concept of a community of makers that are open to beginners is a massive relief.

Goal 1: Find and join a community
From what I've seen, the Maker Faire in Sydney ended around September, but hopefully, like the book mentions, there are monthly events close by. By the end of the month (October), I'll have joined a group and introduced myself.

The book is very well written and so well structured it makes me envious. I recommend it if what I've written sounds interesting (if it doesn't, that's my fault as a writer for failing to capture their message). They use the word 'makers' instead of 'engineers' to make the idea less daunting/exclusive and it works, I think. Everyone and anyone can get involved, and that is the point of a large part of the movement (and it is a movement); to educate and inspire more engineers and creative designers; to get people out of a use-and-drop attitude towards appliances and towards the world.

Goal 2: Compete in GrabCAD/Extreme Redesign challenge
This will allow me to put any 'maker' attributes I've learnt at uni to the test: we 3D-printed a product that we thought of ourselves, taking into account appropriate design requirements and the economics of production; we had to present these to our class, as if to a company, asking for the green light for production. The deadline for GrabCAD is on February 15th 2017, a fortnight after I return from India. I'll have to read and brainstorm and do everything from a tiny room. I'll have requirements and challenges written up by November 20th.

GrabCAD is a great place to go if you want available 3D-printable models. I'm sure they have way more stuff than that, though. Check them out.

Goal 3: Write about one book or film per month. 
I mean, that's what I set out to do by reviving this thing, but it's been blank for almost a month, until now. I re-read the series (and want to re-read it again!) but The Book of the New Sun is way too complex and I don't even fully understand it. So while the main goal here will be to publish one review/recommendation by the 20th of each month, a sub goal will be to read The Urth of the New Sun. (BTW, do read TBOTNS if you can. It's complicated and interesting and the author is intelligent and fluent. However, it's not for everyone. Also, avoid ALL spoilers.)

I think that's enough for one month.

Take care.

RJ

Book: The Book of the New Sun

Great

New content

Right, so because of a friend's suggestion,  I think I might try to revive this thing.

Types of posts to expect: book, film, tv recommendations and rants; what I'm listening to right now; maybe who I'm subscribed to on YouTube? (Nah they're all popular cunts off of Reddit.)

I'll definitely procrastinate with this and hopefully I'll open up. To a single reader (<3 u JB).

I can also use this to practice writing; HSC English marks were pretty bad and I'll need to be a "professional" in a few years.

So I'm just stating things now. I'll go. You should too.

~RJ

P.S. The SuperHOTline Miami thing isn't happening. The game editor engine thing was too finicky. But do check out the dude's website for more of his games.

OC pic with shitty phone cam that is not relevant to anything I've said above 

Wow this is shit.

Coming back to this now, the whole idea of making a blog was misguided. I hardly used it as well. 990 views in like 6 years or something. But now, I will just to try to put some custom levels for SuperHOTline Miami. Fun game if anyone reads this blog. Scroll to the bottom to download the game, then look at the documentation to create your own levels. So here's the first one.

Maybe I'll write more book reviews later. Maybe post interesting websites? Reddit already does that though on /r/InternetisBeautiful.

I'll get back on this after my exams. Better get to that, haha.

~Renjith

Little Brother - Cory Doctorow

Little Brother - Cory Doctorow

by Renjith Joseph
This small, (legitamately) downloadable book brings up ideas of freedom and what the government can do to the country. Sadly, it is

set in America and I don't know how much it applies to Aus. There is also extensive information about hacking and methods of how you

can bypass security measures. The story is about how the life of a "normal" 17 year old, Marcus Yallow, changes so fast and

dramatically.

He tries to get into a shelter after a bomb goes off close by, but his best friend gets stabbed (apparently for no reason) so he

climbs back to the surface of the street. Then his 3 friends and him get arrested (!) on suspicion that they were involved with the

bomb. It turns out that it was the DHS, the Department of Homeland Security that took them in and they almost torture Marcus for the

password for his phone. They release him, but tell him that they have got an eye on him. When he gets back home and lies to his

parents about where he had been, he checks his room for cameras (which is very cool).



Marcus then finds out that all his friends have been released, except for his best friend, Darryl, the guy that got stabbed.

He then sets up a whole new network with XBox's and Linux Operating Systems with his friends, and soon every kid in in California is

using the "XNet" to bypass internet censoring and spying. There are also many interesting stories about Marcus and of hacking.

I encourage you to read the intro, the afterword and the bibliography. I really liked this book, even though it wasn't the one I was

looking for (I asked for a book by Chris Wooding/s or someone about a nuke and a guy with a Japanese ex- girlfriend and a guy that

gets bullied so much he breaks and shoots one of his bullies down. If you know which book I am talking about, please tell me!) and

even though I'm not really into hacking and that kind of stuff.

10/10

The link for the download: http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/

Or ask me for a copy.

EDIT: I really like Cory Doctorow. His beliefs about copyright and privacy make sense and a lot of his books are half-rant. You can

get most, if not all, of his novels for free from his site, and yes it is legal. For now.

Little Brother is getting a sequel in 2013 called Homeland.

Kill Alex Cross - James Patterson

Kill Alex Cross - James Patterson

by Renjith Joseph
Book 17 in the Alex Cross series by James Patterson is suprisingly simplistic.

Alex Cross is a black detective, previously a psychologist. Usually, the series has weird and outlandish plots. He has had multiple

partners killed, has dealt with (now) two kidnappings, has had his family taken, has been betrayed by his best-friend, and has even

dealt with a cult of vampires. Vampires.

In Kill Alex Cross, the president's children have been kidnapped, and the kidnapper has left no trace of his or the childrens'

whereabouts, or evidence of their existence. I still don't understand the motive for the crime, and why he even kept the kids alive.

It is also a short book, but because of the font size and the size of the chapters, the book looks bigger than it is.

I was dissappointed with Patterson's latest novel, but it was still a decent mystery.

6/10

How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff

How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff

by Renjith Joseph
I picked this small book up at random. It looks quite girly, with a rose-red cover and butterfly stencils. But the novel is really

good. It is about Elizabeth, known as Daisy, an American teenager that is sent to live in the English countryside with her cousins by

her "evil" stepmother. It isn't fantasy or fairytale, though. This is during World War II and because she has nothing to do, she

decides to get to know her cousins. She immediately likes Piper, Isaac and Edmond, but Osbert (I think that's the correct name) is

more concerned about what is happening with the war. Aunt Penn seems nice enough and Daisy wants to ask her questions about her

(Daisy's) mother but she has to go on a business trip (don't hold me to that either. I read it recently, but I wasn't paying attention

to this). Soon the children hear that Aunt Penn is stuck overseas because of the escalation of the war. Daisy realises that Edmond can

hear thoughts. She knows when he is listening because he always tips his head to a side, so she is careful about what she thinks of.

Daisy soon finds herself falling in love with her cousin. When she "thinks" this to him, they make out and start a relationship, if

you know what I mean . It is between cousins, but there are no extensive details, so it's all good. The children get seperated and the

thoughts of a teenage girl in WWII can be fully understood. The voice is "faultless" as Mark Haddon says. 9/10.

There is a movie set to come out in 2013 with the same name, but has a different plot. The author said that the script was different

but good, I don't know if the film will be good. Most movies that have been adapted from a book have been ridiculously crap. One

exception for me is The Green Mile.

Four Blind Mice - James Patterson

Four Blind Mice - Alex Cross - James Patterson

by Renjith Joseph
Four Blind Mice is the eighth book in the Alex Cross series, one that I hadn't gotten round to reading until recently. The formula is

much the same as the other books. In the beginning Patterson shows you who the killers are and then you watch as Alex and the Three

Blind Mice (the killers) have close calls with each other. I'm so used to the Cross series formula, that now it doesn't seem as

exciting. For others, it might be.

7/10

Mama's Boy - Charles King

Mama's Boy - Charles King

by Renjith Joseph
What do you do with a boy that witnessed the murder of his just-adopted parents? What do you do when he refuses to speak or draw or

try to recall what happened that night whatsoever? Jake Harrow, a young, handsome New York police officer gets called by a fellow

officer while he was receiving a medal for bravery. He finds that Roger, his brother, has just killed his own family, including both

his under 7 year-old children. Jake refuses to believe this and rages at the fact that the police investigating the incident missed an

entire human being while searching the house: Winston Churchill Harrow. Winston is a young black boy recently adopted by the Harrow

family and saw everything. It seems he is so terrified that he is now not talking. Then the murderer hunts them down, afraid and angry

that his careful planning had been blown by a single 8-year-old boy. The story takes massive turns and interesting flashbacks into the

killer's past.
The characters are really well thought and fleshed out. Jake is extremely clever and resourceful and every single character in the

book has their own distinct personality that is used to its full in the story.

10/10

For The Win - Cory Doctorow

For the Win - Cory Doctorow

by Renjith Joseph
Another YA novel by Cory Doctorow, this time based on goldfarming (in games), economics, and workers' rights.

The book contains short scenes in sections, each depicting one specific character in the story. In between, Doctorow adds small

messages to the readers explaining some economic facts or how something works. This can be weird, and some might be put off by this,

but if you stick with it, the novel will be interesting, as well as informative.

The universe Doctorow has created is much like ours, but many, many people play MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing

Games for you non-gamers) as part of their "work".

There are a number of main characters, Matthew Fong (in China), Wei-Dong (also known as Leonard Goldberg), who initially lives in

America, but then moves to China (the way he gets there is also interesting), Mala, a.k.a. General Robotwallah (a girl from Dharavi,

Mumbai, India), Yasmin Gardez (Mala's best friend, also in Dharavi), Big Sister Nor, in Singapore with Justbob and The Mighty Krang,

Conner Prikkel (the main economist for Coca-Cola games, in America), Lu (China again), Ashok Balgangadhar Tilak (a man that helps the

girls in Dharavi), Mr Banerjee (Mala's and Yasmin's employer), and Jiandi, a girl that has millions of factory-girl listeners on her

radio show.

All of the characters are fleshed-out and the story covers many important social issues.

10/10 for Doctorow.