Sugru

For my engineering class, we have been learning about polymers. As a result, we have learned about a new substance called Sugru. I had to write a paper describing Sugru and its creation for my engineering class. Then suddenly I had a thought, "Hey, since I'm writing this incredibly detailed paper for my engineering class, I should post my paper on my blog so my faithful and devoted followers can read it." Basically, I am killing two birds with one stone. (No mom, this is not a cop out, this is creativity at its best.) So here is my paper in all its glory.

Note: Hack means to find a clever solution to a problem you have.

Sugru is the creation of Jane ní Dhulchaointigh, an Irish woman who was inspired to create the material by objects she encountered in her every day life.  The main reason Jane decided to create Sugru stemmed from her desire to stop replacing items that she already owned.  To create this mystery substance Jane recruited two material scientists, Ian and Steve, to bring the substance to life. After seven years of following the design cycle (understanding, brainstorming, constructing, testing, and reviewing), the mystery substance came to life in the form of Sugru.  Officially called formerol, Sugru is a silicone based polymer.  A polymer is a chain of large molecules. Polymers are known for their elasticity, strength and toughness. In its initial state, Sugru’s properties resemble Play-Doh, it is malleable and can be molded and shaped into many different designs.  However, Sugru’s usefulness rests not only in its initial clay-like state, but also in a hard, durable state as well.  After being exposed to air, you have thirty minutes to mold the Sugru into the shape or form you wish to create. Once molded, the Sugru needs to around twenty four hours to cure before it sets.  Following the curing process, Sugru becomes a tough and flexible compound that is water and heat resistant and can also stick other materials. Sugru is heat and cold resistant from negative sixty degrees Fahrenheit to three hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Due to its many resistances, Sugru has many uses.  People have used Sugru to fix glasses, repair shoes, and create grips for cameras and other hand-held devices.  Using Sugru on every day objects can increase the durability and decrease the wear and tear the objects go through. Conveniently, Sugru is also dishwasher and washing machine safe, allowing it to be used on dishes, glasses, and clothes.  Thanks to Jane ní Dhulchaointigh, we no longer need to worry about holes in our shoes, or replacing a bowl because it has a small chip in it. All we have to do is grab  some Sugru and hack it!

Games you''ll love

Today I am going to plug a website that has provided me hours of entertainment for free. Engineering.com has around 64 games that encourage thing creatively and logically. If you are a artsy type person, this site my not be for you. However, as stated previously, there are quite a few games and I have only played ten myself. So there my be hope for you yet. Of the games on the site that I enjoy there are Battleship(think the popular board game), Use Boxmen( you must use the boxmen to reach the box at the end of each level), and Bouncy (to complicated to explain, try it out for your self.). One note, always read the instructions. Also included on the site for those you enjoy a scientific challenge are scientific puzzles that quiz on various scientific topics.(example, name scientific things that start with the letter I.)  All in all, this is a fun website that causes you to have fun AND think at the same time.

National Championship: Oregon vs. Auburn

Wow. I never would have guessed that the final score between two teams that averaged over forty points a game would end up being 22-19. Throughout the game, I was constantly on the edge of my seat, knowing that at any moment the game could escalate into a high powered shoot out. While I was disappointed that Oregon lost the game I was very happy that the game was competitive, unlike last years championship game.

That said, I have some serious problems with Oregon's play calling throughout the game. I know the philosophy is  "establish the run" to open up the pass. However, if your star running back, who was a Heisman trophy candidate, can't get more than two yards past the line of scrimmage sometimes you have to throw the ball. And by throw the ball I don't mean have your running back run to the flat only to stop four yards BEHIND the lane of scrimmage so you can throw him a pass. Last time I checked, Auburn was slightly better than Yale (no offense to Yale). Oregon's line was as porous as cheese cloth.  It seemed like every play Oregon would go, "Okay this time you get to sack the QB number 42, and after you we'll let numbers 56 and 89 take a crack at it". Then it happened. Near the end of the third quarter Oregon had the ball on the Auburn 1 yard line and ran the ball 4 straight times. Let me repeat that. They ran the ball FOUR straight times. Are you kidding me! Why in the name of all that is good and right on this earth would you run the ball 4 times in a row. It's incomprehensible. Play-action was invented for a reason so lets put to good use for Pete's sake. It was ridiculous. At the end of the day, the team with better coach won.

Hopefully, Chip Kelly will watch the Patriots and Falcons play so he can learn how to execute the Play-Action. It's not like its rocket science. Its Football. In the words of Keyshaun Johnson, "C'mon Man!"

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader entered theaters in America on Friday. Here is my unwatered down, uncensered, completly baised evaluation of the movie.

Please turn of all cell phones and pagers and avoid talking during this analysis. Thank You.

caution. spoiler alert.
1) overall thoughts.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. It definitely met my expectations and might of even exceeded them. Since I have read spoilers about the movie since the film was green lighted (or green lit) I was well aware of the plot changes made to the movie. I felt that this movie was more an adaption of the book, rather than the book made into a movie. That being said it was a very good adaption. I thought the acting was very good, although I thought the character of Drinian (the old bald dude) was rather flat. Will Poulter was fantastic as Eustace. Everyone else had very solid performances. The digital effects were quite good and I can't wait to see the movie in 3D.

now for the specifics.
2)The Plot.
I thought that Michael Apted did a decent job with the plot. Personally, I would have spent more time exploring the interactions between the characters on the ship and on the islands.  I didn't really care for the green mist, I felt that it made it a little to obvious when the characters were and were not being tempted. I thought that Apted did a good job of retaining the themes and character dynamics from the books. While I have heard that the glowing swords reminded some people of Sting, during the movie I never thought about LOTR.(Lord of The Rings). Overall I thought the new plot was good, however it would have been better if the movie was 15-20 minutes longer. I thought the movie moved a bit to fast and took away from the dynamic between the characters.

3)Acting
This is the part of the show where I admit I was wrong. Before I saw the movie I had reservations about the casting of Will Poulter as Eustace. I shouldn't have, because Eustace was exactly like I envisioned him from the book. Eustace provide some much needed comic relief that temporarily hid the fact that the story was speeding by. Georgie, Ben, and Skander were very good as Lucy, Caspian, and Edmund. Caspian was a much better character in this movie than in Prince Caspian. I was pleasantly surprised that they makers of the movie gave Edmund such a large role in this movie. In Prince Caspian he was more of a background character like in the book. I also thought Reepicheep and Aslan were very good although I would have preferred a stronger presence from Aslan in the movie.

Therefore, even though there where quite a few changes that I thought were unnecessary or could have been handled differently, none of the changes significantly impacted my enjoyment of the movie. The main core of the book remains intact, include some scenes which took lines directly from the book. All in all I encourage everyone, book fan and non book fan, to go see the movie. It has a very good story and remains true to the book in the most important places. Along with some additional action scenes :) the story has something for everyone. Now I look forward to the Silver Chair.