Area influence82
The Past

The original homepage is here. I give thanks to my first computer science teacher, Mr. Shen, for teaching me how to do html.

First makeover | Second makeover | Third makeover

05/10/2008 Evolution of a Hero
I am currently working on my next chapter for my book that may be my biggest yet, titled "Wealth and Poverty." Fascinating stuff.
As times change, my interests do as well. I can never escape my past, so I am still a fan of comic books, trading cards and toys. It is like I do not want to grow up and stay a child forever. Well, I am not alone, for there are many people with hobbies far more dedicated than I am. In fact, I do not reveal my hobbies very well because I do allow them to consume my life and I do not want them to interfere with my professional life. My latest hobby is buying, selling and trading Transformers toys. The latest movie is what got me and many other fans back into the business. I have amassed a large collection of mostly Generation 1 and Movie toys. Once I entered the hobby again (I had some G1 and more G2 toys when they first came out) it was exciting. Let us just say that it keeps me busy. Like any hobby, there is so much to learn and many people to talk to. the modern toys too have grown very sophisticated. For example, the Transformers Alternators line had 1:32 scale cars molded after real licensed vehicles. Take Windcharger, a red Honda S2000 convertible that has a working trunk, hood, doors, changeable convertible top, and an engine that transforms into a weapon. It looks very impressive. The only complaint is that it is so difficult to transforms, but that is actually the exciting part of having a transformers. toys also make great display pieces, like intricately detailed statues that can be put into different poses.
Some habits just do not die. That is fine as long as those habits are not destructive. The good things about habits is that they give you goals, and goals are a motivation for survival. Does this justify my habits? Well, I will let others be the judge.
11/07/2007 Economism
I finally am releasing the the first 6 chapters of Economism. it is a book that will be in progress about how and why the economy works the way it does. It provides reasonable insight on some details of the capitalist system. it is all of my opinion based on my reasoning, so do not expect a well-researched report. As I ponder more about the world, I will add more ideas and change some. This book to me is a learning experience. You can read  it first here or by clicking on the Items section in Area influence82 once you Go Inside.
10/29/2007 Greatest Fear
As soon as I finish 6 chapters of Economism, I will begin publishing it on this website. Also checkout this paper on net neutrality, as it brings great points on the debate. It turns out that supporting a free internet really benefits the mega corporation with content like Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Google. How can consumers obtain the best quality service at the most affordable price? It is very difficult to determine this but my bet is on a free deregulated market. We really do not need access to websites unfettered, but rather access to any Internet service provider we chose.  If the government allowed any company to install cables for internet service on the same public land that the major providers do, then the cost of Internet access would drop and there would be no need for any net neutrality act because different service providers could offer different qualities of service depending on how much the consumer was willing to pay.  The consumer would benefit greatly form increased competition so innovation and cost would be a factor. Unfortunately, current ISPs hold monopoly over the lines covering public lands like telephone networks and power lines.
The real fear of America is not really terrorists or murderers, rapists, or child molesters. They are not to be taken lightly, as victims have many horrible experiences with those types of people. If a bad person attacks you personally it would be traumatic for you. however, the actual time that the experience would occur is very brief. Also, the perpetrator would have to answer to the justice system by being chased by the police and tried as a criminal in court with a harsh punishment. So no, these fears are merely temporary and should not be exaggerated by what it is. Another fake fear is horror-related themes, like how business savvy people take advantage of Halloween by showing you ugly, gory, organism-infested images. Sure, we are scared of being near them, yet are willing to pay money to be scared. The scare lasts no longer than night (with the exception of a few nightmares). Regardless, we know zombies and monsters are fake. We just find it fun to be scared of ugly things (in true Hollywood fashion).
The real fear in everyone occurs when the law turns against you. This is when someone sues you for any monetary damage. This is scarier because a lawyer can take away your savings and livelihood by convincing a judge that he or she is right. When this happens, there is no place to hide. Nobody gets punished except you when you are sued. Even if you manage to win, you still must bear legal costs that can offset you like an uninsured hospital bill. Speaking of that, hospitals fear uninsured patients because they need money to operate. Patients fear hospital bills because they cost so much and affect their credit, which may lead to bankruptcy. Debtors fear debt collectors because they can harass them for the rest of their lives and garnish wages. In a free market society, the greatest fear of all is the fear of losing your wealth. No other reason comes close. If you die, then your debts are cancelled. No one can sue you if you are dead. And if you are dead, you will not care what happens to your body at all.
07/14/2007 E3 2007
Gamespot has great coverage of this year's Electronics Entertainment Expo. The format for that Expo is more press, business, and marketing oriented rather than casual gamer, fan oriented. This really degraded the appeal of it to the general public. Now it is a matter of small forums. As for the usual press conferences, I think that they are too long. It is better, in my opinion, to break announcements into shorter blocks, so reporters and bloggers can have breaks in between and room to breathe. I know that the executives try to attract the audience's attention, but it is just too long and tedious. There should be an intermission. I know that most people at the press conferences are there because they have to be there to report on it or represent their company. The audience will gain fatigue form sitting over 70 minutes in a smaller room. I took the time to watch the press conferences with the big 3 console makers. I noticed that they were all too long. Microsoft boasted that it sells the most games and even has evidence to prove that they sold more software than Sony and Nintendo. Microsoft also mentioned the names of their rivals many times. Microsoft is definitely king of online gaming with its huge XBOX Live traffic and sales. People who bought the now discontinued XBOX 360 Core system without the hard drive now have the advantage of upgrading to a 120GB hard drive, effectively turning it to a white XBOX 360 Elite. The premium system buyers paid an extra $100 for the 20GB hard drive. it seems to me that in this generation, Sony is copying Microsoft. Microsoft gets its popular games first, then Sony follows. Microsoft produces 3 versions of its console, and discontinues the lowest, then Sony eliminates its 20GB version and produces an 80GB version. However, based on some rumors, it seems that the 60GB will discontinue after its $100 price drop. In this case, Sony is not copying anyone. Microsoft raised the price for its XBOX 360 while Sony maintains the price for a better system.
In battlefront of HD discs, I know that Bandai Entertainment has chosen HD-DVD to publish its anime with a recent release called Freedom in the first DVD/HD-DVD hybrid format with one type on each side of a single disc. It is pretty much the successor of the dualdisc format with an Audio CD on one side and a DVD on the other. I think that is interesting because it would encourage more sales for that video and at the same time allow buyers to share it more easily and it would also encourage DVD owners to buy an HD-DVD player later for the high definition experience. One of my co-workers told me that once you go HD, you will never go back. He owned a PS3. For some marketing reason, Sony calls that next-generation machine only as the PLAYSTATION 3 (note the all capital letters I will always prefer to call it simply as the PS3). I guess they want to differentiate it with its successor. It is a wiser move it Sony related the PS3 with the PS2 because the PS2 was so successful. The PS2 what what made Sony the most money in their video game division. it is the PS3 causes the greatest loss for Sony in their video game division. The first batch of PS3s came with Tallegada Nights BD-ROM. With that and other blu-ray offers, blu-ray has outsold HD-DVD. If you count the PS3, there are more blu-ray disc players in households than HD-DVD players. A recent Fry's advertisement offered 5 free blu-ray movies with purchase of a PS3 by mail. By saturating the market with blu-ray, the camp can gain an advantage, despite the higher cost. it is true have the same retail price, but HD-DVD has cheaper players, recorders, and blanks discs than blu-ray.
07/06/2007 AX 2007 Continued
I now have a Skype contact using the same name: influence82. I updated the contact page with Skype.
On July 1 at the Anime Expo, I went to the Oreskaband concert. It quite fun and novel. All the band members played different instruments and really stimulated the crowd. There was a trombone player and a sax player so the music was original and upbeat. I did not know that they played one of the Naruto ending themes, so it was cool. The strangest thing that occurred during the concert was that the audience opened their cell phones with the backlights decorating the darkened concert area, stimulating a tribute candle or lighter. It was a very modern harmonious moment.
The panels going on during the expo are very boring. I suppose that they are supposed to present fans and curious people advertising for future releases. Some aim to please fans by letting them directly interact with the people involved in creating the product, such as the One Piece director or Funimation's staff. However, it would be better and entertaining if instead of simply talking and presenting that they would just play a pre-recorded video explaining everything and have a longer question and answer session. There are always people in line asking questions and never enough time to finish. The pace of the discussion panels are slow. Of course, I can easily sit through mundane and intellectually stale fanfare, but to attract more people, the pace needs to be more quicker. On the other hand, some discussion panels were popular like the Funimation panel, where some attendees waiting 2 hours in advance. Some panels give out prizes, others are for ages over 16 and 18 only. 
Anime Expo is not really friendly for kids because it seems that many Japanese artists are open perverts. I do not mean to offend, but it seems to be a prevalent (or rather perverse) trend. Just look at how women are drawn and presented. it is just unnatural for women to look like how they are in some animation and manga. Even though some of the female characters are pretty strong and play a good role models, they are visually oversexed in my opinion. Real Japanese women do not really look like that, for they are more conservative as driven by custom. There does not seem to be as much restriction on males than on females because well, people care less about how males look like than females, and since most of the audience is male, the sex appeal helps draw them in. I guess my observation is for shounen (boy) series as as opposed to shoujo. I am not familiar with shoujo series except for Fushigi Yuugi, The Mysterious Play. It is quite sexist of me to make such statements, but I actually prefer women to be treated equally physically compared to men. If you look at one piece, you can see that all the women came out of the same Barbie doll factory: it is quite ridiculous. There is not much I can do except get used to it as long I I read and watch this kind of stuff. I just wanted to point that out.
07/04/2007 AX 2007
The Anime Expo 2007 (http://www.anime-expo.org) was a place I did not plan on going to until an SJSU friend of mine called and needed a place to stay. This year's event took place in the Long Beach Convention Center. I only went the last 2 days: On Sunday, July 1, I volunteered for 5 hours. First I stood guard at a discussion panel. To be honest, the panels are very boring unless you are very dedicated to the topic. I went to Toe and Funimation's discussion of One Piece, the pirate animation series.. The producer and director was there to talk about the series and how they make the episodes. It was quite informative. Did you know that it takes 4 months do develop an episode from start to finish? One Piece really shows American viewers the difference between Japanese and American cultures through its transition. 4Kids Entertainment first held the U.S. license and aimed it at a young kids age group probably the same as Japan's. However, due to self censorship and strict rules, they had to edit the cartoon severely. Cartoon Network, which showed the series, prohibited displays of alcohol, tobacco, and excessive blood and violence. Thus, much of the original animation was cut and edited like Sanji's cigarette changing to a lollypop, changing the color of guns and bloody sequences or entire story arch removed due to violence. In Japan, it is ok to show blood and violence and smoking to kids. I think it is because they are used to having kids seeing stuff like that on TV, even though kids do not really emulate those things and parents are more stricter on their children to know better and take responsibility. Americans, on the other hand are a little less involved with responsibility of such sinful pleasures. Parents usually tend to blame others for their children's misdeeds and are less strict on their children. Instead of taking responsibility for what their children watch, parents place the burden on the networks. It is similar to blaming schools with snack vending machines for child obesity. Is it bad have this type of cultural attitude towards child-rearing? No, for the two cultures are simply distinct and see the values differently. Such incompatibility of the cultures leads to a bad translation for One Piece. Fortunately, 4kids ended the license and it was transferred to Funimation, which promises not to edit the series and release uncut versions on DVD. Doing so, however, will prevent it from being aired on Cartoon Network and into the premium Funimation channel, thus decreasing viewer ship. It is a bigger risk because the financial stakes are higher. However, the dedicated fan base may be support it enough to sustain the series in America. 
There are too many episodes for One Piece. This is only because the ratings are high, making it a very profitable franchise. Had One Piece not have the ratings, it would already end like Rurouni Kenshin. 
On a related note, Toei had a nice booth at the exhibition hall with life size statues of the One Piece gang. it looked very impressive. The whole exhibition hall was very impressive. All the companies showed vast displays, I wish I had more time to shop. The selection is enormous. The prices were not that impressive, but the less tax, free gifts and exclusive offers made up for it.
I did not have much time fro the exhibition hall because I was volunteering and waiting in line for Transformers. For Volunteering, I went to the Summer festival that had not very impressive games. AX did not seem to advertise the festival well, either. The weather was hot, so we all drank plenty of water. The impression of the games were very cheap. For example, I was volunteering for a cork gun and ball throw game. The set up consisted of a folding table, cardboard, and duct tape. I had to set up and retrieve the corks and balls. It was more like a scavenger hunt since the balls and corks are unpredictable. The gun was of poor quality and usually shot lower than expected. Sometimes after people throw the ball, it lands behind the tent. Going through the back becomes annoying and rather pointless if such labor could be prevented if the game was set up in an enclosed area. I do not want an expensive set up, but at least one convenient. The summer festival was very low budget and bland. Going and yelling for people to play is not my kind of thing. If AX did a better job advertising, I would not have to be yelling to a passing crowd what is going on. There are better ways to work Anime Expo. It was not disappointing or bad, but the staff could have done better. It seems to me that the volunteers were both understaffed and under-motivated. Working on the festival is hard work. 
The highlight of my visit was the special preview of Transformers. That was a cool movie. Sure there were too many human characters and thus useless plot threads, but the action was just right. Director Michael Bay and company indeed gave appropriate fan service. Unlike the cartoon, the robots become damaged beyond repair. I agree with film critic Roger Ebert in that the All Spark is a MacGuffin, or a thing necessary for the plot but has no real use. I believe that the All Spark was not necessary for the story at all. If they took out the Pentagon computer security analysts they could explain Megatron's thirst for power instead. But no, Bay and the screenwriters insisted on having so many human characters to dilute the roots of Transformers. The main story is ok, but it is merely ok and not better. If it was bad enough to have Bumblebee in a Chevy Camaro, he actually attacked a Volkswagen Beetle in the movie. Plus, Bumblebee did not use his own voice until the end of the movie. All the Autobots advertised gas guzzlers. The Decepticons did not kill many humans despite themselves terminated with the help of them. is so typically Hollywood. The fight sequences and graphics were great and the main character was someone you could relate to being a bad actor and all. If anyone deserves an Academy Award for best actor in that movie it would be Optimus Prime. The only thing I did not like about Prime is the fact that they showed his mouth. The Decepticons were all awesome, but Bonecrusher did not receive enough screen time. I know that this movie will make an enormous profit enough to produce a sequel, so they better do a better job on the script. The graphics and action is good enough, but the actors need to be less numerous and more involved other than the main kid. Creating more transformers would be a good thing as long as they have the proper introductions and screen time for the audience to get used to them. My favorite is the helicopter Blackout because he is so big, powerful and unique. He is the first transformer you see and his transformation is a very exciting sight. The Decepticons need more dialogue. The only ones that talked were Megatron and Starscream. Frenzy communicated via radio and it had to be translated on the screen. Despite its flaws, the movie was worth the hour long wait. I wish that the screen was larger in the Terrace theater, though.
05/17/2007 Writing
I updated the history section which I call The Past.
I still want to write a book on the economy. As soon as I finish a few more chapters, I will publish it on this website.
In other news, I have been current with the video game console wars and it seems that Nintendo is wii-ning. Nintendo has the top 2 spots in console sales with Wii first and DS second. Even though I am an Nintendo defector (stopped buying after SNES), I gained more respect for the company with their innovative, back to basics philosophy. I played the Wii at the SJSU CS Club and it is interesting. I do not like the controller that much. I still cannot believe that it is sold out and on back order. Microsoft's XBOX 360 maintains a steady and loyal following. I admit that I like the XBOX 360 too, with its great exclusive games like HALO 2, Forza 2 Motorsport, Kameo, Ninety-Nine Nights and so on. The graphics are not much different than PS3. With the latest offering of the XBOX 360 elite with its 120GB hard drive, the machine still poses a formidable offering. As for that HD-DVD player add-on, very few people will buy it because there is so little incentive to do so. It may take up to 5 more years until a victor comes out of the next generation DVD wars. The first battle in this war is the console wars with the Wii winning with regular DVD format. It is possible for neither format to win because of the low consumer demand. The reason why there is such a low demand is because the players are so expensive, with the cheapest one at $500. I think that once the players drop under $200 we will begin to see competition worthy enough to observe the eventual winner as the players reach enough households to achieve the critical mass. HD-DVD will drop to that point first, so it has the greatest advantage. Another advantage HD-DVD has is the adult film industry has supported HD-DVD. Even though publicly many people loath porn, the industry has always spearheaded the success of whatever medium it takes (like VHS, DVD, and the Internet. Yes, this means that pornography helped the Internet become popular and was a great factor in its success). HD-DVD is also cheaper and easier to produce. Anything that Sony owns a part of, though with the highest quality, is simply too expensive. Game developers just do not want to spend some much money entirely on one console. Game developers adopt multi-platform games to achieve the greatest sales volume. This practice encourages players to stick to the cheaper platforms. Producing a game exclusively for the PS3 is risky because there is a low customer base due to lackluster sales and thus it would not sell as many units. If Sony does not either lower the development costs or make the system more affordable, it would be too difficult to encourage third party developers to produce exclusive content. Without exclusive content, there is little incentive to buy a PS3. I will admit that I prefer the PS3 over the other consoles partially because I like the graphics, type and quality of the games. I am also pragmatic and foresee problems ahead. Nintendo has the greatest advantage in this war, so all they need to do is stick to what they do best. Microsoft needs to appeal to a broader audience (I think the XBOX targets the male 18-35 age group) to gain market share; HALO 3 will not make much difference in XBOX 360 sales. Sony needs to appeal to game developers first, and at the same time instilling the value of the PS3 to consumers so that they are willing to pay the price for a quality product. Now the consumer base does not see enough value in the PS3 to warrant buying it at any price. When the games and services start coming, the sales will follow.
05/17/2007 Strike
I keep forgetting to work on this site. It has been too long. I mentioned before that I am working on writing a book on economics and plan on publishing it on my website as I finish chapters (it would probably be on the I, influence82 section). As usual, the Anime Pages has an update.
For me, I am currently studying for the LSAT because I am interested in Law.  I could do prosecution, corporate, copyright, tax, or real estate law. Also, I could not find a tech job, so I am using Law as a backup. However, I am still learning about programming and scripting, for I know I will continue to find use for it for my own endeavors (I am thinking about making a new, totally separate website of my own as a business venture). I also enjoyed some entertainment like reading Rurouni Kenshin manga and watching Samurai X DVD, as well as watching the original Transformers series (I  traded for that from someone online via postal mail. It shows that my posting of my anime collection actually is successful in helping trade). Kenshin is a very good story to read. The most touching story was the part about Kenshin's first love, Tomoe, as shown in the last volumes of the manga and Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal DVD. On that note, I find it disappointing that American products form Japanese imported manga and animation are not consistent. Notice, for example, that my favorite series, Love Hina, is divided into 3 companies in the U.S.: Tokyopop (manga), Bandai (animation), and Geneon (music). Kenshin's DVDs are divided among ADV (Samurai X OVA) and Anime Works (TV Series), in addition to Shounen Jump/Viz for the manga. 
I am spending a little too much time on entertainment. I better study some more, for I could entertain myself after I achieve my goals.
01/23/2007 Shortcut
I updated many pages, including the Anime Collection (renamed from just Anime), Anime Pages, Top Sites (renamed from My Favorite Websites) as part of the 4th makeover process.
I finished playing World of Warcraft. Boy is it a relief to stop playing. Now I can continue my normal life. I can read, play other games, exercise, spend more time cooking and eating, having less anxiety. It is true that people that play this game too much have no life. I could not accomplish anything while I was playing. I was losing the little social life I had. When I was not playing, I was worried about losing time and opportunity with the game. That was bad. Thank goodness that my subscription expired. I did mange to reach level 50 though.
What do I plan to do with this new free time? Well I plan to play other games like on the PSP. I will update my website, and do some more job searching
12/18/2006 True
In the I, influence82 section I added a poem I made 1 year ago called "Why is Love Like Sand?" It was a list that I modeled after the "Love Is..." series. I made each item into a Valentine's Day card and game them out. Another name for that special day is "Singles Awareness Day." I do not have much to say about Valentine's Day. I do not like holidays at all. to me, yesterday was not different than today and will be same as tomorrow. I also added another video to my Portfolio (in the I, influence82 section), it is a longer documentary-style video that commemorated my fraternity's 65th Anniversary. I edited the whole thing with some assistance friend. You can find that video here or in the Projects section in my Portfolio. Also, please sign my guestbook!
11/25/2006 Warquest
I added some more links to the My Favorite Websites page and have a new video that you can find on MySpace, which I used to supplement a part of my Portfolio (in the I, influence82 section). That video was a commercial I did for a project in my Environmental Biology class. I uploaded another video about my fraternity's 65th Anniversary. I also updated the Anime section. Later I plan to write a list of my favorite anime series.
I also resumed playing World of Warcraft because I bought a 60-day game card at a discount. Overall, despite the PVP ganking (other players killing you) and the frequent patches and software troubles, the game is still fun to play. It is bad when some other player kills you without you even seeing him or when you are disconnected and have to apply a repair on all the files. One of the reasons why it is addicting to play is because it costs money to play per month. If you do not play in 1 day it is like loosing $0.50 a day. Another reason is character building. I want to keep improving my character with more skills, better weapons, and armor. It is also easy to play; anyone can pick it up. it does not take much precision and hand and eye coordination, nor does it take puzzle-solving or strategy. It is Diablo II in 3-D. It is click, kill, get stuff, repeat. That is why it is so popular. It is so popular that people are willing to spend real money to buy things in the game. I think that is very sad that people are willing to spend their real money to save time in the video game. If someone likes the game so much, it is better just to keep playing it and not resort to "cheating" by paying cash.
10/18/2006 Fix
It is rare that I post updates 2 days in a row. I did much work on this website, mostly fixing links and making The Portfolio of Kenneth Cheung more presentable. Next time I will add another list in the I, influence82 section.
I am trying to get another host for more web space (mostly for pictures). When I do, I can display galleries of pictures that I took and can share to others. I do not like using some photo sharing websites because I have to register for an account. I have too many accounts in too many places. As a minimalist, I keep the accounts to a minimum.
I will continue to study programming languages because there will never be enough to learn. I will also continue to read on Tech news (I subscribe to eWeek). I also like to read about politics and the election. It is like a soap opera but real and relevant to our lives. Even though I am a moderate conservative, I will objectively look at all the issues and candidates like a real reporter (as opposed to a pundit) before making a decision. I try my best to find the truth in lies.
I am interested in obtaining a PS3, but am not willing to pay $1000 for it. It is people like my friends and I that are responsible for causing a hardware shortage. I think Sony would make enough machines. it is just that too many people want it. If only those people who wanted to own one to keep (as opposed to sell) were the only people allowed to buy it, then there would be no hardware shortage. It is the principle of supply and demand. Even though the retail price is fixed (except in Japan for the 60GB version), the secondhand sellers are the people who will raise the price. I plan to write a book about the economy and will later upload chapters to the website. The PS3 is a good (or bad) example of how prices artificially increase. Sure the PS3 will be the most advanced game console ever made. But such top-tier hardware comes at a price for manufacturers, developers, and consumers. To tell the truth, I do not really have a need for a PS3. I would rather get a PS2 because it has the best games and it is much cheaper. I would rather wait for 2 years or more until the price of Blu-ray discs drop to a DVD level. Let the rich or highly indebted pay for the initial development costs. That is the smartest thing to do. The same goes for HDTV. However, I do not think I will ever buy a TV for myself or family, since there are enough to go around and I do not like to watch TV anyways. TV does take up too much of our time.
10/17/2006 Portfolio Beta
I have a new feature, a guestbook! Now a visitor like yourself can comment on my website. I would appreciate your comments, whether good or bad. I take constructive criticism seriously. Blatant rants and attacks from others is what I will ignore. Spam and unsolicited advertising I will delete. You will find a new link on the left sidebar (after you click on "GO INSIDE"). I also updated the Under Siege card game with a new solitaire variant. You may find it in the Items section. The most exciting feature you can see here is the Portfolio of Kenneth Cheung. I will add and update this until it is complete. It is basically a summary of my work. Earlier I posted my Vitae of all my experiences and skills. Now this portfolio will expand and elaborate on my professional and private career. It will be better suited as a webpage because having a long list of items is not very attractive to look at. This portfolio is aimed to make my abilities in a simple fashion that also allows people to look further into the details, as there will be many examples to see and resources to look up. I placed many links in the portfolio so that others can see for themselves the work that I did instead of me just stating that I did it. You may find my portfolio in the I. influence82 section.
I recently bought the Love Hina Perfect Collection DVD set and it is great. I did not view it yet but the packaging is compact. I could not believe that Bandai fit 9 DVDs in a thin booklet. It is better than a boxed set in terms of size because it is much thinner. The price is also less that buying each DVD individually or the Anime Legends set plus the movie set. The single DVDs have the benefit of the cover art and a reversible cover. This adds to my collection of the Gundam SEED Movies and Ys Book I and II DVDs (I only have 14 official DVDs plus 1 dualdisc, which is a DVD and Audio CD on one disc) .
The new airport security rules that the TSA issues are quire confusing. I advise you to visit www.tsa.gov to learn more about them. The trouble is that if people do not have a clear plastic sealable bag then they cannot take their small bottles and tubes with them. Plus, the rules changes so that only 3 oz per container is allowed. The government should assess the environmental impact of these security rules. Must security overpower the environment, health, and safety of the people? These weird regulations create a lot of trash. The government is not paying for it: the airlines are paying the price. The government should never impose unfunded mandates. If there is not money to pay for a law, then the government does not want to commit to such a law, and thus it should not be followed. Our federal government seems to put its money in the wrong place. If people are expected to follow the put liquids in a bag rule, they should supply bag for travelers to use for free and they should not be so picky as to what constitutes a legal bag. I cannot believe that some of my superiors would not allow clear cosmetic bags. Bags with ties should be allowed too.
08/20/2006 Phase-shift
The website is slowly undergoing a 4th makeover, or as many tech people would term it, version 5.0 (the first home page was not a makeover). I do not like using those terms coined by the media. I do not like using the word "blog." I just call these messages updates. I replaced the dragonfly background for a plain one. Those dragonflies actually came from a Blade of the Immortal graphic novel cover, "Dreamsong". I am also updating index pages. This will keep the site more secure and easier to navigate. If you, the visitor have some suggestions on how I may improve my site, please contact me and I would greatly appreciate it.
One page that has more updates is the Anime pages. Also I have changes the default font for most pages to Arial, since it is easier to read than Times New Roman, without that serif on all the letters.
08/10/2006 Trickster
The Anime Pages, My Favorite Websites, and Anime list have all been updated. I made sure that the link works and removed the bad ones and added some more. I may also be working on another makeover, the fourth one in the website's history. I do not have many html skills to boast about. However, I will explore Yahoo! Geocities to see if I can add more features tot he website.
I bought a PSP UMD and found out that it had a physical factory defect,. On the reading side of the disc there was a notch on the edge and a permanent mark that could not be cleaned. it was the first time I saw such a defect on a UMD. I bought it from DVDEmpire.com. Luckily, they have good customer service and responded quickly to my complaint and pledged to exchange the product as soon as they received the defective one. They provided a shipping label that cost me nothing to ship. That is very good service.
In other events, new security measures came into effect today. The San Jose Airport was crowded with waiting passengers, police, dogs, and other people. because of the news of a foiled terrorist plot involving Britain, U.S., and liquid explosives. Thus, all the passengers had to give up their bottles of water, shampoo, cologne, lotions, toothpaste, anything with a liquid or gel form. People were upset at losing their $50 shampoo or name brand perfume. The police were at every checkpoint, some with dogs, others with M-16 assault rifles. The lines were long and tedious. Since I am a Transportation Security Officer, I understand the importance of such measures. After all, it is the first time that the terror alert was at its highest since the London bombings on July 7, 2005. it is a good thing that many travelers understand the need for this security and endure though the process. One should always remember that is is better to fly safe and late than to not fly at all. For those people who do not like the near draconian procedures, they could always take Greyhound bus or the train. It may take longer to arrive tot he destination, but there will be a shorter waiting time.

07.04.2008