Ninja Secrets

I found this description online just surfing. Cracked me up.
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This e-book contains all the secrets of the ninja that no one else knows but true ninjas. learn these secrets and you can be a ninja, even if you're still in high school.
you can do badass stuff, like climb walls and even crawl on the ceiling and drop down on your victim and cut their throat with a ninja belt buckle knife before they even know what hit them.
you can be invisible and knock out your enemy and even give him a ninja psychic punch. you can knock him out with the secret ninja psychic punch before he can even be close enough to reach you! who cares how much bigger he is! he's on his ass like that and the ninja (you) is already climbing up the walls of a dark alley.
and you get to learn how to kill with ninja stars. ancient ninjas in japan used to buy these in secret markets, actually not much different from the suburban outdoor flea markets where some of the best ninja stars manufactured today can be found. who cares if the other guy has a gun. you can throw a ninja star over a hundred yards away and in less than a second, like when he blinks, you hit him with such force that he doesnt even see as the ninja star kills him because it hits him in his blind spot, right between the eyes. and it's like halfway into his skull, so he can't see it. he wont even know a ninja killed him, it'll have to be someone else to tell him that it was a ninja who killed him because he would never know otherwise.
and the ninja just doesn't care. he's totally psycho. ninja blood runs through his veins. and he dresses all in black.
all the ninja secrets that no one knows are here in this e-book
please do not share this e-book with enemies of ninjas.

about the only thing that sucks is that you have wear those secret ninja shoes with the big toe sticking out. but i think you can hide it with a bigger pair of shoes on top so your ninja secret that you are a secret ninja stays secret.

Happiness is.....

Taking little nature walks witt da Wiff!

I'm still here. It's just that there's more time between posts on this blog.

Got more projects coming up & they'll be posted here - pics & all. You're gonna like them.

I actually set some time aside to go over a few chess games from the 2008 Michigan Open. That's about all I've done regarding chess in the last 6 months! Felt good, too.

Debut

Historic Bridge

Check this out -
http://www.historicbridges.org/truss/c22halfmile/index.htm

TONS of quality pics & information on the bridge bordering our property.






























It was built in 1906 & scores a 7 on the site's "Historic Significance Scale".

It's in much need of repair.

The site goes on to say, "It would be great to see Calhoun County step forward and restore this bridge so it continue to carry 22 1/2 Mile Road's light vehicular traffic in its attractive wooded setting."

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UPDATE:
"On Tuesday, December 16, 2008 the Calhoun County Road Commission is permanently closing the bridge on 22 ½ Mile Rd over the St. Joseph River. This bridge is located between cross roads M-60 and P Drive South in Clarendon Township."

Seven "P's"

Proper
prior
preparation
prevents
piss-poor
performance!

Speed Chess Sucks

It's fun sometimes but technique really suffers. Lot's of solid opportunities get overlooked on both sides.

Here's a sloppy win.

Acknowledging our Losses

As a player, losing a hard-fought chess game rewards me with a great opportunity to learn more about myself or the game of chess.

As citizens, economically, we're losing a game we could never hope to control ourselves. $500 today will only buy us what $300 could just 10 years ago and it's getting worse. The dollar has fallen behind the euro & continues to slip.

Change is inevitable.......

We must change to survive economically and physically. We also need to change our lifestyles to survive spiritually. This means we need to think smaller, utilize local business and farming and continued use of alternative energies.

I don't plan on going anywhere, just changing.

As a whole, we have become a much poorer society and we're faced with the unavoidable task of making major changes in how we live.

So, I'm getting some chickens and maybe a cow, too. And minimize uneccessary expenditures.

Amnesia

Geez, I darn near forgot I had a blog.

Surgery went very well. They snipped an adhesion & fixed a double hernia. The next two weeks were pretty rough.

I'm feeling great, now - just been busy. Gonna get some chickens & put fencing up for a cow for next year. I cleaned the barn, too.

Gotta finish the chicken coop first, tho.

And get corn planted today.

:)

Evolution

The topic & the evidence for both sides is fascinating & I always enjoy the discussion.

Evolution, I believe, wasn't pushed so much as part of a great conspiracy, it's just that the average publicized information & evidence for evolution gets generalized & smoothed over & misconceptions get created & passed on - especially in our textbooks. Students don't let questions fly (or they go unanswered) hoping that it'll make sense some time later down the road. When later comes around they believe evolution but can't tell you why & try to justify with the same ignorant & fraudulent misconceptions. It's a shame - they're told WHAT to think, not HOW to think.

Evolution defies itself, defies logic & defies at least two established laws of science (2nd law of thermodynamics is one). The more we learn & find out, the more exposed it gets. For those not honest enough to accept that, they have every reason to be worried & defensive.

I certainly won't say there is any concrete proof of creation but we do know that evolution didn't happen & that is based on real physical evidence (tho some are still having a hard time letting go).

What I find especially interesting is not so much the evidence against evolution, but the physical evidence that suggests the possibility of Biblical events (layer-transversing animals, trees, dinosaur depictions & tracks, bacterial flagellum, etc). It certainly keeps some questions out there (is there a God? Did the events mentioned in the Bible really happen?) and in some cases the evidence suggests & indicates that it is VERY possible & perhaps even likely.

Atheistic Arrogance

Crown of Thorns

I drew it up & had it tattooed for an armband.

:)

The Perfect Cheer!

That one may not work every time. Here's another -

Quid Est Demonstrandum

....

MTQ

Material, Time, Quality.

Brought to my attention by Kasparov, I've found the balance among these 3 factors is the foundation of every move & decision in chess.

Making a correct evaluation of a position and then a correct decision requires an understanding of the tradeoffs & relative values of these core elements.

Material - describes the tangible assets
Time - how long it takes to achieve a specific objective
Quality - value

Quality = value? Sure. There are some positions in which a bishop may be of more value than a rook or some in which a particular pawn even more valuable than a piece. Anything if it wins the game.

He says "evaluation trumps calculation".

I'm sure there are better examples but here is one instance where this was part of my play.

White to move.My opponent just played his bishop to h7. I immediately took the knight on f6 with my rook on f1. As you can probably calculate, I got a knight & two pawns for my rook. Even tho it adds up to a rook's numerical value, it was the resulting position as the very reason I gave less value to the rook.

I had been losing the game badly & been outplayed up to that point. This gave me an easy draw from a previously losing position.

You can replay the entire game here.

Two Games

I played a couple of games over the weekend. Two wins. I'm still making mistakes, tho.
Click here to replay the games.

Nifty one from Fischer

I'm at a work training in Grand Rapids, MI. Hopefully getting out of here won't be too bad with the 5" of snow forcasted. Anyway....

From Fischer-Spassky 1992.

Fischer (white) just played Nbxc5 which wins a pawn. Very creative. If Spassky takes the bait he stands to go down another pawn. Actually he goes down two pawns regardless.

Fischer was a Christian believer & had a bad experience with a church. It was nice to read that he didn't give it up despite the issues.

Simple Calculation

It looks like the Chess base diagram (left) might be better. It's easier, too.

I'm really low at this point - missing combinations that used to come easy. Here I self-destructed as Black, playing d5 (??).

It continued with:
11. exd5 Nxd5
12. Nxd5 Qxd5
13. Bxh7+ Kxh7
14. Qxd5
1-0

Old Days

The Summer Rain & Crew. That's me & Dad workin' a dream job - actually getting paid to take people fishing in Kona, Hawai'i back in 1988. For no reason in particular, I never wore shoes while working on the boat. Maybe just because they inhibited my cat-like reflexes. Or more like ninja reflexes. More like 60% - 40% ninja - cat.

The newspaper clipping is of angler, Richard Hartom, John Prettyman & Cpt. Jack Prettyman with the boat's largest fish to date - a 1229 lb pacific blue marlin caught in 1986.

4-2 vs. 3-3

English GM Daniel King on why he likes the 4-2 vs. a 3-3 pawn structure -

From the 4-2 side, the 2-3 disadvantage can be aided by a piece while slowly storming the opposing pawn minority on the other side of the board. I reckon space plays a factor.

Game - Feb 19, 2008

White was losing after missing the checkmate on move 25. That's the thing about doing stuff like that. You have to play very accurately & not give the opponent time to recover. So, I most likely would've lost if not for my opponent running out of time. Here's that game -

Sacrifice

As White, I gave up 3 pieces to reach this position and missed mate in two.
Can you find the next two moves that end the game?

The answer is 1. Qg6+ ...Kf8 (only move). 2. Qg8 mate. Well, I ended up winning this game anyway because the other guy ran out of time. That sucks. It was one of those positions - I had a feeling might work out if I sent everything.

Immediately after sac'ing the pieces I had an opportunity to force a draw but decided to go for the win even tho it wasn't clear to me that it was winning.

The computer's analysis even recommended the sac's (!) but I missed its perfect continuation.

So, the chess intuition isn't too bad at this point but that's about all I have right now. After a few 2 minute 12 second blitz games, I still can't calculate & I'm missing easy things. Relying on keeping it simple & a lot of feel. I'll have to post that game on here tomorrow.

Solid

When possible, I save every chess game I play & send it thru the computer chess program, Fritz version 10. Every one of them - win, lose, or draw. Fritz will analyze the game according to some adjustable parameters that are set & provide feedback in the form of comments, better moves and/or continuations. The term used for this process is "annofritzing". When the analysis is finished, the game is said to have been annofritzed instead of "annotated" or commented on. It's a very useful process in becoming a better player and most serious players are well aware of it.

A key here is to have Fritz analyze ONLY my moves.

My personal goal is to see that Fritz adds little to NOTHING to the games I play. In other words - seeing that it hasn't recommended anything better than what I've done means the computer agrees with my moves as being very solid. To do that, I have to play very good chess. If I see Fritz has added recommendations, then I'm missing those particular things and not playing to the computer program's top-level standards.

On average, I'll play one or two of these "perfect" games out of 20 or so played. Much of the reason those games are perfect is because the opponents make it easier although there are a few that stand out as exceptional. Which is motivating - like in golf. The average Joe makes enough good shots to keep him excited & playing more.

Anyway, having just returned to chess again I was suprised to play the following game. I hate to associate the word, luck, with chess but I wasn't feeling comfortable with the early endgame. Here it is -



Black resigns after queening the pawn is inevitable.

Played One!

I finally played one & didn't do too bad. Here's a 2 minute blitz game from yesterday on Free Internet Chess Server. using the BabasChess software interface. My opponent, PoolDiddy, wasn't rated but he wasn't a weak player, either. I'm going to start playing more. ....I mean it this time. :)



I wrote too many notes in this one. I'll keep it down next time.

DC Talk

These guys are good. Bummer they don't play together anymore.

Indoor Wood Boiler - Update 2

Had to whip out the digital video cam to get the still pics because of the aforementioned issue with digital camera. Maybe I'll up a video to show the cycle one of these days.

Anyway, the boiler is working really well & there's just a few things to tidy up. One is the conduit for the electricity wires & I also need to finish the cover for the reserviour.

Here are some explanatory pics -

The actuator is shown here in the closed position.






The plastic pipe shown is rated for 180 degree water. Suprisingly, it's not hot to the touch like copper or steel piping. Does this thick plastic have decent insulating properties?

Indoor Wood Boiler - Update 1

The actuator & aquastat arrived. I was bummed because I ordered a 24 volt actuator when there was a 110 available (I thought I ordered the 110). I just gave them the wrong number. Oh, well - it's cheaper & easier to throw a transformer into the circuit instead of returning the one & waiting for another, so, we'll be good to go as soon as that gets here. Safer than 110v, too.

All plumbing is roughly 80% complete & I'll be finalizing that & making the mounts for the electronics on the reserviour this afternoon after chess class (I'm teaching the fine art/critical science of chess to grades K - 10 and my son's school).

I hate plumbing under the house. I hate ANYTHING under the house. With all the recent flooding, I feel like John Rambo while doing the belly crawl thru the cold, wet, poorly luminated underside of our dwelling. The only thing missing was the AK-47 and the torch to light the way (no rats, either). The UNDERWORLD is more like it - the water, the mud, the webs, spiders, centipedes, & even just the smell of this place where only the most undesirable critters care to venture (Hmmm..... since I'm under there, does that mean I'm undesireable, too?). I happened upon a couple of them that never made it out. Not sure how they got there or even what species they were - one looked like it might've been a bat & another may have been a little red squirrel. I'm really happy I brought the water pump up inside the house last month so I never have to go under there to work on it again. On the plus side, I did find a silver-clad quarter from 1977 under there last night. It's probably worth all of 29 cents. Oh, BOY! :) PERSPECTIVE: Just a minor inconvenience that could never offset the fresh air, the peace, the spaciousness, & tranquility of living in an old farmhouse in the marshy wetlands of beautiful Calhoun county, Michigan. Gotta love it.

No new pics yet. Our digital cam ain't working - the battery door won't stay shut because the little plastic thingy broke. Makes no sense. We've gone thru two digital cameras because of the same problem - little plastic thingies that are supposed to hold the doors shut.

Progress is slower than I'd like but then again I ain't killing myself over it, either.

....stay tuned.

Indoor Wood Boiler

Since my waterline splice broke (underground) I've been heating the house with an old wood burner salvaged from the barn. It's done a nice job with the exception of two rooms upstairs and the downstairs bathroom. So, my engineering skills are out in full force again - converting this indoor wood-fired stove into an indoor wood-fired boiler. Words of wizdum: never put a water splice underground if you're using pex tubing. Even if you're in a hurry.

Frankly I'm suprised at the lack of information available on the internet to convert a mid-sized free-standing stove to a boiler that'll heat the entire house as well as domestic hot water. I'm sure it's been done & I've heard of add-on units to oil-fired systems. I read a lot of "hey, you're gonna blow that thing up" when it comes to some boiler ideas and yes, they likely woulda blew those things up.

One thing I'm looking forward to is the minimal amount of wood I'll be going thru compared to the large outdoor one I built in 2003 (Central Boiler inspired design). That thing has been very dependable but seemed to go thru more wood than I was comfortable cutting.

Anyway, I built a reserviour to sit on top of the woodburner - it's 14 x 14 x 27 and will hold a capacity of 23 gallons (most likely will keep it at or around 20). Just sitting on top, the water in it heated to 170 but it seemed like the heating took too long to be effective as a boiler. There wouldn't be enough recovery because the furnace fan removes 30 degrees out of the water that goes thru the water to air heat exchanger on every cycle. That's my outdoor boiler figure but it must be pretty much the same.

That is unless I piped water inside the box (which isn't unheard of and standard on some units that you can buy). So, I made a manifold to sit inside of the burn chamber & this will allow the fire to super-heat the water, thus allowing for a quicker recovery of water temperature.
















Here's what it looks like inside the fire chamber now. I don't think there'll be any problem getting water up to temperature quickly with this arrangement.

So far, it's been a fun project. I've got to plumb in the pump & order the motorized actuator and an aquastat for the automated function. Should be nice. In case you're wondering, it is a non-pressurized system so it's safe, too.

The key is to be sure there is no air or steam in the system. Air expands and steam creates dangerous pressure.

The actuator I'm looking at will take 15 seconds to cycle the draft door once the aquastat sends the signal that the water temp is too low. The draft door will open via the actuator and then when the water is up to temp, the aquastat will break the circuit and the actuator will close the draft door by way of spring return which is another safe feature. It'll spring return in case of power outage or failure. Also in 15 seconds for a smooth and quiet operation.

The pics are sizeable so if you're having difficulty seeing because they're a little fuzzy, right-click & select "open in new window".

More pics & updates to follow.

Seeker of Truth

No doubt he finally found it.

Tako

Some Old Pics

Unearthed in Hawai'i. I've never seen them before. Mahalo, Sheri!

No Fear

St. Joseph River, Calhoun County, MI

Capital One Bowl - Jan. 1, 2008

Michigan 41
#9 Florida 35

Michigan put the smackdown on SEC powerhouse & defending national champion, Florida.

So much for the speed argument. Michigan is now 23-5-1 overall against SEC teams and 7-3 in bowl games.



Also, the Big10 is 14-12 against SEC teams since the start of the BCS era. So, why do SEC people think they're teams are athletically superior to every one else - especially the Big10?