Si_Phi's Misguided Adventures: March 2014

Monday, March 31, 2014

Crunch time!

Three projects, homework, and a couple of tests are looming over my head. Not to mention quizzes and other fun and terrifying things.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

As it crosses 1:20 AM, I am beginning to wonder whether or not that funny feeling I get when I drink comes from actually being drunk. It could be because I am tired. Right now, after I have finished most of my homework for tomorrow, I am wiped. Absolutely wiped. And it is the same feeling I had last week during an excursion to obscure locations of North America. Except that involved my new favorite poison, whiskey.

This may make little sense, but I have been able to put two (barely) coherent thoughts together since midnight: one, despite not drinking, I feel drunk. Two, I am lonely. Bah, that sounds sad and depressed. AND I STILL DID NOT FINISH MY CGT ASSIGNMENT. ALKFJ:LSAKFJ:ASLKFJASL:KFJ

that was a sad press of the keyboard. I just want to sleep ;(

I begin to crash

It is starting to appear like my first all-nighter of college is upon me.

I have a few hours left to go in this evening and I have a lot of homework to do. I think I may simply attempt to finish most of it tonight, so that I can play all tomorrow. Not a bad thought, except I won't have time to play tomorrow because of engineering. Fuck. it. Also I have entrepreneurship, incidentally a word that I find very difficult to spell.

The sad thing is I am writing this at 12. I am pooped. I will be worse tomorrow, but ah well. Thus is the life. Time to make some tea and hopefully not pass out. Also I have to get my shirts and do laundry. Tomorrow (today) is going to suck.

CGT Notebooks

Are excruciatingly painful. Mainly due to an ITaP hangup with my log in. A device was trying to repeatedly log in and to my career account with an outdated password which was locking me out of my career account. Not a good thing to happen.

I reset all my devices though and now it seems to work. I'll take it over not completing this major assignment. GG homework.

Monday, March 24, 2014

My Deck

Sorcery (9)

Enchantment (11)

Artifact (14)

Sideboard (10)

Maybeboard (9)

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Buses are dumb.

I don't know why I am being so discriminatory to all buses, but frankly buses can be really dumb. The driver of the bus I am currently on is about to be running late, so hopefully we will depart in the next four minutes. I am writing this as I sit on a my bum connected to a friends wifi. The bus was supposed to have wifi, but apparently that was a fallacy of false advertising. That or I am becoming the entitled little kid I loathed.

So I will do what I usually do when I am on a long car ride to nowhere, I will probably sleep or play Dota 2 offline. I need to practice my pudge hooks, so it may be a good idea. It is definitely a good idea to do some more homework, I may have to do that for real actually because I am very far behind on some work due this week. At least I scanned all 60 pages of my homework for CGT. That was a pain. End blog.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Back to Purdue

Break's over, work is about to start up again, and I'm packing. I need to get to sleep because I am sick. Well, sort of. I didn't feel up to going to Burlington today at least. I am packed, for the most part, and ready for bed. Adios. I'll probably write something tomorrow while in the airport.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Do you want to play some dota?

My best friend was offline last night when I wanted to play dota. I wrote this while I waited. We didn't end up playing Dota :(

JTrilogy is now Offline.
JTrilogy is currently offline, they will receive your message the next time they log in.
Si_Phi: JT
Si_Phi: Do you want to play some dota?
Si_Phi: Come on lets go play
Si_Phi: I never see you anymore
Si_Phi: don't be a bore
Si_Phi: its like you've gone away....
Si_Phi: We used to be game together
Si_Phi: and now we don't
Si_Phi: I wish you would tell me why!-
Si_Phi: Do you wanna play some dota?
Si_Phi: It doesn't have to be all random.
Si_Phi: Do you want to play some dota?
Si_Phi: I'll play jungle or support
Si_Phi: I think some mid is overdue
Si_Phi: I've started talking to
Si_Phi: people I report...
Si_Phi: (Calm down, we can still win!)
Si_Phi: It gets a little lonely
Si_Phi: Playing solo que
Si_Phi: Just watching the hours tick by-
Si_Phi: (Unpause Tick - Tick - Tick)
Si_Phi: (Orchestral Break!)
JTrilogy is now Online.
Si_Phi: (Steam Message Sound)
Si_Phi: JT?
Si_Phi: Please, I know that you're there,
Si_Phi: I've been wondering where you've been
Si_Phi: Steam says "Online" and I'm online too
Si_Phi: Waiting in game for you, just message me
Si_Phi: We only have each other,
Si_Phi: it's just you and me
Si_Phi: What are we gonna do?
Si_Phi: Do you want to play some dota...?
JTrilogy is now Offline.

It's been too long

Since a lot of things have happened.

I've been home this week. I built a magic deck, played Dota, organized some stuff for my dad, and have read a book. It's been 4 days.

I really enjoyed finishing The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, a book that has been on my reading list for about ten years. I wanted to reread Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, but I couldn't find it. Most upsetting.

I've gone positive in my Dota 2 win rate for the first time in ages. In reality its about 8 months, but seeing as I've only played Dota for about a year, this was a big deal for me. I've been playing all random so that I can focus less on individual hero skill (such as invoker, a hero I suck at) and more on player positioning and strategy. That said, in all-random I swap a lot for heroes I know I like to play or am pretty good at (eg- SF and Veno) but I've also learned some new heroes when I couldn't swap. These heroes have included Batrider and Weaver. I have won all 4 of my weaver games thus far. He's fun.

I don't think I'll be playing with Hitman or Crydapirate anymore. Maybe occasionally, but overall I really don't like playing with them. The chemistry just isn't right, mainly because Cry sometimes plays heroes not to their strengths (eg - He refuses to Doom jungle) or will become the worst example of your stereotypical angry Dota player if he randoms a support and doesn't want to play support but no one will swap with him. Thus I have found peace and (surprisingly) a streak of wins since going off into the lands of solo or dual que with JT.

Free to Play, the Valve Dota documentary, came out today. It was cool. I enjoyed it.

What else has happened?

I have an exam on Tuesday. Yuck. I am going climbing tomorrow night with Andy Gurin at Johnson State, so that'll be fun. I am also going to fly a plane. Not really, but I can dream. I have my honor society ceremony on the weekend I get back and I have a calculus exam and a CS exam shortly after that. Calculus is starting to get scary, especially since my teacher is quite terrible.

OH AND I BUILT AN EDH DECK. So excited to play some EDH when I get back to school.

Fin.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

A letter home.

Dear Vermont,

As you seem to have your heart set on a winter wonderland for my return, please don't make too much of a mess of the runway/highways in doing so. I know I've been preoccupied with Indiana's warm, sunny weather over the past few days so I really hope this isn't a tantrum. That would make me sad.

Yours,
Silas

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Care packages are the best.

My mother sent me a care package! Why? Because she loves me. And misses me. It's some homemade goodies, that I know for sure. We'll see when I pick it up.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Stahp Brian

BRIAN STOP. YOUR TOES ARE GROSS. END BLOG.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

My essay for my ENTR200 class.

I am seeking an internship with the company, Helion Energy, in order to further my own understanding of the technology. They would help me focus my studies, hone my own skills, and gain knowledge of the product. I hope to improve on the technology, which will currently give a thrust to weight ratio of .002 to .2 (this means that the rocket could not leave Earth under that rocket’s thrust alone) to a device capable of a thrust to weight ratio greater than 1. That would mean that the rocket could leave under its own power. This would enormously reduce the cost of space travel. It would allow for larger spacecraft, more advanced spacecraft, and the harvesting of resources in space. The primary source of fuel for this device is two hydrogen isotopes, one of which is extremely common and one of which is found naturally in seawater, though it is much less common than the other component.

For our video project we interviewed my Uncle, Patrick Sweeny, about Symmetry Partners, the fiscal advising firm he owns. He gave us an overview of how he started the business with his partner, Dave Capella, the mistakes he made, and what his business did right and plans to do in the next five or ten years. I learned a lot about the trials of starting a business through my Uncle and through the lessons in this class. I heard his tale, how long and hard he worked to make his brainchild a reality. My dad always told me when I was kid that if I wanted to be rich, if I wanted to be proud of myself, to look at what my Uncle had done and emulate it. He lived in a very modest home for many years and made almost no money at first, but he worked endless hours and devoted nearly all of his being to his idea. That type of commitment pays off if handled correctly.

What struck me about Patrick was that he was ready and willing to discuss his business with anyone. Despite our one or two sentence questions, Patrick would talk for five minutes or more on one subject. It was clear that he was one of the entrepreneurs that did need a business plan, because the plan was already formulated in his head and he had to get to the next step in order to make it a reality.

Patrick also repeated many phrases and terms that we have studied in class. Normally when I think of vocab in a class I think of nonsense phrases that will carry no weight outside of the classroom. Terms like “storming” and “shareability”, but Patrick used at least three phrases without prompting. He mentioned his core competency was in finance, not in technology. He used this to explain why they chose to build a much simpler software solution for their company. He also explained the cost of not knowing what your core competency was.

Do I fit the criteria of an entrepreneur that our textbook has outlined? I am sure I do somewhere. The book describes many types of entrepreneurs. From our class sessions, interviews, and guest speakers I have seen many more archetypes fleshed out. All of the entrepreneurs have had at least a fraction of something in common, passion. Can I start a business? I think I can. I certainly have the head for numbers and the ability to stubbornly take on tasks until they are completed. But do I want to? Do I have a passion for a business, a product that will allow me to construct a business or an industry around that idea? That is another question altogether.

What do I have a passion for? I play video games, I enjoy books. But I desire neither to be a graphics artist nor a writer. I excel in math, I am competent in physics (though I am starting to doubt my own ability in physics), and I want to fly. These three would suggest aeronautical engineering, but I find that industry is not what we would call Blue Ocean and I seek to create something new in a niche market.

My passion, a passion that I have found room to exercise in novels, movies, video games, and now school, is for space. Looking at the stars, watching a rocket lift off, be it a model destined for the field next door or a full sized rocket destined to go beyond the moons of Jupiter, gives me a spine tingling chill that says: this is what you want to do.

Maybe it started with the flight simulators I played or the model jets and rockets that I built, flew, and lost as a child. Maybe it started with Star Wars, Farscape, or Ender’s Game. All I know is that the desire to travel to space has always lurked in my head. Part of the reason for becoming an aerospace engineer at Purdue University was because of the large volume of astronauts (23 out of 60 from the U.S.A.) that have been graduate or undergraduate students here. Another part of my ambition comes from the realization that privatization of the space industry, the removal of control from groups such as NASA that are unreliable due to government bureaucracy, is most likely way for me to achieve my dreams. Already many startups are forming to cash in on this expanding market. There’s Planetary Resources, a Google backed company that is seeking to mine asteroids for rare Earth metals such as platinum and titanium. Then there are the space tourism companies, such as Virgin Galactic (that name just sounds amazing), who have been booked for the next ten years for flights to low earth orbit or to the ISS, charging as much as $200,000 a seat to spend a few hours in space. Finally, there are the logistics companies such as SpaceX who already do deliveries of supplies, satellites, and eventually astronauts to the ISS or Low Earth Orbit. The point is, space is becoming a market zone.

My ideal business that I would start would be a nuclear fusion engine company. However, looking at the difficulty of creating such a device, the reliance on governments for support and licensing, not to mention the enormous amount of research and time commitment to make the product (at least 50 years), it may be impossible for me to commit myself entirely behind this idea soon after college.

However, as Anne Sellers said, in regards to her example about the man who started a hunting and fishing shop without having worked at one, I should go out and get some industry experience before doing something on my own. There is a company near Seattle, Washington, that is currently working on a fusion energy device with a similar idea. They already have sponsorship as well as sanctions from the U.S. government to continue with their research. However, I do not believe they have any other goal beyond creating the engine. Do they have a plan to market it? To make space travel cheaper?

What they could provide is a stepping stone for my own success. I’ve done research on their idea, I’ve experimented with their theoretical approaches. I’ve seen what the engine could do in theory. If the engine could reach the projections they hope to achieve in the next couple of decades, it would be a revolution in the aerospace industry.

What I hope they do is market it effectively. I hope they do not limit the technology, nor do I hope that they lose the value of their invention by diluting the market. What they have can provide a unique solution, an elegant and simple solution, to a decades old problem. The cost of space travel.

The target market for this device is the companies listed earlier. They will be seeking to lower costs (which are astronomical) so that they can reach a broader range of clients. The most expensive part of a rocket is, well, the rocket. To use a metaphor, in a market that uses all semi trucks to haul a fistful of pebbles around, it is grossly inefficient. If you offer the equivalent of an all electric semi truck which can haul two to 100 times it’s own weight (counting full fuel load) five hundred times farther than the inefficient truck that can only hold a handful of pebbles, which option would you choose? The market is there, unfortunately the technology has not yet met up with the demand. Which is where I come in. My plan is to work for companies making similar products, my goal is to work with them or learn as much as I can about the distribution of such products, and either partner or move off with others and start a company that will do what I think needs to be done to make this product a reality. I don’t want the money, the riches, or even the fame. I want to go to space. That is my passion. And I will do whatever it is I have to make sure that it is there that I die.

Another thing: I hate being that guy with all of the great ideas that never acts on them. In one of the first lectures in ENTR200, there was an example of a friend who was given the chance to make something happen. They never followed up. I see that as me and it scares me. I’ve always been into making YouTube videos, but when I was younger I was criticised and I stopped. I still make videos, but I don’t post them often or really seek to publicise them because I don’t believe in them. I’ve started a few blogs, but I always forget to update them. One even managed to get a small following but I failed to update it enough because I simply forgot or put it off. I wanted that following and I let it slip away. I want to change the world, I want to create something unique, but how can I do that if I cannot find confidence in myself?

I think, in writing out these last few paragraphs I have come to a realization: I want to start a business. Maybe not immediately after college, maybe not until I am 50. But it will happen. Silas Meriam will create an industry with its feet on the earth but it’s head in the stars.

Si_Phi's Misguided Adventures

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