Author: Ray
I enjoy playing different types of strategy card games, including games by Unstable Games (a studio’s name), such as Casting Shadows, as shown in the featured picture above. After gaining experience playing card games, I decided to make my own game. I started off by choosing a specific type of game play. I want this card game to mainly revolve around different abilities and dice. For its theme, I chose a historical episode from ancient China, the Three Kingdoms. I wanted this game to include historical figures from this important period of Chinese history, so that the game is not…
This book is an autobiography by Tara Westover, mainly to share her life stories, her course of education, and how education transformed her. She starts off by introducing her father who had been collecting tools and supplies for the upcoming event called Y2K. Y2K was the time when the computer calendar had to change to the year 2000. Many people believed that doing this would be impossible, and all the computers would malfunction and deprive people of many basic necessities. This is why Tara’s dad, Gene, collected supplies to last through the chaos that might ensue. Tara’s family is Mormon,…
The objective & how I designed the dragster In my engineering class with Mr. Buckley, we were asked to design the fastest car possible that meets the following requirements: we have to use the piece of wood that we are given, but it also has to have a certain weight (so that no one is getting an advantage by designing unrealistically small dragsters). I designed my first version taking inspiration from many Formula 1 cars, but I soon found that I was going in the wrong direction. This is because, unlike the F1 cars that are driven by the wheels,…
I have created many Scratch games, each with its own unique style. In every game, I try my best to come up with novel ideas and intriguing art. Most of my games use pixel art which I make by myself. I never use elements from other people’s games for my design, because I like to keep it original. One of my most worked on games is called “Pirate Bay.” Pirate Bay Pirate Bay is a game that I am proud of making on Scratch. This is a single-player game featuring a pirate theme. The player is encouraged to explore the…
Before I created this robot for Vex competition, I had to plan out the many movements and objectives for the robot to achieve. This is because after a few months, official competitions will start and this robot will be put to the test against other robots. This, of course, meant that not only would I need to get this robot to be able to complete these tasks, but also be the best at doing these. Designing the robot was hard, but taking inspiration from many other robots, the frame of the body was quickly built, and the mechanisms were created.…
When arriving at the McLean Onelife facility, I make sure to warm up while walking to the tennis court. At the court, I lay my gear down and check to make sure my racket is in perfect condition. After the clock strikes 3 pm, my tennis mates all line up for group warm up, which we first run a lap around the court. We usually do Frankenstein high knees, side shuffles, and lunges. After warming up, we grab a partner and start practicing our forehand and backhand shots. The day might start off with competitions or drills. Usually, we go…
A typical Stuart Gibbs book is always a fun thriller that covers mysteries, actions, and historical events. The five series by Gibbs that I read, are: The Spy School Series The Funjungle Series The Moon Base Alpha Series The Charlie Thorne Series The Last Musketeer Series Out of these five series, three of them are mysteries; two of them use historical contexts; and all five of them contain action. And in my opinion, all five of them contain excellent stories. Throughout the series, each book always ends in a wild twist that you could never imagine. But before this ending,…
I read the book Life 3.0 in 2024 along with my friend Leo. In this book, Max Tegmark, the author and a physics professor at MIT, explores artificial intelligence along with life 1.0, life 2.0 and life 3.0. These three stages of life are what he thinks explain AI and what can become of it.I think this is an excellent book, because not only does Dr Tegmark cover the topic of AI, but he explains everything before it too. He uses data to support his thinking, and also covers the myths and facts about AI.I learned many things from this…
Art is how I put my imagination on paper. Personally, I like creating cartoons, drawing different imaginative animals, futuristic buildings, and unworldly creatures. I take inspirations from different cartoons and I like to imagine to my own world of different characters. I might design different foods and buildings that are from my vision of the world, from how it began, to how it will end. I make different abilities for each character. I like drawing different scenes, taking from this world, showing what might be taking place. I imagine that somewhere in this universe, my sketches are filling a galaxy. I tend to leave…
I was watching the archery finals of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, when I got a notification from my latest archery regional tournament. This was not one of my best scores and it only got me getting top 50 of all my section. I was filled with a deep emotion of despair as I realized the nationals were only a few weeks away from now. If I did badly in this tournament, this might as well crush my dreams of becoming an Olympic archer. Starting a few years after the pandemic, I had picked up archery as a hobby. Since then,…