The FangShi

/*Note: I'm reffering to the FangShi ShruanRen in this post. Whenever I say "FangShi, know that I'm referring to the ShruanRen. I'm to used to calling it "The Fangshi" amongst friends. My bad*/

The Fangshi was a first for a lot of things. It was the first 3x3 to be accepted as a legitimate competitor to Dayan, it was the first cube to introduce an edge piece wing design that linked under the center for added support, which alone brought upon a revolution that would completely change 3x3 design, and it was the first cube to introduce a vastly different fell in comparison to other cubes. The Fangshi, created by Funs Puzzle, was the beginning of a new 3x3 generation. OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. But the Fangshi did pave the way for many 3x3's, including MoYu's 3x3's which are today considered to be the best 3x3's around. The Fangshi brought about another 3x3 design revolution.
Ever since the release of the GuHong, Dayan was at the top of the 3x3 market, and it had no viable competition. It remained this way until they released the ZanChi, considered by myself and many others to be their best cube yet. But after the ZanChi's release, a competetor came up that, for the first time, matched their quality and, in some instances, surpassed them. This cube was the FangShi, and it blew up in popularity. More people switched to a cube that wasn't Dayan than ever before. Unlike the Dayan cubes, the Fangshi didn't have torpedoes. Instead, it had a mechanism that linked the corners and edges together, and linked the edges through the center to create a tight fit of the pieces which prevented pops very well.
Its name translated to "Frosted Blade", which made sense. Its pieces were frosted over with a certain type of plastic, giving it a feel like no other. Most cubes up to this point felt smooth and "buttery". The FangShi on the other hand felt rough and "sandy". This was due to the layer of frost on the pieces. As you broke the cube in, the frost layer comes off, drastically changing its fell while in use, becoming "crispy" and "clacky" (Those last two were my opinion, but anyone who has a FangShi can agree, it clacks).
Since its release, many other manufactures have used a similar wing design to the FangShi, and it is now widely considered standard anti-popping measures. If it wasn't for the FangShi, odds are cubes would be popping more than they are today.

Of course I've caught a storm dragon, Jimmy! I even turned him into a dwarf!
-GIR

The LunHui

//For no real reason, this week I'm going to list some 3x3's I think made 3x3 design what it is today, //and commend them for their service to our community.
The LunHui is a 3x3 created by Dayan, and is also known as the Dayan 4. So what? I haven't heard of the LunHui. Just another Dayan cube. Whatever. Well, this cube brought the modern speedcube into being, as it introduced something revolutionary. Something that is incredibly important to modern 3x3 design. The torpedo. (It might be debatable whether torpedos are important nowadays, as modern 3x3 design now has many other forms of anti-popping mechs other than the torpedo. But regardless, it was definitely important, and is still used today.)
The torpedo is a simple thing. Just a small add-on for cubes that linked corners to edges to prevent pops. This was, arguably, the first anti-popping mechanism in a 3x3 ever, and it was very efficient. Since their introduction, torpedos have made an appearance in every Dayan cube since, and the GuHong and LinYun were re-released with torpedos later. Nowadays, almost all cubes have a torpedo, or something based on a torpedo. Sadley, the LunHui never got all that much attention when compared to its brothers, and instead the GuHong and Zhanchi (Which now both had torpedos) rose up as Dayans most famous 3x3s.
In their favor though, both of those puzzles are much better. (In my opinion, which is shared by most.) The LunHui seems to have been designed with the main focus being anti-popping. The corners have two stocks, the edge has an interlocking mech that looks similar to an older version of Fangshi's wing design, and the center anchors the edges down. in all, it seems this was Dayan trying to make an unpoppable cube. It worked, but not completely. I have a LunHui (Although I can't find it at the moment.) and it still popped from time to time. They likely wanted an unpoppable cube because of the performance of their other cubes. The GuHong and LinYun were both considered the best speed cubes of their time, and the only thing holding them back was the simple fact: They still popped. The LunHui was likely a response to this. Dayan making one of their best cubes, and now it wasn't pop-prone. But in making the design so pop-resistant, they sacrificed some performance. It gained a blocky feel due to its sub-par corner-cutting, and the way it interlocked kept it fro popping regularly, but when it did pop, the mech also caused many other pieces to pop with it, causing bigger pops.
So in the end no, the LunHui wasn't perfect (No, perfection wouldn't occur until 2014and 2015.). But it did introduce a piece of hardware that would be used as standard for years to come, and definitely helped the speed 3x3 designs of today to become as great as they are. For that, I believe it deserves to be commended. So TY Dayan. We'll see you later this week.

Take these beans and shove 'em up their nose! Dragons hate beans!
-GIR

Batteries

Good news: I got the villager amiibo! The store was smart enough to keep them behind the counter, so there were still enough left, even though I came later than most. Sadley, this post will be short, as I have much homework. But hey, it's still here, right?
So, how about those batteries? Specifically lithium Ion batteries.  Many people are under the impression that LI batteries can get what's called a "memory". A battery memory is basically when a battery life continues to get worse due to the fact that it is charged to much. This, to my knowledge, isn't true. A memory is actually the result of crystal formation inside the battery. Because of this, there is less room for energy to be stored, resulting in less battery life over time. While this can occur in some batteries, LI batteries function in a way that makes this a non-issue. This isn't to say that LI batteries can't get worse battery life over time though. Battery life will get worse as a battery is used, as it is being worn down over time. The simple solution to this is to swap out your battery once every 1 or 2 years. I'm doing this with my Nexus 5, as the battery life is terrible (I don't use the thing during the day because I'm at school, and it comes out at 50% at 3:00 in standby.) So yeah. Batteries. They help life.

I'm just glad it's the undead we're fighting and not Trolkin!
-GIR

Life is interesting

Well, I went to get a Villager amiibo only to discover it comes out tomorrow. I guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow. Also, this post is being done on mobile, as my computer is being ridiculous. These weekend posts are going to be much shorter, and will basically be me talking about life, so sorry if that's disappointing. But hey, life interesting. Mostly because we know nothing of it.
Note: The following is my opinion and outlook on life. If you disagree, that's good. That's what life's about. Just saying, if I sound crazy don't judge. Because I am crazy.
Life is arbitary. What parts you ask? All of it, I say. We all look at the world and see it in our own way that will always be different from each others. There isn't a right or wrong way. There is only the way you see it, and the way others see it. You have to believe what you say, otherwise its pointless. Believing in you're way is good. It's what makes you, you. But no matter how much you believe in your way, there will always be someone who disagrees. So until we can find a way to explain life and how you should live it that everyone is happy with and agrees on, then in my opinion, there is no right way for anything.
All of this is worded terribly, but I'm bad at explain things. Sorry about that. And I know this isn't the kind of posts I said I would do, but its all good, right? We're still in friendship land.

Friendship land? Hah! Try getting Etho to sing.
-GIR

Am(ii)bo(s)

When Nintendo announced that they were releasing a toy-to-game concept to some of their games, nobody thought they would be as much of a success as they have been. The novelty of having smash amiibos specifically has caused this market to skyrocket. Some amiibos have gone up in price tremendously, while others have stayed the same 12$ their entire life thus far. And while it makes sense for certain amiibos to go up in price, (The 30th anniversary Mario figures, and the gold and silver Mario figures) some amiibo have gone up in price for no other reason than demand. Amiibos like the smash series Marth, Littler Mac, Ness, and even to a degree villager have gone up in price tremedously. None of these characters are particularly better than the other characters, and some such as Little Mac are seen by many to be worse than many other characters. So why have they gone up in price?
A good reason for this is a new hobby called amiibo hunting. Amiibo hunting is essentially amiibo collecting. Because so many people want to get all of the amiibo though, on the day of new amiibo releases there are often huge lines before the store opens. Stores often sell out in minutes, so many people traverse to different stores in order to get the amiibo they're looking for, warranting the name "amiibo hunting". But why do stores sell out so quickly? With this huge audience, you'd think Nintendo would produce a TON of amiibo in order to make some quick cash and satisfy the market. Well, that's not the case. The fact is, initial sales of amiibo was much, much larger than Nintendo thought it would be. When Nintendo realized that there was huge demand for amiibos, they promised to produce more in the future. And while they have re-released certain amiibos many times in order to give the people what they want, it's never enough. They don't produce enough amiibo during the re-releases, and the re-releases are few and far between. This is what's caused the hobby of amiibo hunting to become widespread. People amiibo hunt because they have to in order to find the amiibo that they want.
This all combined has created a huge demand and little supply simultaneously, which has led to the drastic increase in price. I personally am not one to amiibo hunt, but Villager is re-stocking tomorrow, and I want me some of that. Wish me luck.

It does more than just that Jimmy. I sharpen my sword with this beard!
-GIR

The "For" Loop

//In this post, I'm referring to the for loop as it functions in C++. It might function differently in other //languages, so I can't touch up on those.
For loops are beautiful yet complicated things. If you understand it, the for loop can be your best friend. If you don't, it'll be your worst nightmare. I want to help as many people as possible to understand it, because once you do, THE WORLD OF C++ WILL BE YOURS TO CONTROL.
//Definitely not exaggeration
To start, its important to note that the for loop is, well, a loop. It will keep going as long as the requirements are met. What differs this from a while loop is the ways you can word your requirements. Here's an example of a for loop.

for(int i=7, i>10, i++)
{
cout<<i<<"This is the value of i.";
}
Now what does all of this do? Here's a breakdown:

The "for" at the beginning registered it as a "for" loop.
Everything inside the parentheses is a requirement for the for loop to run, or setting up an escape route. The loop will run as long as the requirements are met, but stop when when the requirements stop being met.
The "int" is stated the creation of an integer. If you have a integer you want to use in the for loop requirements, you can simply put it where the "i" is and not write "int".
The "i=7" is stated what the integer is called (i), and what the integer is equal to (7).
The "i>10"  is stating the limitations. In this case, the loop will continue until the integer "i" equals at least 10, when it will stop.
The "i++" is stating that at the end of one cycle to add 1 to the integer "i".
Everything inside the {} is what is done during to loop.

Now, what can for loops be used for? For loops can be used for many things, but I find the most useful way to use it is for simple math programs. Because with it, you can create programs to solve the most annoying math problems.
And who doesn't want that?

Romain, stop purifying the dwarves!
-GIR

Smashing across the ages

There have been 4 generations of smash thus far, and all of them have had very different play styles. Because of this, if you get good at one version, you probably won't be good at any of the others. In Melee, many advanced techniques (Abbreviated as "Techs") were introduced, including wave-dashing, unlimited ledge invincibility, and hard aerial combos. Brawl removed these techs, and introduced features like the dreaded tripping and multiple air dodges. The latest iterations of smash created ledge-trumping and grab limitations. But these aren't the only changes. The games all fundamentally play differently.  Melee is very fast paced and its hard to escape combos once their started, due to the limited air dodging. Brawls removal of advanced techs and the introductions it made caused many to consider it a "casual" form of smash, and it has since been almost completely removed from competitive smash being replaced by Project M. Smash 4 has found somewhat of a balance between these. Many people play casually, but it also has a huge competitive scene. It is also the easiest game to get competitive at, in my opinion.
Tier lists are seen by people as either brilliant or garbage. However, there is no denying that they're here, and constantly changing. For the uninitiated, a tier list orders the characters in smash in a best-to-worst format, showing you the best characters, and worst. Some say they don't measure anything, and that they have no logic behind them, but based n what I see, they definitely mean something. I haven't seen any tier lists for smash 64, but in melee the top characters were Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon, Peach, Jigglypuff, and Marth. You might expect the tiers to remain somewhat the same, but you'd be wrong. Marth and falco stayed on top, but all the others dropped, some significantly. Peach and Fox fell into the middle, and Captain Falcon and Jigglypuff fell to be some of the worst characters in the game! The new best character (By a landslide) was newcomer Meta Knight. In smash 4, the characters are far more balanced, so even if some characters are considered "The worst", they're still pretty good. However, a distinct top tier emerged who were undeniably more powerful than the rest, and that character was Diddy Kong. He had an incredibly powerful combo, good for racking up damage and killing. Although he was later nerfed, he still has a large competitive presence, being towards the top. However, the new top tiers are Sheik, Rosaluma, and Zero Suit Samus.
With all of this being said, it's clear that smash has changed a lot over its generations, and that's a good thing. With all these changes, it gives us all games we can enjoy. Some love Brawl, others hate it. But either way, we can all find a smash that we can enjoy, and it's because of this that I say as we approach the one year anniversary of smash 4's full release, good job smash. Just keep changing for everybody.

And remember, if you see Kryongor...
Just run.
-GIR