If using Skype to take part in a teleconference with several professors and industry partners, be sure to turn off your e-mail sounds. Otherwise everyone in the conference call will hear
"Hens love roosters, geese love ganders, everyone else loves Ned Flanders."
"Not me"
"Everyone who counts loves Ned Flanders."
when you get an e-mail.
At least it provided some comic relief.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Dichotomy
Technology used for good:
Cool Touchscreen GUI (I know this one's been around a while now, but they seem to have made some cool improvements...including the new giant screen)
Technology used for evil (sort of):
New US Military Heat Ray: this thing heats it's targets skin to an 'uncomfortable' 130F. Ouch.
Cool Touchscreen GUI (I know this one's been around a while now, but they seem to have made some cool improvements...including the new giant screen)
Technology used for evil (sort of):
New US Military Heat Ray: this thing heats it's targets skin to an 'uncomfortable' 130F. Ouch.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Shocking!
This is from the Wall Street Journal:
"Half of all children are below average in intelligence"
Well, thanks for the tip Captain Obvious. Did you know that 25% of people in Canada make up a quarter of the Country's population? I bet you didn't.
Link (found on Fark)
(BTW, I'm aware that technically average!=median, but still, it doesn't matter how smart the kids are...even if the average IQ among school children was 250, half of the kids would still be below average.)
No wonder Bush wants to ask the question "Is our children learning?"
"Half of all children are below average in intelligence"
Well, thanks for the tip Captain Obvious. Did you know that 25% of people in Canada make up a quarter of the Country's population? I bet you didn't.
Link (found on Fark)
(BTW, I'm aware that technically average!=median, but still, it doesn't matter how smart the kids are...even if the average IQ among school children was 250, half of the kids would still be below average.)
No wonder Bush wants to ask the question "Is our children learning?"
Friday, January 12, 2007
A 'Good' Post
I'm guessing this is another one of those things that bothers me and no one else on the planet (I should really start a list), but does it bother anyone else when people misuse quotation marks?
Here's an example of what I mean. It's a story about a new police dog in Essex County. The first line of the story is:
Leave it to me to find fault in a 4 line story.
Here's an example of what I mean. It's a story about a new police dog in Essex County. The first line of the story is:
There's a new 'dog' in Essex County.Why is dog in quotation marks? Shouldn't it just say "There's a new dog in Essex County."? What makes this canine a 'dog' instead of a dog? Is it really a cat in a dog collar? Can it fly? Is it part horse? Does it shoot lasers out of it's mouth when it barks? If not, then it's a dog, not a 'dog'.
Leave it to me to find fault in a 4 line story.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Brrrrrrrr
It's teetering around 0 degrees right now, and the university has the freakin' AIR CONDITIONING ON!
I'm wearing a sweater and a jacket and my hands and feet are freezing. Seriously, wouldn't it save the school money to not be air conditioning the school in the beginning of January? This is why I laugh when people from other departments complain about the bad conditions in their buildings, we don't even have control over the temperature anywhere in the building!
I'm wearing a sweater and a jacket and my hands and feet are freezing. Seriously, wouldn't it save the school money to not be air conditioning the school in the beginning of January? This is why I laugh when people from other departments complain about the bad conditions in their buildings, we don't even have control over the temperature anywhere in the building!
Friday, January 05, 2007
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Happy New Year!
I just wanted to wish everyone a prosperous and happy new year. I'd also like to share the following video gem Matt and I were shown (thanks Joe!) on New Year's Eve (via the Church of Bob Saget):
Rollin With Saget (audio is not safe for work)
Rollin With Saget (audio is not safe for work)
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Sometimes the simplest solutions are right in front of you
See, studying pure math isn't as hard as people think it is. When you come up against a question you can't solve, just make up the answer.
Basically, some guy invented a number (which he calls 'nullity') to represent what happens when you divide by zero.
First, if you're going to invent a number at least give it a cool name.
Second, I'm no math genius, but I fail to see how this is beneficial. He hasn't solved anything that I can see. All he's done is given a centuries-old problem a new name.
Of course, I haven't looked at the research, so I really have no idea what I'm talking about.
But this guy has inspired me to invent my own number: Giggity!
From now on, this number represents all numbers, to an infinite level of precision. That's right, all numbers from +infinity to -infinity are represented in this single, handy, easy-to-use number. Don't know the answer to a problem? It doesn't matter anymore. Just use Giggity and you'll be fine. Since it represents all numbers, you can't be wrong!
How long will your trip to Spain take? Giggity hours.
How far is it from Moscow to Anchorage? Giggity kilometers.
6+4? Giggity.
Speed of light? Giggity m/s^2.
In a first year physics lab I managed to prove that gravity pushed things up at 14 m/s^2 (seriously). My lab instructor wouldn't believe my math, and there was no way my math could have been wrong (I got a D- for crying out loud, how could I have been wrong?). Had I used Giggity he would have had to believe me.
Giggity!
Basically, some guy invented a number (which he calls 'nullity') to represent what happens when you divide by zero.
First, if you're going to invent a number at least give it a cool name.
Second, I'm no math genius, but I fail to see how this is beneficial. He hasn't solved anything that I can see. All he's done is given a centuries-old problem a new name.
Of course, I haven't looked at the research, so I really have no idea what I'm talking about.
But this guy has inspired me to invent my own number: Giggity!
From now on, this number represents all numbers, to an infinite level of precision. That's right, all numbers from +infinity to -infinity are represented in this single, handy, easy-to-use number. Don't know the answer to a problem? It doesn't matter anymore. Just use Giggity and you'll be fine. Since it represents all numbers, you can't be wrong!
How long will your trip to Spain take? Giggity hours.
How far is it from Moscow to Anchorage? Giggity kilometers.
6+4? Giggity.
Speed of light? Giggity m/s^2.
In a first year physics lab I managed to prove that gravity pushed things up at 14 m/s^2 (seriously). My lab instructor wouldn't believe my math, and there was no way my math could have been wrong (I got a D- for crying out loud, how could I have been wrong?). Had I used Giggity he would have had to believe me.
Giggity!
Monday, December 04, 2006
Incubus: Light Grenades
I just finished listening to the new Incubus album Light Grenades, and was thinking of giving an opinion on each track. Then I had a brainstorm that all the former Purple Raiders can relate to:
Oh veg chart, how I've missed you. :)
As for the album, I was a little underwhelmed, but that's normal for me with Incubus albums. In a month I'll be listening to it non stop.
Oh veg chart, how I've missed you. :)As for the album, I was a little underwhelmed, but that's normal for me with Incubus albums. In a month I'll be listening to it non stop.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
NaNoWriMoNoGo
Okay, something tells me I'm not going to get this novel finished by the end of the day. I find I write at a pace of about 1000+ words per hour at my best, so it would take me about 37 hours of nonstop writing to actually get to 50000 words, and since there are only 8.5 hours left, I don't think that's going to work.
At least I got a good start on it though, and that's what I was hoping for most. And I'm not going to stop writing it either, I'm just going to work on it at a much more leisurely pace (read: when I feel like it). You can't force creativity, that much I know.
A few things really hampered me from getting this done:
1) Final Fantasy XII, I've spent time playing this game that I should have spent writing.
2) The 2 and a half week stretch that I spent not doing any writing at all. Had I done a reasonable amount during that time I probably could have finished.
3) I'm not willing to sacrifice quality when I write. One of the important things the NaNo people say is that you shouldn't worry if what you are writing is good, just keep writing. I simply can't do that. I do a lot of technical writing and I've trained myself to write at a reasonable level of quality at all times. If I don't like it then I'm not going to write it, and I ended up spending way more time refactoring my novel than I did actually writing new content. It may take longer, but I'll be much happier with the result.
4) I like to practice word economy. What most people need a paragraph to say, I say in one or two sentences. This goes against the whole "write a lot of words" philosophy. I also get right to the point, if a character in a story enters a room I don't need 4 pages telling me what shade of green the plant in the corner is. It's green, be done with it.
Overall, it was an interesting experience. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't finish, but it was an insane goal to begin with. I will finish it though, it's a great way to hash out the story for the game version :)
At least I got a good start on it though, and that's what I was hoping for most. And I'm not going to stop writing it either, I'm just going to work on it at a much more leisurely pace (read: when I feel like it). You can't force creativity, that much I know.
A few things really hampered me from getting this done:
1) Final Fantasy XII, I've spent time playing this game that I should have spent writing.
2) The 2 and a half week stretch that I spent not doing any writing at all. Had I done a reasonable amount during that time I probably could have finished.
3) I'm not willing to sacrifice quality when I write. One of the important things the NaNo people say is that you shouldn't worry if what you are writing is good, just keep writing. I simply can't do that. I do a lot of technical writing and I've trained myself to write at a reasonable level of quality at all times. If I don't like it then I'm not going to write it, and I ended up spending way more time refactoring my novel than I did actually writing new content. It may take longer, but I'll be much happier with the result.
4) I like to practice word economy. What most people need a paragraph to say, I say in one or two sentences. This goes against the whole "write a lot of words" philosophy. I also get right to the point, if a character in a story enters a room I don't need 4 pages telling me what shade of green the plant in the corner is. It's green, be done with it.
Overall, it was an interesting experience. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't finish, but it was an insane goal to begin with. I will finish it though, it's a great way to hash out the story for the game version :)
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