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Thursday, September 28, 2006
I’m punchy; read some links
I am feeling quite punchy this morning. Could be for any number of reasons. Lead contender is I just wrapped up my algorithm’s homework. There is something fundamentally wrong with a 3 question homework that results in 6 pages of typeset answers. But you, my readers, get the benefit of the links I have found particularly funny this morning as a result. Lucky you!
- Dooce: Where God continues to have a very hearty laugh at our expense - Heather Armstrong is officially a Very Funny Woman. The last line sews it up so nicely.
- Gizmodo: Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Is Like Sex in Your Ear Canal - I didn’t actually read this article, but I think the authors liked the headphones.
- Today’s Dilbert - Just funny
That’s all or now. Have a good day.
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Thursday, September 21, 2006
Quickie music post
So most of you know I am a big fan of KCRW (to the point I send my NPR money to them, not our local station). I am also a huge U2 fan. So I was quite surprised to hear this very odd cover of U2’s Desire (one of my favorites). It was odd.
Pride by Nouvell Vague from their Bande a Part album (iTunes link)
[Updated] I ended up buying the album. Cool stuff.
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Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Status: Not Dead Yet
If someone had told me a few years ago that I would find myself in a situation where I would not be spending more than one evening a week at home, I would have called them crazy. I have always considered myself to be a stay at home and have quiet evenings type of guy. This is such a new experience for me, but I am finding myself almost addicted to it; the friendships I have developed (and those I already had) that make this possible have truly increased my quality of life in many ways. I hope you all know who you are; thanks.
So what have I been up to?
- Work: Hrm. This is a toughy to talk about without sounding completely grumpy. I like technology and the workings of technology; it is what I am good at. Recent events have required a delving into politics that has stretched my patience lately. There are many questions for me in this, none of which I’m ready to share.
- School: I am taking the single required course of the CS Masters program this semester, Advanced Analysis of Algorithms. I realized very quickly why it is required. Normally a class is required because it represents a core set of knowledge for a discipline and while this could be said of Algorithms, I don’t think that is the reason in this case. My feeling is the primary reason is no one would take it otherwise. I don’t like saying that; the professor is wonderful and she does what I think is the best job of making the material interesting but there is only so far one person can go. And the material is quite challenging; it is the type of material that has what I refer to as an “aha moment.” There is rarely a gradual grasping of a solution; at one moment there is no grasp of the situation, then something clicks and you just have to document it. Very bad for partial credit. So this is going to be a tough semester.
- Soccer: Now we get to the fun categories. The Big-Os sports season has started up again with indoor soccer. I played outdoor soccer for many years as a kid, but indoor is a totally different game. Thankfully we have enough people to field a very large team allowing for rapid rotations, but the five minutes I am in has got to be the longest five minutes of my life. I am happy that I have been able to make contact with the ball and I generally seem to be able to advance the position of the team. We won our first game 7-4; hopefully we continue the trend this week.
- Ultimate: Lots of good ultimate and my knee seems to be holding out. A fair number of the new grad students have joined us and they have fit right in to our style of play. Now that weather is far more conducive to play, I hope we get lots of games in.
- Other: Lots of other stuff, just nothing that fits into a nice neat category. So here is some other stuff in no particular order. Still playing Warcraft, not as much as before (see paragraph about not being at home). Reading some to maintain a moderate level of sanity in all the craziness; nothing new lately, I’ve fallen back on some of my old standbys. Being a bowling league groupie for friends. Watching movies; getting back into watching Alias (yeh for seasons 1 & 2), catching up on The 4400, getting roped into a new Aaron Sorkin show (thanks Jim).
So that’s it in a medium sized nutshell. Got anything else you want to add to my list? I’m hooked on doing stuff, so IM, call, or email. :)
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Sunday, September 10, 2006
MacArthur Center Apple Store Opening
So I finally did it; I made it to an Apple Store opening and it was cool. It was campy, filled with cheesy enthusiasm, and reminiscent of high school pep rallies. But it was wonderful. Being surrounded by hundreds of crazy Apple fanboys (and girls) is a unique experience to say the least. The whole trip was just fun.
Being squeezed into Jim’s car with 4 other people wouldn’t normally seem like a good idea, but somehow it just added a certain extra crazy atmosphere to the whole trip. How often do you get to squash into a car with other Apple geeks and spend the entire ride down to Norfolk talking about the various pros and cons of different Apple coding techniques?
So thank you to Jim for organizing, and Adam, Tiffany, and Q for a great trip. Oh yeh, I got a t-shirt :)
Picture: Apple Store MacArthur Center Opening
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