Live Life

11:04 am

I felt that this video was just too good to not post it. (via skreidle)



Happy 4th everyone.

11:19 pm

Happy New Year to everyone.
(Yay for finally being fully setup in my own apartment. Everyone is invited to visit/stay here - though please warn me ahead of time.)

06:52 pm - First Credits!

This needed an update:
I am now credited in one game - Rise of Nations : Rise of Legends. This isn't the first game (I've now worked on 4 shipped games, 12 total games) that I worked on that has shipped, but the first one with my name in it.

And now back to my usual silence.

04:23 pm - Commercial

I just heard the best commercial - there's a mystery "cougher" put out by this company that could be a man or a women (or child). If you see the person coughing and you offer them the cough drop (made by the company) then you may win $10k-$1mil.

I feel that if people believe the commercial, then the company will not only benefit from extra sales and word-of-mouth advertisement as people offer them to strangers, but also improve the good-samaritan behavior. If I didn't forget the name of the company as I was typing this blog, I'd definitely buy their cough drops just to reward them.

01:59 pm - Happy Holidays

Happy Festivus! Merry Christmass! Happy Hanukka!
And to those that none of the above apply - Happy holiday shopping!

It has been a long time since I've posted. In the past 5 months of working I have managed to make a contribution directly to 5 different titles of which 2 already shipped. Unfortunately, because I came in late during the development cycle, neither of the titles that shipped included my name in the credits. But I think the next 3 should definitely include my name somewhere deep within the credits. I definitely feel that I made a good decision and am enjoying my work, even the boring parts.

And I miss all of you guys! Even though the group I'm with is probably one of the youngest areas I could get into, it's still hard to make new friends at work or outside of work. I miss the random movie get-togethers and the Aladdin drinking party. I also miss those really late night Halo matches, as playing random people on Live just isn't the same as cursing out Adam for another head shot.
(The reason all of this came up is that I'm currently on holiday but with nobody around and nothing to do. Anyone wants to fly out here for a break and play some 360? ;)

11:54 am

Breaking my long silence to say:
Enjoy your turkeys!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!


Back to xbox for me...

12:58 pm

Since I just got into a small debate about hybrids - I felt sharing what I found about them recently. If you are thinking of buying a new hybrid and can wait a few months, there's a really nice change in tax laws that is becoming effecting Jan 1, 2006.

The current policy for hybrids allows for a Tax Deduction of $2000 for a purchase of a hybrid. (With retroactive tax adjustment if the purchase was in previous years) That results in about $300-$500 decrease in total taxes paid.

The new law presents anywhere from $250 (Chevy Pickup) to $3150 (Prius) Tax Credit. (Which means your total tax is smaller by that sum) This new law is effective Jan 1, so if you can wait, try to do so. (Analysis of different cars by ACEEE)
There are large number of local incentives. (I saw somewhere a much longer list - but this one seems to be fairly comrehensive. Though supposedly WA waives the tax on hybrids based on another place I can't find right now)

02:49 am

Well, I guess I should post things before I've been assimilated. :)

( Flight.. )

So now I'm living in my brother's house with my computer properly setup. My room looks like an advertisement for Ikea, as 80% of furniture is from there. Though I gotta say, it does make the room look bright and clean. My niece - she's such a cute time sink. You can spend hours with her playing and she's still amazed that the fish will puff up and blow her in the face. Last week I've figured out that I don't really ever want to try to feed small kids. They have to be tricked to eat any food, and will make a huge mess out of all of it. Except for her eating habits - I really enjoy playing with her. I find her trying to walk around all the time to be the most interesting thing. When given a small walker - she runs with it faster than any of us can really keep up with her. (I'll stop here or else this post will turn into recount of "darnest thing kids do")

And now I've started work. The last day and a half was fairly usual boring employee orientation. The most amazing thing for me at the orientation that pretty much ANY benefit that you can extend to your spouse or dependant, you can also extend to your same-sex-partner. So anything from full coverage on your insurance to weight loss program counceling is offered equally to spouse or SSP. (Except for extra tax due to IRS not extending same benefits.)
Also, I am a proud owner of Scion tC that is sitting at the dealership until I present insurance. That is a lovely catch-22, that requires me to have a car before I can obtain insurance coverage on that car, while at the same time I can't drive my car without having an insurance.

10:03 pm

One week remaining until I move. Anyone in N.VA want to do anything? [I'm most likely carless 'till 5 pm on weekdays]

I have so many pictures and so much lazyness to go through them and pick out good ones to upload. (Also few places are good for uploading and then looking at the pictures. Anyone have suggestions of free ones other than webshots)

I've had a lovely trip to/through Maine with parents. I drove 2315 miles the whole way around and saw lots and lots of nature. There have been at least 5 different lighthouses on the way, with some looking really pretty. (Pictures will come... at some point) The nature in Acadia Park is really impressive, with lots of cliffs and ocean. Somehow makes me think of H2G2 and the fnords. On the way there we stopped in a bunch of small towns and each has had some interesting history. (We saw the house of Mark Twain, but the cost of $15/person to go inside in the rain wasn't worth it)

On the way back we drove through Mt. Washington (NH) - the highest point on East coast (or at least New England). It was a very interesting climb of 8 miles to go up 2km. At times the car was definitely not very happy with having to climb a good 12-15% grade non-stop. The view from the mountain though is breath taking. Definitely recommend it for everyone. It took me about 20-25 minutes to climb the mountain, but they claim that the record stands at sub-7 minutes. That means someone drove a mountain at over 60mph. Very scary.

Now onto the random links:

• Proving once again that evolution does exist - there is now evidence showing that elephants are adapting to poachers by evolving to not have tusks. The survival rate of tuskless males is probably much greater than average, resulting in doubling of tuskless population.
  
• A completely different "adaptation" in the sex industry is the idea of a hooter shooter. (Yes, it does involve alcohol)
  
• And it seems that some advertising company needed to consult a Christian before releasing theiradvertising poster for Passion of the Christ.
  
• Talking about christianity, Reverend Wilson would never have made a good presidential candidate:

  
  After decrying rising prices, he said: "I ain't against women working, but it's become a necessity that they work now. Was a time when a man could get a job in a factory and do all right.
  
  "we live in a time now brothers have been so put down, can't get a job. Lot of the sisters making more money than brothers, and it's created problems in families. That's one of the reasons our families [are] breaking up and that's one of the reasons many of our women are becoming lesbians," he said.
  
  lesbianism is about "to take over our community. I'm talking about young girls. My son in high school last year. Tried to go to the prom. He said, 'Dad, I ain't got nobody to take to the prom because all the girls in my class are gay. Ain't but two of 'em straight, and both of them ugly," Wilson recounted.
  

  (source [WP reg required])
  
• Privacy seems to be going the way of the Dodo, now the cell phone records
  -- who you called, how long you talked, etc. -- are the hottest thing
  going among online traders of personal information.
  
• And to make sure that the nobody could put any outgoing calls, a robber reportedly used a cell phone jammer to block 911 calls while he jacked a CVS pharmacy in Georgetown, Mass.
  
• The Purdue Homeland Security Institute will create a simulated terrorist attack with a supercomputer to test emergency officials. How will they know what/how they'll hit? It's not normal for terrorists to tell beforehand.
  
• Birds around the world are starting to immitate cell phone ringtones. The Maricopa Audubon Society reported the phenomenon earlier this month. Now a German orthinologist is reporting it.
  
• Case-Mod.com is selling a $200 rear view mirror with a built-in LCD TV screen, so you can watch movies while you're not watching the road. The auto-dimming window costs about the same... should I start modding my car with this?
  
• The UK's Orange is offering customers there Etch-A-Sketch on their cell phones.
  In the 1960s-era original, you would erase your drawing by shaking it.
  With the cell phone version, you just press zero, which vibrates the
  phone and wipes out your drawing.
  
• A poll conducted by Singapore's Sunday Times found that some 60 percent of Singaporeans use their cell phones while sitting on the toilet.
  Regarding the fact that callers can hear "flushing and other awkward
  noises," one businesswoman named Wileen Chang was quoted by Deutsche
  Presse-Agentur as saying: "What's the big deal? It's not as if the
  other party can smell your stink."

01:31 pm

I'm leaving for a family vacation touring through Maine. So I'll be gone for a week. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on all the posts.

Now for the links:

• This is what my computer should have looked like. (Or why predictions never work)
  
• I think these figures would make really cool presents. Science and art in one!
  
• The eye of Sauron has been found in space. The ring is not far behind. Where's frodo?
  
• The dark lord just doesn't look as scary when he just has to go. He can also be supported by the barf bags from Star Wars.
  
• And here's how the creationists want us to cure the diseases.
  
• Going together with the previous - Showers are dangerous to your health. So that's why eastern europe had so many smart people - they don't shower as often! (Also weeds out the week through disease.. but with the creationist's ideas of curing - the west will also be weeded out). Note: Registration required, use bugmenot to find a working username - I had to go #9)
  
  
  
• And now we can bowdown to our scifi writers robotic overlords. I want to see one of Asimov!
  
• Following the robotic overlords will be zombie dogs and soon to come the zombies themselves. (Somehow I doubt they'd have many volunteers for experiments)
  
• The robotic overlords will be controlling the robotic breast exam. (Who can afford one of these and support staff, but not the doctors alone)
  
• Those robotic overlords can easily support a harrem of their own with some help from the Sinulator - umm.. umm.. I don't know how to describe this.
  
  
• I really should read (rather than skim/selective read) The Book, just so I can make better arguments for my own disbelief. (And it's amazing how few do read it)
  
• We live on the planet of the hats!
  
• And the Christians are the opressed minority in this country. Don't you know?
  
  
• It seems that unfortunately we have to waste our brain area for the memories of the "important" celebrities. I can't believe there are special brain cells wasted on Brad Pitt, Brittany, etc.
  
• BREAKING NEWS: (not the UK kind) Spam might be beneficial! WHAT? HOW? HUH?
  

09:47 pm

I know there are Rocky Horror PS fans out there without a copy. It seems Best Buy is having a sale next week with RHPS for $10. (And Donnie Darko.. etc.)

( Copy of the deal )

11:19 am

For anyone who cares - I'm moving to Seattle on July 27th! (Bought my tickets) Starting work on Aug 1st. And still no plans on what to do in the meantime. (1 month left.. time flies) I should have car after 5pm or on fridays now, so anyone in the area - give me a "call".

And for some random links (most from "Mike's list"):

• I'm sure someone will make special detectors to show if a woman is faking it. It seems that for women the higher thinking functions and fear center both have to shutdown, while not so for men.
  
• The L.A. County Sheriff's Department is testing a system from Remington-Elsag Law Enforcement Systems that sits on top of a squad car, scanning every license plate in sight and informing officers inside which cars are reported stolen. Took them long enough. The license plate is a block print with known formats and valid input. OCR should be a piece of cake compared to most other things.
  
• Queen Elizabeth II bought a 6GB silver iPod mini recently, according to the Sun newspaper. I got iShuffle from a contest... I guess I listen to music less then the queen. And for those of you with addiction to your iPod: useful accessory (from here)
  
• Silicon Valley startup NeuroSky is working on a headset that you can plug into a cell phone or PC enabling you to control it with your thoughts and eye movements. The headset will use electrodes to detect electrical activity in your skull. Eye movement also generate an easier-to-control electrical zap.
  
• MJJsource, the official web site of singer Michael
  Jackson, is running a Flash video on the home page that compares this
  week's "not guilty" verdict in his child-molestation trial to the birth of Martin Luther King, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the release of Nelson Mandela from prison. Yeah. It's just like that. Meanwhile, at least some jurors believe Jackson to be guilty, but say that the prosecutor didn't prove it. The story just won't die
  
• Evil scientists toiling away in China have successfully produced remote-controlled mice that can be made to "move forward," "turn left" and "turn right." Ap: I'm sure Chip would be interested.
  
• Philips has created a system called "Dimi." It
  looks like a 4-foot high home decoration, but you can talk to it and
  ask it questions -- and it seems to know all the answers. It not only
  "understands" what you say, and speaks back to you in spoken language,
  but also "reads" your body language and facial expressions.
  It will even do things for you.
  
• If you want statistics comparing all the nations on some random criteria, then nationmaster is the prefect place. 4000+ random statistics. That way you can randomly quote that 96% of software in China is stolen, or Belgium has the highest tax at 55.6% with Mexico at the lowest with 15.6%.
  
• For those of you who just can't stop playing piano on the go, there's a wristwatch piano.
  
• Do you know where your three-year-old is? Do you want to call him/her? Now you can with the latest and greatest in cell-phones in teady bears.
  
• Stanford University and Cornell University
  eggheads have invented a system that can read the front of playing
  cards from the back. The two-camera system captures patterns of light
  reflected off the face of cards, then re-constructs the image those patterns bounced off of. The researchers cannot be reached for comment, as they are currently on vacation in Las Vegas.
  
• Just to prove that the matchbox webservers are SO last year, someone put one inside a frog. Now you can have run-away websites.
  
• The new KiMouse available in Japan builds muscles as you surf. Simply plug this thing into your mouse, then attach the sticky electrodes to your skin over your abs, back, arms or wherever you want to get jacked. Then, simply continue to use your computer all day. As you click and drag with your mouse, electricity is sent through the electrodes, which stimulates muscle twitching. We can now stop all those jokes about geeks!
  
• The French Commission generale de terminologie et de neologie, which is French for "Commission to prevent American slang from wrecking France," wants the French to use the word "bloc-notes" instead of "blog."

09:45 pm

Going back through my huge list of posts to read, here are some links:

• It seems that the scientists have managed to discover the chemical that is liable for establishing of trust. Since trust is inherently required for society and love, we might have here a beginnings of a love-potion. :)
  
• After the visit, I still think that NY drivers are the worst - they do the same random turns that are done in Israel without the room for the people to react at all. The survey shows that North East can't drive.
  
• The court case on the use of medical marijuana has resulted in SC deciding that even personal growth/use of it is still part of interstate commerce.
  
• So it's definitely true - humans aren't the smartest things on the planet. The dolphins have been found to be using tools. "So Long and thanks for all the fish."
  
• Proving that even the most obvious common truths need to be checked, the scientists conducted brain imagining experiments and have shown that men are more aroused then women. (at least by pornography)
  
• And to go with that, we now have a survey of British Youth(thanks Alice) to show that girls need to stay in the kitchen want to take off their clothes. Why don't I see more naked girls out there? ;) More realistically - the current media attention to pop-culture makes people more interested in the looks over the brains or commitment. I really do hope that we aren't shooting ourselves in the foot in long-term and destroying the future generations of Albert Einstein and Marie Curie. (Who wants to be a scientist when modeling and sports pays better, more fame and easier)
  
• And now to show that all of the above does not apply to the geeks we have a personal experience of dating a geek. (Apple Developer in particular - but you can replace apple with any other OS)
  
  
• I've had multiple people offer to teach me to dance - but it never happened. I guess I should go to Japan and acquire one of the dancing robots. It'd probably be easier as I won't hurt "her" feet by my clumsiness.
  
  
• And to join into the bashing of creationists - book on dinosaurs as presented by creationists.
  
• For those who haven't watched the new star wars - here's a the short summary.
  
• If you are bored and looking for more online games or interested in helping in some research - Univ. of Indiana is looking for volunteers.
  
  
• For the very few of you who are in DC area, WP has a good guide of what to do around DC area aimed at interns.
  

08:40 pm

It seems LJ has a limit of 650 friends posts that I can read. So I'll have to figure out a way to read posts from pre-June. (In other words - you guys post too much)

I'll be posting at least something with a bunch of links at some point when I get through everything. I'm not sure how much I'll post about the trip. (Anyone who can - must go)

01:37 am

I'm going on vacation until the 14th. See you all then. (Probably no e-mail/web/etc. 'till then)

02:06 am

Well, I've now graduated another 4 year "institution". (I'll consider HS one, since it probably is very close to) This was the last stage of my life I really had any definite plans for. From now, I will join the rest of the world in living an unplanned, unstructured, random life. (I've been working hard on getting there this last year. As is evidenced by the fact that I figured out I need plans for Beach Week only 2 weeks before. Plans for the rest of the summer are still missing)

I'm going to complain about being stuck in N.VA without a car when I get back and will be completely stuck once again. For now I'm packed and ready to fly! (I need book suggestions - haven't yet picked out what to take with me to read)

Now that the journaling feeling has left me, back to my usual use of LJ - ( lots of random links )

I think that is all for last 1.5 weeks. (Well, not counting my random tech stuff)

08:55 am

Hmm.. I guess my graduation is postponed.
EDIT:Third time is the charm for putting the right link.

09:55 am

I'm going to be incommunicado after mid-day today for a week. If it's something important, cell it. If it's not THAT important, e-mail.

09:28 am

Out of curiousity, have any of you who are now graduating looked into the short-term health insurance? So far my research shows Assurant as the cheapest one at $55/30days, $110/60 days (or so).

And here is a good essay as to why diamonds are NOT forever. Now what will the men do?

11:46 pm

Just because I'm still an AIM man:
The maximum buddy list has been increased to 250.
There is now available @aim.com 2GB e-mail addresses. So now your screenname is your e-mail.

05:01 pm

Time for another linkfest (sourced when I can remember where I got them):

• On topic of graduation - some people don't.
  
• And it seems that charity has an interesting survival improvement in society. So it's not as selfless behavior as one may think.
  
• From kej (a while back): The distribution of atheism is pretty interesting.
  
• On topic of religion, there will only be two popes left before the end of the world, or at least catholic church. This is probably within our lifetimes.
  
• And going with the idea of religion - the new way of cheating on your SO is to have friends.
  
• Now for something completely random - new and weird outfits.
  
• A new game is in town - Guess the Google, where you try to guess what keyword was used to find the images.
  
• And to improve on previous posts of random USB keys, someone converted a barbie to contain USB. Weird.
  

  The following few are mike's list:
  

• Michigan State University aggie propellerheads are working on a laser-based system that can "taste" fruit -- judge its sweetness, firmness and overall quality -- quickly and without touching the fruit.
  
• A teller in Cincinnati, Ohio, dropped a GPS gadget into a bag of money demanded by a bank robber. He was tracked and caught in 42 minutes.
  
• I've heard of people using "LOL" and "BRB" in real life, now it has gotten worse: E-mail and IM emoticons -- smiley, frownie, winkie faces, etc. -- have busted out of the electronic world and entered the real world.
  
• If you enjoy having guests over, but your room just isn't big enough, you can use the inflatible outdoor theater.
  
• A new washing machine called "Your Turn" forces your husband to help with the laundry so you don't have to. A Spanish designer built fingerprint ID into the device and won't let the same person do laundry twice in a row.
  
• Called the Acurabot, this car is the most geeked-out automobile in the history of man.
  
• A United Airlines flight from New York
  to San Francisco was diverted to Chicago today and searched by a bomb
  squad after the flight crew reported suspicious electronics, which turned out to be an iPod.
  
• A robotic dentist's drill made by the
  Israeli-based company Tactile Technologies is currently being tested on
  (brave) humans in the U.S. and Europe. The creepy contraption works by
  being clamped to your jaw. Then it drives a needle through your gums
  until it strikes bone. A computer program on a nearby PC uses the depth
  of the needle, plus a CT scan to determine how and where to drill -- and when to stop.
  
• Japan's Secom has unveiled a terrifying school security robot that
  tracks kids with RFID, monitors school activities and attacks
  intruders. With a video!
  
• A company called Namco is now taking pre-orders for a new $39 Pac-Man hat.
  
• iLog is an artisan-crafted, hand-hewn music recorder and sampler made from a log that syncs with both Macs and Windows PCs.
  
• A gaggle of knuckleheads have constructed what they claim (and what in fact must be) the world's largest Nintendo controller.
  

12:56 pm

This is just too wrong:

the commercial for that mtv special on the holocaust. There are a bunch of teens who are asked to explain what the holocaust was and they all give really rediculous answers. It's sad.


"the holocaust is like a jewish christmas. it's like when they give each presents"

10:07 pm

Just because I don't want to lug it all the way back to N.VA and won't need it anymore:
Anyone wants to buy 20" monitor or a small fridge?

12:17 am

It seems that I will be back in N.VA for this weekend starting on thursday night until sunday. I will probably be extra busy on thursday night and possibly even friday afternoon with a homework due on friday. (ie. I can't expect to be done on friday with it)
Does anyone in N.VA want to do something on sat? Or friday if I get lucky and finish early?

08:45 pm

It's been a long time since I've posted anything meaningfull to my LJ. I've even stopped posting links, though I'm still creating a pile of them to post in some future time.

( random stuff )

The part I really dislike about this end of the year is the fact that for the first time in over 6 years I have no plans set for a summer. Every year before this one I have worked the summer at a job (or research job), but this year I want to relax. However, that still implies having some type of plan for the summer, which seem to be lacking. I've planned so far a 2 week vacation at the beginning of summer and then I have to start work sometime in middle of August. (I still need to get back in touch with my employer about details)

This means that I'm right now trying to come up with something that could take up about 2 months in the middle of summer that wouldn't involve me sitting in my room at home and playing XBox/computer games. If anyone has any suggestions - I welcome them.

( meme )

10:54 pm

I really owe a much longer post than I'm planning on making, but I should be working on my thesis instead. (What a lovely present to me from our friendly STS dept. Btw, Thanks Ap & L for Firefly)

( Survey - does it match? )

And for some amusing links that I owe the rest of you to post: (I've left off the political/toys/etc. links. Those will come when I'm done with thesis)

• Geeks in Final Fantasy?
  
• Religiouis left merchendise
  
• SuperHero motivational posters
  
• Really bad computer advice (amusing)
  
• A list of geek adages
  
• Zip Decode - an interesting utility that highlights the location of the zip code as you type it in.
  
• The geek response to Aural Sex: The 30 hottest things you can say to a naked woman.
  
• The real reason for vibrating controllers.
  

01:29 am

It's late but I feel I should post at least a blurb about this development in my life.
The beard is gone.. and I look funny

Long hair + beard = 25-27 yr old
Short hair + beard = 30ish yr old
Short hair + mustache (w/ curls) = french prisoner (also, my face is cold!!)

what's next?
* Shave off the curls - stop looking french. ETA: wed or friday of this week
* Shave off the mustache - look "naked". ETA: wed/fri of next week.

What will happen after that is anyone's guess. I'll probably open it up to discussion/vote. I know one person who is trying to convince me that I shouldn't have a beard at all.

(Pictures of me as french prisoner will show up someday)

04:27 pm

Anyone planning on going back to N.VA for the break and can give me a ride? I know there's at least one kind soul out there.. hello... anyone out there?

Now back to your regularly scheduled link-o-mania. ( Read more... )

04:22 pm

Happy Birthday Becca

10:59 am

It has been SO long since I posted that my browser even removed the update page from the URL history. ( blah... blah.. who cares )
In other news, I've become a huge slacker this semester and taking only 12 credits of real work, with 3 more credits of research. This allows me to spend lots of free time watching random TV series (Firefly and Farscape are REALLY REALLY REALLY good, especially Firefly), getting others hooked on them, and visiting different social activities. I'm also going to be taking the Bartending class and currently am in a skiing class. (Thanks to smashingpopcorn for a hat)

Now that I'm done with the classical blogging of random crap nobody cares about, here are some links that I've collected over the time period:( Bag-o-Links )
I think That's about it. Sorry for anyone whom I've forgotten to credit for links, but I've collected them without remembering the source.

02:57 pm

As suggested by a prof when I told him I was thinking of going to work instead of school:
Well, once you become rich, you should donate some money to UVA's CS department for a new IT building. We can name it after you...
....
The Shaft IT center

And now for the collection of a whole lot of links (catching up for a month of slower posting):

• For the CS geeks and relatives - The evolution of Programmer.
  
• A somewhat random and humour ad - VW and Terrorists. (As joecarnahan commented below - it's non-VW endorsed ad)
  
• Free Credit Reports - though at this time it is only for the west coast. We have to wait until september before it comes to the East Coast.
  
• And somewhat with a bit too much time managed to create a proportional map of the human body with respect to the amount of sensations coming from that area. Though I thought some "other" area was a bit more prevalent.
  
• And another site from jwz: The man manages to create INSANELY huge card stacks without using any type of glue. Extremely impressive.
  
• A gift for your favorite LJ Addict
  
• A lawsuit that'd never win - a wisconsin student sues the school over having to do homework. Somehow my sympathy just isn't there.
  
• Going to slightly political twist, here's a small blog on the topic of how much did the Republicans change from what they said they believe in to what their actions show.
  
• Another political analysis, this time showing the distribution of cable TV coverage between parties during inaguaration. Where's that liberal bias?
  
• Kinda scary is the fact just how much power the government is willing to give corporations - experimental HIV vacines being given to the kids at the shelters because the state is willing to sign any paperwork for human trials.
  
• A comparison of the Patriot Act II with the powers enjoyed by Hitler leaves quite a bit to be desired - our freedom.
  

• Some graduate student with way too much time seems to have made a study on the Sleep retardant properties of his GF. I gotta admit that I have to agree with the data but probably not the conclusions/actions based on it.
  
• And in a move that will probably confuse all the conservatives, the VA's Supreme Court ruled that sex between consenting adults is legal without requirement for being married. I can't believe VA is becoming a bit more sensible. Maybe we'll finally accept sex ed. as proper way to prevent STDs?

05:43 pm - LotR

Reposting this since it's tomorrow.
( LotR Marathon )

01:14 am - UW vs. Stanford?

On friday I had the privilege of being shown around the campus of University of Washington. I gotta admit that I feel that their campus is EXTREMELY pretty and seems to be much better than UVA. One of the coolest thing is that the engineering (EE/CS) building is withing 2 minutes from the centeral location of campus. The building itself (Paul Allen's CS building) is probably twice as big as UVA's Olsson on each of the 5 floors. (Though no class rooms in the building) The style of the campus is very much based on european buildings with lots of "frivilous" but pretty external architectural additions. (Gargoyles included) The CS building internally is extremely well furnished and designed, with professors windows showing the mountain range while the graduates' rooms are overlooking a large central courtayard. The building itself is 1.5 years old and looks extremely shiny on the inside, while fitting well on the outside with the older style of architecture. (I hope I'll someday see new UVA's CS building and it'd look as good)

Now comes the question I'm really interested, though I doubt anyone reading this LJ will be able to answer:
How big is the difference between the University of Washington and Stanford?
The question is based on the fact that I would probably be working on the Professional Masters Program at UW or the SCPD at Stanford. I would like to know if there is really a big difference in terms of future employment and name recognition between the two.

(It seems that the UW's pmp does not help with application to graduate school at UW much, as they consider it applied work. On the other hand, the classes are offered once per week in the evenings rather than requiring proper class attendance as per Stanford's program. [even if remote attendance])

12:30 pm

Today I get to go back to C'ville for a short time to drop off some stuff for easier travel back. I will also finally figure out why my computer hasn't been responding and retrieve data from it. On the way back I'll bring my XBox and my games. Finally some good playing time, even if I can't go on network play. (TV is far from the 'net access)

Now for the news, starting with the lighter stuff:

• God wants to eat at Moe's. And some people just can't figure out that religion sells just as well as sex. (Different segment of population usually.) I don't see why any of these religious people care, since it will be the guy who created the ad not them that'd get into trouble with the higher power. (And if anyone thinks that God's name is being used in vain - I would like to see them prove that the three letters are his name. In Russian it's completely non-related 4 letters, which sounds like 'boh', spelled bog, and referred to as 'bozhe'. Hebrew version has 5 letters iirc, and not even closer in pronunciation either.)
  
• And here comes the explanation by archeologists/anthropologists as to the process by which we developed religion, by tracing a mexican civilization over the period of 9000 years. This beats my Civilization record by full 2000 years, but I definitely developed religion before 1500 BC. (thanks kej for link)
  
• And found in the N.VA community - there's currently a bill in front of our state legislature that will make it a Class 1 misdemeanor to not report miscarriage within 12 hours. (for the woman involved) That means a punishment of upto 12 months in prison and/or $2500 fine. If he only means this to be in cases of child-abandonment, then it really needs better wording, because 20-75%(depending on studies) of pregnancies are considered to be ended by miscariages before woman knows she's even pregnant. Thus this law would require women who are sexually active to report every menstrual cycle. (I can just see the police department fillingout paperwork for every woman's PMS) Other amusing ideas of reporting are on the site as well.

07:15 pm

It seems due to death of a car and the fact that both parents now use their cars daily I'm now stuck at home. (No car, nowhere to go) Unfortunately this hasn't made me more productive, which is something I'm hoping to fix in the coming week before I fly off to Seattle again.

• It seems that the "freedom" we brought to Iraq wasn't enough to stop the terrorists from being a large thread. Thus on this inaguaration, a big chunk of Washington, DC will be closed down. Somehow I doubt that this is due to the 9/11 cause and more to the fact that during last inaguration the protesters managed to force Bush to ride in the car rather than walk.
  
• It seems that herbie won't have to worry as much about Alzheimer's with the recent findings of curry helping prevent/treat Alzheimers. So now the best diet consists of a glass of wine, a pinch of curry, moderate salt, and low/high protein (can we figure this one out?).
  
• In case we can't prevent Alzheimer's with the pinch of curry, we can attempt to treat it by going to India (or more likely - Japan) to obtain the injection of stem cells. It seems that all the naysayers of stem-cells now have a somewhat hard evidence to dispute, rather than claim absence of evidence. The japanese managed to inject stem-cells into monkey's to treat Parkinson's. Maybe I should go to California since they are funding their own stem-cell research independant of the US government.
  
• From kej: This is such a strange way to test for terrorists. The false positives on this one must be nuts.
  
• And this: Top 11 Geek Break Up Lines. Which can counteract the Math pickup lines.

09:58 pm

As I've been thinking before the break, there really should be a 12 hour LotR:EE marathon. So now I've started the planning for it. Please comment on the idea in this post since I think the groups have a good intersection. (my friends and ppl in psi_phi)

01:46 pm

What a lovely Christmas spirit we have:
To The People Of Islam:
Just think: If we'd invaded your countries, killed your leaders and converted you to Christianity YOU'D ALL BE OPENING CHRISTMAS PRESENTS RIGHT ABOUT NOW!
Merry Christmas (Source: AnnCoulter.com)
• TOP 10 MOST OUTRAGEOUS STATEMENTS OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!

•Rush Limbaugh on the Abu Ghraib photos: "I'm talking about people having a good time, these people, you ever heard of emotional release? You ever heard of need to blow some steam off?"
• Ann Coulter: "[Senator John] Kerry will improve the economy in the emergency services and body bag industry."
• Tony Blankley called philanthropist George Soros "a Jew who figured out a way to survive the Holocaust."
• Michael Savage: "When you hear 'human rights,' think gays. ... [T]hink only one thing: someone who wants to rape your son."
• Oliver North: "Every terrorist out there is hoping John Kerry is the next president of the United States."
• Pat Robertson on gays and lesbians: "[S]elf-absorbed hedonists ... that
want to impose their particular sexuality on the rest of America."
• Pat Buchanan: "[H]omosexuality is an affliction, like alcoholism."
• Bill O'Reilly to Jewish caller: "[I]f you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel."
• Bill Cunningham (Clear Channel radio host who appeared as a guest on The Sean Hannity Show): The election is over because "Elizabeth Edwards has now sung."
• Jerry Falwell: "And we're going to invite PETA [to "wild game night"] as our special guest, P-E-T-A -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. We want you to come, we're going to give you a top seat there, so you can sit there and suffer. This is one of my special groups, another one's the ACLU, another is the NOW -- the National Order of Witches [sic]. We've got -- I've got a lot of special groups."
(taken from TDS LJ community)

12:32 pm

Let's try one of my lists of interesting links, even though a lot of them are left in my bookmarks in c'ville. (Mostly created from a bunch of other lists on the web)

• Fraunhofer Institute eggheads have invented a projector small enough to fit into a cell phone. The project uses a laser to zap your PowerPoint
  presentation one line at a time (but at very high speed). They're working on a version that's built on a chip the size of a sugar cube.
  
• Wired is testing the idea of posting a PDF version of the magazine about product testing. It's called -- what else? -- TEST.
  
• University of California at Santa Cruz researchers are working on a computerized white cane replacement for the blind. By combining a laser beam, digital camera, special sensors and computerized intelligence, they're able to quickly scan the immediate
  environment, and zap relevant information about it back to the user in the form of sounds or coded vibrations.
  
• These nice pics were all taken with a camera phone. I gotta say, my phone wouldn't take a pic that nice even with a hubble lenses.
  
• Here comes the long-rumored Apple iPod cell phone (to be manufactured by Motorola and made available within six months).
  
• A couple more years and the geeks will have robots dancing for them, as they have already taught them how to run. (Asimo from Honda) Researchers at the University of California have successfully trained intelligent helicopters to navigate a course by themselves -- without prior "knowledge" of obstacles. By combining the two, we can replace Arnold in every action movie by intelligent Asimo.
  
• And the last one from mike's list: In an unprecedented move for a money-grubbing tech firm, Apple has transformed its famous, high-traffic apple.com home page into a pitch for tsunami relief. Microsoft, Nokia and Cisco are dedicating precious home-page real estate to disaster relief. Even Google has a prominent link on its home page. Sun devotes home page space to philanthropy in general, but not tsunami relief in particular. Intel, IBM, HP, Oracle, PalmOne, Sony, Samsung and Dell have nothing and can expect a tidal wave of bad publicity as a result.
  
• I bet this patent application resulted in a lot of fun for the engineers. A good reason to bypass all those filters - it's for research.
  
• Another one from jwz, She's a Flight Risk: "On March 2, 2003 at 4:12 pm, I disappeared. My name is isabella v., but it's not. I'm twentysomething and I am an international fugitive." (The jwz's post has a link to story of reporter interviewing her - impressive work if it's a hoax)
  
• Japan welcomes knife-proof kids' clothes
  
• And another one from jwz:The Watercube: "The building's skin, made from an innovative and lightweight transparent 'teflon', abbreviated as etfe, has been designed to react specifically to lighting and projection."
  

12:00 pm

Happy New Years to everyone!

So far this break has been extremely lax, with me spending the last week with my bro and the family. That involved a LOT of TV watching, so now I've seen all of the 007 movies at least twice. Other than that I've done very little so now am feeling a bit restless. The problem is that my XBox is right now stuck in my room in c'ville, while I have 5 games sitting in my room. On the other hand, I should be doing work on my thesis, which could be done either while in C'ville or remotely. Thus I should not try to get my XBox to maintain at least some figment of productivity. On the other hand, if someone's going to c'ville and willing to bring my XBox back for me - I'd be interested in meeting you to give you keys.

Also, if anyone is going to C'ville for a couple days sometime in the range of 3rd to 11th, I should probably appear to appease my advisors.

01:05 am

I really should post a real entry, but I'm feeling lazy right now. (There's a huge list of links to post back in my dorm room, but the computer won't let me access it)
But this just had to be posted: Googlezone vs. MS Friendster - I guess I should go with the winner.

(The story I saw this at was on /. on future of Google)

Another interesting story from /. is the classification of the mental problems with Golum.