Friday, April 16, 2004
Road. Show. Wow... That'll be the. Greatest. Thing. Ever.
Update: Leo Laporte is returning to TechTV to once again host Call for Help. It was nice to see Chris Pirillo for a few days, but now it's time to get things as close to normal as possible.
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Care to have the complete representation of life? Well here you have it, in our mathematical friend, the Game of Life:
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Nice weather we've been having. When I'm thinking about spring the first thing that comes to mind is cold weather and rain.
Monday, April 12, 2004
Life is good.
I've mastered the white balance feature of my camera. Now all I need is some sunshine and colorful scenery outside so I can take more interesting pictures.
Sunday, April 11, 2004 Saturday, April 10, 2004
There's news that the owner of Ikea has surpassed Bill Gates as the wealthiest man on the planet, although this is untrue. Straight from the mouth of Ikea's owner himself: Ikea is worth more than Bill Gates, but its owner is not. I love the media.
Fun with lasers:
Thursday, April 8, 2004 Monday, April 5, 2004 Saturday, April 3, 2004 Thursday, April 1, 2004 Wednesday, March 31, 2004 Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Monday, March 29, 2004
Free Lamo.
I love you for reading this.
Exist: To be present under certain circumstances or in a specified place;
By this definition, either everything or nothing you conceive mentally exists. Anything you think of really exists: time machines, dream worlds, Clown's line of action figures...
Every year on April Fool's Day a bunch of hoax websites sprout up trying to scare some humor into (un)suspecting users. Unfortunately, Dihydrogen Monoxide research is no joke. Or is it?
If you don't understand what's going on here, think about the name "dihydrogen monoxide" for a while.
I wish I could read Japanese.
I wish I could read lips.
I wish I could read minds.
Perseverance starts with initiative.
As it turns out, Drew Carey's signature glasses are just a prop - his vision was fixed with surgery.
"...and then its possible to talk to someone without any lies. With no sarcasms, no deceptions, no exaggerations, or any of the other things people use to confuse the truth."
I wish I had a clock that ticked backwards.
Saturday, March 27, 2004 Thursday, March 25, 2004 Thursday, March 18, 2004 Tuesday, March 16, 2004 Monday, March 15, 2004 Sunday, March 14, 2004 Friday, March 12, 2004 Friday, March 5, 2004 (part II) Friday, March 5, 2004 Saturday, February 28, 2004 Monday, February 23, 2004 Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Comcast bought TechTV. In other words, they'll slowly disintegrate TechTV into their lousy G4 channel.
TechTV was so appealing because it generated the first technological television station ever since its days as ZDTV (pre-2000). It had class, seeing as its shows were all informative and its advertising didn't include the outrageous, retinal overloading, seizure-inducing commercials most companies use. It clearly had respect for its viewers. On the contrary, I've watched G4 before and could feel my IQ plummeting every minute. If you've ever had a substitute teacher that assumed your class was full of bumbling morons, seen educational movies with overacting, middle aged fools pretending to be students but come off as kids from Gap commercials that are hooked up to constant shock therapy, or could imagine a combination of Steve from Blue's Clues and Bill Nye the Science Guy, you can get the feel of what G4 is like. It's the Nick Jr. of technology-based programming -- I definitely prefer Nick-at-Nite.
Part of my bitterness is due to the fact that it was Comcast that bought TechTV: the nation's largest cable company that struggles to give me a solid internet connection all the time. Part of it is because I don't think G4 is a deserving channel to be interbred with TechTV. The rest is because I hate seeing the channel that's been my favorite for five years and that taught me almost everything I know about cyberspace will soon be gone. To top it all off Leo Laporte, who has co-hosted The Screensavers (my favorite show on TechTV since I first watched it) for as long as it's been on the air, has ended his career as co-host. He claims he'll continue to host Call For Help, which will be alright. Unfortunately, the hole caused by his absence on TSS will be a huge scar to remind viewers of the way it was before, and G4 won't be airing Call for Help after the channels are integrated.
Am I overreacting? Probably. I'm allowed to: it's my blog.
I would wish everyone valid a happy birthday but the list is far too long. Happy birthday, everyone - even if your birthday isn't for another few months.
Eísai ti eímai, naí eímai ti eísai.
I wish there were more commonly supported Greek character sets.
A one? My program was better than a one. Those rascal ACSL officials... Perhaps if I get bored enough over the summer I'll make my own programming language that is actually useful and relatively efficient. Don't count on it.
If your art is complimented, don't explain your process; rather, explain your inspiration.
Putting forth little effort in an activity is a mockery of those that take it seriously.
Others do not wish to hear your opinion as loudly as you wish to share it.
The best revenge is that which you can enjoy and be proud of without burdening another.
Happy Pi Day!
School is becoming more of a burden each week. It's not challenging. For the most part, it's not educational. It's main purpose at this point is to rob me of sleep. But even then, how bad is it? Not very. One might as well enjoy it for what it is (no matter how frustrating that may be).
I think UT2004 is being released tomorrow. It's a solid game but the runspeed is annoyingly fast; however, if I do decide to purchase the full version that will quickly change...
Success will soon be mine thanks to java.awt.event.KeyListener. That is all.
Fractalus. Amusement.
Have you ever considered that entropy may be the only way to achieve total homeostasis?
Ah, beautiful Friday. I have a project due Monday that I have yet to begin, but I'm not too worried. It's for US History so everyone in the class is likely to get a ridiculous score on it.
The new web host I was planning to use seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Regardless, I doubt I'd have the time or will-power to make a new site.
Spring is coming. I can almost smell the good part of the schoolyear - when teachers don't even pretend class involves mental stimulation.
I realized today that every coin in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence has a swastika on it. It seems awful, but remember that the swastika has been around since the first millenium BC and was a sign of life, the sun, and good luck until the middle of the twentieth century. Since the game takes place during the era of feudalism, the symbol would logically contain a benevolent demeanor.
Life is good. Even when you take into consideration the fact that it's Monday and summer is hardly anywhere in sight, all is well.
I'm overexcited upon the discovery of a newer version of JCreator than the one I've been using. I haven't seen much difference aside from the interface, but change is good. I'm also uplifted by the current sale at the Blue Man Group website. But you don't care.
By the way, Konrad's been controlling your thoughts via microwave and hologram for months.
The past several days of school have been quite strange, for unfortunate reasons. Although it's no surprise nothing occurred today, I never expected such threats to be brought about against the school.
On a lighter note, I've started taking pictures once more. I may simply abandon the photo album and just post the pictures amid entries. Click to enlarge:
Saturday, February 14, 2004 Tuesday, February 10, 2004 Sunday, February 8, 2004
How often do you interact with your environment without your eyes being in focus? What about figuratively speaking?
Winter is beginning to exhaust itself, it seems. Perhaps with spring I will shower the blog with a new look. I'm still anxiously awaiting that new hosting site to re-open. It was supposed to start taking signups again January 15.
Nothing much to say today. You can tinker with my bot if you wish to spend time with something far from intelligent. Go ahead, make my day waste your time.
I love this, because it actually exists:
Friday, February 6, 2004 Saturday, January 31, 2004 Tuesday, January 27, 2004 Sunday, January 25, 2004 Tuesday, January 20, 2004 Sunday, January 18, 2004 Thursday, January 15, 2004 Monday, January 12, 2004 Sunday, January 11, 2004 Friday, January 9, 2004 Thursday, January 8, 2004 Tuesday, January 6, 2004 Monday, January 5, 2004 Saturday, January 3, 2004 Tuesday, December 30, 2003 Saturday, December 27, 2003 Friday, December 26, 2003 Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Friday is a good day. Finally a moment to spend updating the blog and not doing homework. Unfortunately I have nothing to say today. I don't even have any links to point you to...
There are people still alive today that had been born before the first plane had been flown. Perhaps when I'm a hundred years old people will be fascinated by the fact that I was alive before some necessary technology from then.
Cat Video.
Have you ever been conversing with one of your peers when you soon felt the conversation was punching you in the face as it progressed? Whether it be a stupid discussion, a string of redundant comments, a person that can't understand the difference between sarcasm and sincerity, or anything similar?
Or perhaps you're familiar with those converesations that end in a mutual exchange of "Yeah." "Okay." "I agree." Both you and your peer feel an obligation to continue the conversation despite realizing its pointlessness and the taste of sand it leaves in your mouth every time you try to think of a new, meaningless response.
The rate at which the universe is growing has been determined by scientists. This could only be done by comparing the size of the universe between two intervals. In other words, it would be impossible to dictate the growth rate of the universe if it had an infinite event horizon. The universe is finite in space.
In addition to this, the universe is constantly giving off energy that cannot be reacquired (entropy). Thus, it is constantly but gradually working itself towards unavoidable destruction when it no longer has the energy to support itself. The universe is also finite in time.
Maybe after the universe no longer has enough energy to support itself it will condense into a tightly wrapped black hole until it will once again experience a big bang and form a new universe similar to that we try to understand.
The universe is finite. That ruins everything.
Operation Examination: soon to commence. Whatever.
My new hosting source should reopen any day now. I'm so excited. I might completely redo the blog from the beginning just for the heck of it. I'm too excited.
I'm quite sure you've all heard that the human brain only works to ten percent of it's full potential on average. Apparently, when you sleep it works harder. If anyone knows how much more efficient your brain is during sleep, do me a favor and let me know.
All I've found is that I've found I haven't found enough.
Would you consider zero over zero to be one, zero, or undefined? All the calculators I've checked have pointed to undefined, but there's not necessarily any logical reason to choose undefined as opposed to one or zero. I don't know if there could be any mathematical or logical proofs/thought patterns to sway the idea towards one solution more than any other.
It shouldn't be a surprise that not many people read my blog (and those that do rarely confess it), seeing as I spend so much time talking about math... It's a shame more people don't appreciate numbers. But anyway, I think the hosting place I'm moving the site to will be reopening soon, so there will be a lot of change going on in the blog within the coming weeks. Awesome.
How long has Lame Industries been back? That's nuts.
It seems line breaks are different sizes on Mozilla and IE. It's a barely apparent difference unless you witness a long string of them, fortunately.
I have an idea for a story I'd like to write. You don't care. I wouldn't elaborate anyway until it was completed.
I'm still awaiting any answers regarding how one equals zero. I'm not willing to simply purge it out for all to see without some thought being put into it first. At least let me know if you considered the possibility.
By the way, I love the numbers zero and negative infinity.
It'd be weird to experience life with a brain that functions the way a computer does. For example, as a teacher you would run a continuous do loop while waiting for the bell to ring(while bell!=1, of course). After that you might call a function named attendance. If a student is absent, present[studentname] would equal zero for that day. Or if you'd wish to spelunk deeper in to this cave, things could be represented as long strings of binary. I think you'd run out of stack space before too long, though.
I'll give anyone a prize if they can prove that 0=1. I know how. Do you?
Ah, what a joy it was to see everyone's bright and shining tired, angry, and scowling face once again today in school. This morning surges of anger in addition to the usual fatigue shot from the faces of students towards their teachers. What a beautiful thing.
I'm considering the possibility of making a photographic essay of my life. What else do I have to do?
Haven't updated in a while. Nothing to write. Not getting much traffic. Need something new...
Blue Man Group is no disappointment the second time around. I'm sure it's never anything less than the best thing ever. New York City, however, is exhausting. It's a creepy, dirty, cramped place, but it's just fun. Times Square is always hell, though.
The wireless router is all hooked up and ready to be used by my dad's new 802.11b-supporting laptop. My dad wants to put wi-fi cards in both desktops as well even though I've repeatedly explained its uselessness (that is, unless he wants to netstumble the nonexistent wi-fi access of my neighbors).
So I've been playing Call of Duty. It's mediocre - utterly dissatisfying. It's definitely not the game of the year I had planned. In some servers everyone plays as a team and the fighting is almost realistic and it's a grand old time. Unfortunately, most servers involve everyone picking up a Sten, PPSh, MP44, or Thompson and running around madly while strafing and jumping up and down so they're a harder target to hit (until a wise player picks up a scoped Mosin Nagant and they all end up dead anyway). Will Call of Duty rise beyond Medal of Honor: Allied Assault to become the top game of newbs? It seems both possible and probable. Maybe I'll be back to Day of Defeat by the end of the week.
I'm eager to visit New York City on Monday to see Blue Man Group again. Aside from that I have nothing meaningful to say for today, so I'll say nothing. Have a nice day.
I hope everyone enjoyed his or her holiday(s).
I'm still anxiously awaiting the moment the host I'm moving my site to re-opens for new registrations. Not necessarily for the blog, but for the hacking-oriented site (mentioned in Tuesday's post). That should be tons of fun.
Expect the photo album to soon explode with life as I begin to use my lovely new Fujifilm 3800. 3.2 megapixels of technological love.
I've finally decided on a new look for the blog. Be sure to check the "archives" section for previos posts. In addition to the new outfit, the site will be run from a new host as of late January. I found a free hosting service that provides PHP and POP3 support, among many other benefits. I will, over the summer, probably make a complete new site regarding coding, hacking, exploits, security, and all that good stuff. If this is to happen, there will be two versions of the site. One will be for all to see and the others will be members only. The exclusive portion will require passing a series of challenges (similar to those of HackQuest and Hackits) before entering. Maybe the visitors section will have tutorials on it so more people can actually find their way into the members section. I can't wait.
A merry Christmas to all it applies to. If you celebrate Hanukkah, I wish you well with that. To everyone else, enjoy your winter season.
In case I don't have a chance to make a post tomorrow, I'll share my favorite Christmas story now. It's not a sappy Disney story, either, just a display of human morality during the depths of war.
All the nations involved in World War I were under the opinion that the war would be over by Christmas in 1914. The Germans expected to sweep through Belgium and France without much resistance, whereas the British, French, and Belgian armies assumed they could throw off the German army quickly. A few days before Christmas both sides realized they wouldn't be home for the holidays.
That week the British suffered a humiliating defeat as they tried to creep out of their trenches and across no-mans-land. They retreated. The Germans followed in an attempt to keep pushing into the desired territory.
On Christmas Eve morale was at an all-time low at the British camp. Not only had they been defeated recently, but Christmas was the following day. Some British soldiers on watch thought they heard eerie voices in the distance. They saw branches of trees burning in the German trenches as if they were Christmas trees. The voices were those of the Germans, singing Christmas carols in German. The British soldiers immediately pitched in and sung the same songs in English. The two sides took turns singing until they eventually walked out of their trenches, unarmed, into no-mans-land.
As the sun rose, British and German soldiers traded supplies, stories, and memories with one another. They spent the day helping each other bury the dead from the previous battles and even managed to play sports together.
By the end of the week, the men had realized they genuinely liked their "enemy" and had signed a "Christmas Truce". They grew so close to one another that both sides had to be re-stationed near "enemies" they hadn't met.
