Sunday, July 31, 2005

Wandering Around...

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there" - Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)

Poor Microsoft: "Windows Genuine Advantage cracked" and it only took hackers a couple of days to do it.

How we know it is a slow news day: "Variety of big fish in oceans decline".

Space Related News:
"Cassini confirms a dynamic atmosphere at Saturn’s moon Enceladus"

"Ice Lake Found on Mars". However, "there is no convincing evidence for martian biology".

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog! Happy Sunday! (...not looking forward to tomorrow being Monday)

Saturday, July 30, 2005

"Empty Room"

Music to blog by: Empty Room by Marjorie Fair

Quote for today: "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Happy Weekend! I actually had a chance to catch up with my sleep - I think I sleep like 9 hours or something. It was pretty ducky. Now I am trying to actually get some homework out of the way - take-home and my project slides. But I figured I would post a little blog entry for your reading pleasure.

On a complete side note: I have been listening to Empty Room by Marjorie Fair over and over again. I get that way with songs. I will listen to them over and over again. Next week it will be something different. Empty Room by Marjorie Fair was available last week from iTunes (one of those free downloads). I am tempted to purchase the whole CD.

News You Might Use:
Lost a planet? It is believed that a 10th planet has been located. It is located 9 billion miles away from the sun and larger than Pluto. Ducky.

HP and iPod are no longer going to work together.

Now, the US wants to mess with time. Favorite part of the article "The plan would simplify the world's timekeeping by making each day last exactly 24 hours. Right now, that's not always the case". Of course, the U.S. had proposed this in secret to the UN - so of course everyone and their dog knows about it.

Friday, July 29, 2005

The Da Vinci Code Movie

If you haven't been yet you should go to the The Da Vinci Code movie website. It takes a little bit to load, but it really ducky. The music in the background is ducky as well. You can check out what they have of a trailer here.

What are you waiting around here for? Go forth and see totally ducky stuff...

You've Got to Be Kidding

"I realize as an adult that not everyone shares my view of the world. And with an issue as hot as gun control, I'm prepared to accept a lot of different points of view as being perfectly valid. But we can all get together on the grenade launcher, right?" - Josh Lyman (The West Wing)

Hello! It's Friday - I don't have class today. I can stay home and work on the my last take-hone for the class. Ok, that's just sad how much of a "life" I don't have. Maybe one of these days I will - nay probably not. Anyway, I decided today's blog will be about odd or weird stuff. So enough rambling from me here are the links:

News:
Non-News:
Hope you enjoyed a link or two from above. Oh and I almost forgot - here is a link to a funny comic you might enjoy. Happy Weekend!

Thursday, July 28, 2005

I Really Should Be Working On Something Important

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities." - Dr. Seuss

Yep, I should be working on my project but instead I am updating my blog. It seemed like way more fun at the moment. Today my take home exam is due and most likely we will be getting another one. My summer class is almost over - yikes. That went fast - faster than last summer. Maybe it's because I have been so busy.

Ms Magazine link - I like their slogan "more than a magazine - a movement".

If you haven't heard about Google's personalized homepage you should visit. Ken has a nice review on his site.

What to follow the activities of the shuttle? Again, I suggest this link for the latest.

Stargate Fans: Did you know there was a blog?

Was I suppose to find this a surprise? Because I figured that was the case.

Wacky News:

"Thirsty art lover suspected of drinking sculpture"

"Amish teen charged with stealing numbers" (only in Ohio)

"The 5th International Dutch Computer Chess Championships 2005"

Ken linked to an article he found on my blog. It makes me feel really ducky right now. So thanks Ken. I know it takes very little to excit me.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Research, Space, and an MP3 Player

"Some of them don't go to the blackboard or raise their hand cause they think the're going to be wrong. I think you should say to these kids, 'You think you get it wrong sometimes, you should come down here and see how the big boys do it'. . . .Some of them will laugh and most of them won't care but for some they might honestly see that it's about going to the blackboard and raising your hand." - C.J.Cregg (The West Wing)

The irony - "Research: Third of study results don't hold up".

You can follow along with the prep for the shuttle launch here.

MP3 players just keep getting smaller.

OK, well that's all I really had to share. Now I have to get back to working on my take home exam...

Sunday, July 24, 2005

"Oh, Good Grief"

"Charlie Brown wanted to kick a football and Lucy would hold it except that she'd pull it away at the last minute and Charlie Brown would fall on his butt. . . . Each time Lucy would find a way to convince Charlie Brown that this time she wouldn't pull the ball away, but she would and once again Charlie Brown would fall on his butt." - President Bartlet (The West Wing)

Every have those kinds of days? Were your "goal" just keeps moving and you can't seem to catch it no matter how hard you try? Yes, well I feel like I have had a couple of those recently. Anyway, here are some stuff you might want to read:

I think this NOW letter nicely outlines why I don't shop at Walmart (and probably never will). I am glad someone is making a film about it. Yes, I am a member of NOW and I know this has been going on for a while. However, even if they changed this practice I still won't drink their bottled water :-P

"Apple's Tiger Drives a Car" - very ducky. "Power Mac G5s running OS X inside the car control electronic pistons and belts to control the steering wheel, brake and gas pedals, and gear shifter." Could it get any better than this?

Funny News:
Happy Weekend Everyone! Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog.

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Hey Look: A New Entry

"I'm trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it." - Morpheus (The Matrix)

Edit: A must read Funny comic for programmers.

I am finally getting around to updating this thing. I am not really going to get into the details, but lets just say things didn't go as I had planned. ::sigh:: Anyway, onto other stuff. This is going to be a stort blog because I have a really long take home exam to work on (7 questions actually - several are proofs). So here is some stuff you might want to go visit:

Space Shuttle Update: Scheduled to depart on July 26 at 10:39 AM - if they don't launch July 26th they will have to wait until September to do a day time launch.

Microsoft was named their new OS - Windows Vista. Of course, I am sure most of you have read about this already.

This concept looks interesting.

"Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space?" No, I didn't really wonder - but other people did.

One wacky movie - but they came up with the Matrix movies so what can we say.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

A Sad Day...

James Doohan pasted away today. James Doohan was known for his role on Star Trek as Scotty.

Google Goes to the Moon

"From now on, we live in a world where man has walked on the moon. And it's not a miracle, we just decided to go." - Jim Lovell (Apollo 13)

Check this image of the moon brought to you by the letter "g" for Google.

I am sure there are lots of other important things going on in the world - but I really don't have time to write much of a blog. I have to get back to calculate the mean square difference (or at least that is what I am hoping I am calculating...)

Monday, July 18, 2005

Manic Monday's Grab Bag

"Well, let me guess. You're either lost, or desperately searching for a good tailor." - Elim Garak (Deep Space 9)

Rensselaer has made 3-D chip. Ducky.

NASA has announced that they will not be launching the shuttle before July 26th. They are having difficulting locating and fixing the fuel sensor problem.

Well statements like this can never be good. Poor Mozilla.

The US Department of Defence is going to use HP supercomputers for designing weapons. The HP supercomputers are 10-teraflop systems - which will accelerate their research on many levels.

For some reason I thought this was funny.... Oh and this stuck me as assuming as well.

Looking for a game to play at your next party?

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Battlestar Galactica Article

"Boy, when you take a souvenir, you don't screw around." - Captain Lee 'Apollo' Adama (Battlestar Galactica (2004))

The New York Times has an interesting article about Battlestar Galactica. It covers both the new series on the SciFi Channel and the old series from the 70s and 80s. Anyway, good article. I think it may be one of those you need to register to see - but heck it's free and the NY Times has a lot of really good news articles (just look at their technology section).

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Shrimp - Not Just for Dinner Anymore

"Just when you think you're not in Kansas anymore, it turns out you are." - Jack O'Neil (Stargate SG-1)

A new bandage has been developed that can "clot a bullet wound in less than a minute". So what is so special about this bandage? Just read the ingrediant list: ground shrimp shells and vinegar. Currently, they are only being made for the military - but there are hopes they will be able to reach a larger market.

Not that big of a surprise, the shuttle's (Discovery) launch has been delayed again. However, this time they don't know how long. NASA is still looking into a fuel sensor glitch. Speaking of NASA, here is an interesting article about "electrified dust devils".

I have watched 2 of the 3 shows from SciFi Friday (Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis). I found both to be very good shows. The plot of SG-1 was so different from the norm - plus they jumped forward in time. However, we all knew that they would re-assemble part of SG-1 with Dr. Jackson and Teal'c so it wasn't that big of a surprise when that happened. I thought the Merlin tie-in was quiet clever.

Atlantis (sort of) concluded a story thread and created at least 10 more. I thought the ending of the show was really good. Anyway, that's all I have to say about it - for now anyway. If you haven't seen the SG-1 and Atlantis season 9 and 2 openners yet - you have seriously missed out on some good TV.

Happy Weekend! Thanks for stopping by and reading. Now I have to get back to my take-home exam and project.

Friday, July 15, 2005

I So Want to Visit There

Edit: Speaking of shirts, this is one every CS student needs.

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." - Steve Jobs

Most of the time I don't read much of the Detroit Free Press (freep) but my mother pointed out this article to me about Apple. OK, wouldn't it be so cool to visit there and get a shirt? Actually, getting any kind of Apple shirt would be cool.

So I did a little Froggle-ing and found The Missing Bite which sells collectable Apple stuff and clothing. There is another store that sells collectable Mac stuff - Red Light Runner.

By the way did you know about this book?

Now if the Apple Store online would just sell shirts... I am guessing it would be extremely popular. Well, I would buy one at least.

At least there is the Google Store - have you seen the ducky gift bags they now sell? Definately ducky.

Hey, It's Friday

"Let's not be too quick to exclude the possibility that the woman might be, uh... what is the clinical term? 'nuts'?" - Dr. Rodney McKay (Stargate Atlantis)

Well it's Friday and we know what that means - SciFi Friday! Just like all the previous years they are running the Get in the Gate contest. Yes, I am excited that there are going to have new episodes this evening. Plus, my parents recently bought a DVD recorder (finally) so we are going to record it "high-tech" this year. (But, I did set my VCR recorder at my apartment to tape just in case we experience technical difficulties because this is one of the first times we are going to try and record a show with it).

The sad thing is - I have so much project work and take-home exam to do that I will probably not watch all three shows this evening - hense the taping. Yep, I am trying to get a lot done on my project and my take-home. The take-home is due Wednesady and it looks pretty tough. My project is an on-going thing that sucks all the hours out of your life ;-) But, I actually have a few slides done - of course the project itself nor the 10 page paper that go along with it are not done. But I figure .7 out of 3 ain't a bad start. But enough of my rambling.

News you might feel like looking at:
A planet outside our solar system has been found. The planet has one really cool feature - 3 suns.

This is just too ducky not to blog: "Fujitsu Debuts Bendable Electronic Paper". This is "the world's first film substrate-based bendable color electronic paper with an image memory function". How cool is that?

Here is a fun free logic game.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Warning: Blog Written By Person Drinking Soda

"There is no group of people this large in the world that can keep a secret. I find it comforting. It's how I know for sure that the government isn't covering up aliens in New Mexico." - C.J. Cregg (The West Wing)

I thinking warnings are good and all but I think this is just a bit much.

You know your a grad student when you can relate to his comic.

It seems that someone has found a new way to make hydrogen.

This is just so cool!

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Discovery Launch Delayed & Stuff

"That's not the point. Did George Washington write a book called 'Your Wooden Teeth and You?'" - Matt Douglas (My Fellow Americans)

NASA calls off the launch of Discovery because "a temporary window cover fell off the shuttle and damaged thermal tiles".

I saw a very interesting news article on the NY Times website, ""Neuron Network Goes Awry, and Brain Becomes an IPod. You may need to get a free account thingy to read the whole article, but I figured I would put up the link anyway because it is a cool article.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Really Short Blog

This head line say's it all. Of course, I am glad you are here reading my blog, but the head line was just to funny not to place in my blog. Unfortunately, due to all the other works I should be doing right now I am going to make this a very short blog.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Yet Another "Manic Monday"

"Enjoy your party. I think everyone's blocked off all of eight minutes." - President Josiah Bartlet (The West Wing)

It feels like a manic day - so much to do so little time. The weekend is not long enough. Take-home exams and projects are completely filling up my time. So, I am sure the number of blogs I write will decrease as well. Of course, I would have time to write more if I could get my banana to peel. It is so got to be Monday - I am having a fight with a piece of fruit. Of course, now I have a smashed banana...

Anyway, moving on from my problems - here are some news articles you might find interesting:

IBM is making two new chips - these new PowerPC chips have "64-bit cores" and each contain "dedicated 1MB of level-two cache memory".

There will be 107 cameras around the Discovery shuttle to monitor it as it launches. They will also take pictures from teh International Space Station when the shuttle docks.

This just sounds so cool: "Using a network of radio antennae across the Netherlands and Europe's most powerful supercomputer, scientists hope to unlock the secrets of the early universe". Ducky.

Saturday, July 9, 2005

Books, Shuttles, and Robots -Oh My!

"Well, that never happened in any of the simulations." - Daniel (Stargate SG-1)

The 6h Harry Potter book is coming out next week. Of course, on Friday there will be new episodes of Stargate SG-1, Atlantis, and Battlestar. Lots coming up next weekend.

Disney appears to have patched things up with the Disney family. I think the stock even went up a little (2%).

NASA may allow others to use the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center.

Speaking of next week, gather up your robots and head to the Robot Talent Show yeld in Dublin, Ireland. They even have theme music.

Now I have to get back to my take-home exam and finish collect data for my master's project. Maybe one of these days I will actually get ahead. <::snort::> Like that will ever happen.

Friday, July 8, 2005

TGIF

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world." - President Josiah Bartlet (The West Wing)

Friday is probably my favorite day of the week because I don't have classes. Of course, that doesn't mean I have a lack of work - I just don't have to go to class. I have been putting together some new test cases (actually 6 of them) for my project. It's not hard, it just take's time. Plus, I need to run the neural network, the linear program, and the least-squares. The hope is to have most of the data by Monday.

Well enough about my project. I have continued to play with my new PowerBook. It is great (the keyboard doesn't bounce like my other one). I have gotten most of the settings the way I want them and installed most of the software back onto this computer. So as promised here are some links you might just enjoy:

Robot that plays a guitar. How cool is that?

Computer part jewelry. No, I am not kidding.

Oh and here is a funny comic you might enjoy.

Thursday, July 7, 2005

A Powerbook Died to Bring You This Data...

On Wednesday evening my PowerBook G4 died (sigh). The poor thing. However, it did allow me to boot it up one last time (for like 5 minutes) which allowed me to grab my masters project data and files. Thank goodness I had backups but there was work from earlier that day that hadn't gotten backed up. It wouldn't have made such a difference if I hadn't agreed to turn a bunch of work into my project advisor by noon on Thursday. However, the Powerbook is now dead - very dead. I took it to the Apple store this evening. They believe that the logic board has died. They don't think it is the hard drive. So anyone know good ways of getting my files and stuff off the old one? It won't boot, but the fan works really well.

As a "hopefully-one-of-these-days-really-soon-you-finish-your-project-and-get-your-masters" present my parents bought me a brand new Powerbook G4 (and 3 years of AppleCare). Which I am really excited about - it has Tiger already one it. I am still installing software onto it so I can work on my project. I have been putting music into my library. It has been a long time since I listened to Matchbox Twenty (Mad Season CD). Oh and I got a 4GB iPod Mini (Silver) free (well after I return the mail-in rebate) with my computer. Not that I need an iPod Mini (I have a 3rd generation iPod and an iPod Shuffle) but I really couldn't turn down free.

So I have a new computer. I really miss my music collection (which I am hoping to restore most of it from my iPod and iPod shuffle) and my bookmarks. But the important part was those 5 minutes I had to get all of my project files. It is of course said because I was really attached to that computer. I had taken it on several trips and it started grad school with me. OK, yes you can laugh - it is kind of funny how attached I have become to the computer. Of course, getting a new updated one does have it's perks. However, my first one will always be very special to me.

Oh and so far I am really liking Tiger. Maybe this weekend I will have time to check out some of the Widgets. Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to find some interesting news articles for you.

Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Just Another Wednesday Blog

"I killed a mirror. And my shower door." - Mort (Secret Window)

Edit: Wishing you had more time? Well this year you will gain an extra second.

The other day during dinner I watched Secret Window. That is one wacky movie with a weird ending. Of course it is based on a Stephen King book so that was expected. The main character (Mort) was played by Johnny Depp. I was surprised to see Timothy Hutton (who played the boyfriend to Mort's former wife) in this movie. Everyone was well picked and it was a very good movie. I totally recommend it.

There is just not much news to report about. I think it's a slow news day (well in the technology world it is anyway). However, I would like to point you in the direction of this article about using fingernails to store information. It is cool and yet scary at the same time. By the way, George Mason University is building $800 robots.

By the way, I find this so unbelievable (you would almost think this was fake).

Tuesday, July 5, 2005

Comet, Health, and other unrelated things

On the 4th NASA crashed Deep Impact into a comet (size reference they give is a washing machine) and here is an article about their conclusions. NASA hope is "by engaging people's imagination in space missions, which literally open new worlds before our eyes, appreciation and knowledge of the sciences are strengthened and enhanced". This makes me think of the intro to one of the Star Trek show Next Generation (the captains whole speech at the beginning).

Here's an interesting health article. No comment on this one.

A step in the right direction (and majorly over due step if you ask me).

I'm not from Michigan, I just live there (and under protest too).

British scientists find a 40,000-year-old human footprints in central Mexico. Wow.

This is a funny comic I thought you might enjoy. It is actually part of a longer story line that starts here.

Well, that's all I have to talk about. Now I have to get back to my project and my take-home exam...

Monday, July 4, 2005

Fireworks and Storms

"Nobody got hurt at the Boston tea party. The only people who got hurt were some fancy boys who didn't have anything to wash down their crumpets with. We jumped out from behind bushes while the British came down the road in their bright red jackets but never has a war been so courteously declared. It was some parchment with caligraphy and your highness we beseach you on this day in Philadelphia to bite me if you please." - Sam Seaborn (The West Wing)

Happy 4th of July! At this moment I am looking out the window and I realize it is going to storm. I am really glad my parents decided to set off the fireworks last night instead of today. The decision had been based on the fact that on Tuesday my father has to be to work early and I have to get up in the morning to get back to school. I have been enjoying the extended weekend and the cake my mother made (in a sand castle shape). My family isn't really big on celebrating the holiday. I think that's because my grandmother's birthday falls on 4th of July so we are more celebrating her birthday. Unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts (and take home exams) we didn't make it down to Kentucky. How did we celebrate you ask? We went to eat. (Yes, I am one weird duck).

The 4th of July really does get you thinking doesn't it? Back in the 1770's people were fighting the British so that the United States could be formed (OK, so they had a different name at the time but you get my point). They were fighting for our rights - freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and other freedoms. Ever wonder what the founders of our country would think of it today? Would they be impressed? Or would they wonder what happened to the set up they spent so much time on?

I honestly don't know what they would think.

For More Reading: Celebrating Independence Day in the United States and History of Independence Day

Saturday, July 2, 2005

Happy Weekend!

"This is the vault. Or as some of us like to call it: The Freak Show." - Dr. Okun (Independence Day)

Happy Weekend! This is going to sound weird, but I like this time of year. Did you just ask why? Well, in Michigan Ford planets are on shut down for a couple of weeks. Therefore, most of Michigan aren't home. You can totally tell when you go to the mall or resturants. Plus, with this being 4th of July weekend everyone is up north. Just between you and me, I never understood the Michigan obsession with visiting or having a shack up north but hey if it makes these people happy who am I to critize. OK, so you can buy really good fudge up there, but there are lots of places to get fudge that are much closer.

Weekend News you might be interested in:

Google has decided to share it's map technology with other web developers. "Google's technology is free to any Web site that uses it for applications offered free to consumers". Ducky.

An interesting article in USA Today by Andrew Kantor about the Grokster decision by the Supreme Court.

"Japanese sets new mathematics record for reciting 'pi'".

Late breaking science news: How Ice Melts - no I am not kidding.

Lost and Found: New Da Vinci Sketch's were found underneath some of his other work.

Friday, July 1, 2005

Wonderful World of Shoes

"Courage is the power to let go of the familiar." - Raymond Lindquist (author)

Today being the first day of my four day weekend I decided to take a little time off from my homework (take-home exam) and do a little shopping. I bought two pairs of shoes (black) and a skirt (black). I got one pair of flat shoes and one with a very short heal. The shoes were more than 50% off - so it was a "fab" deal. The shoes of course can be worn with the skirt. While I was wondering around the store I realized how much 60's stuff was coming out. Of course, I also noticed that sweaters are going to be "in" this year - yippee. As many of you know I wear a lot of sweaters.

Well, enough about my little shopping trip. Lets see what you might find that interests you:

Final frontier news: Discovery is going to be launched on July 13th. Good news for space fans: you can watch NASA’s Deep Impact crash into a comet (July3-4) via the web.

Microsoft and IBM news: Microsoft owes IBM $775 Million in their antitrust settlement.

Lost a frog or a snail? They have found some. Speaking of nature, hedgehogs don't like gardens that aren't haphazard.

This is a unique way to get people to read more. Also, this article is so funny I just had to post a link to it.