Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Study Break!

"Life's like a movie, write your own ending." - Kermit (The Muppet Movie)

Watch the Kermit Ford Hybrid commercial - make sure you check out the Making of special. (I thought it was funny).

Before I Loose My Mind

"With all due respect, your honor, we don't live in this courtroom, do we?" - Joe Miller (Philadelphia)

Build Your Own Monk-e-mail

"Looking for other Earths? Here’s a list"

Wish I had time to write more - but I have two exams to study for. I can't wait for this week to be over!

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Blog #389

"And? But? So? Therefore?" - Jack O'Neill (Stargate SG-1)

Yep, this is my 389th blog. I ramble a lot don't I? (Maybe I don't really want anyone to answer that).

This is going to one very short blog because I have 2 homeworks and 2 exams coming up this week. As a study break two graduate students and I are going to go ice skating on Wednesday. I am very excited. It has been - well to long since I stopped skating. I have been wanting to go and ice skate for fun. I keep putting it off. Not anymore. To most people this won't make that much sense, but best way I can explain it to anyone else is with the common phase "getting back on the horse".

Otherwise, I am not going to have any fun until Thursday. Everything is happening Thursday morning. So I blogs will be few and short. Which works out because currently I don't have anything interesting to blog. Well, I can do more rambling but that isn't very interesting.

My current song obsession is the Five For Fighting song 100 Years. (It is that song featured in a Chase credit card commercial). The first time I saw the commercial I figured out that it had to be Five For Fighting but I had to use the all-powerful Google to figure out which Five For Fighting song it was. iTunes happly had the song so I could download it and begin listening to it over and over again. As I said - current song obsession. Between it and Better Days (which I won't even mention the play count on that one) I haven't listened to much else.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

News worthy news

"What we in the news business can never forget is that we are only as good as the stories we tell." - Tally Atwater (Up Close & Personal)

"Ohio changes its mind regarding evolution" (no comment)

Nifty: "Nintendo unveils TV, Web browser features for DS"

"Ballmer Beckons Users To MSN With Prizes" (I am not going to comment on this one either)

"World's longest laser invented"

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

It's Significant...

"It's a big blue-ish green man... with a strange-looking goatee... I'm guessing that's significant." - Riley Poole (National Treasure)

New Tomb Found! (Valley of the Kings) (I got behind and didn't get the link posted until today)

Other news worthy items:
"New Viewing Technique Bolsters Case For Life On Mars"

"New Microchips Shun Transistors"

"Robot moved by a slime mould's fears"

Items that are not so news worthy (but I am posting a link anyway):
"Vice President Shoots Man, Hilarity Ensues"

"Money really doesn't buy happiness, study finds"

"Lobster in pants hard to disguise" - funniest part "Sgt Rantala asked that Simpson be ordered to repay the cost of the prawns and the lobster – neither of which could be returned to the store's shelves."

Saturday, February 11, 2006

The Da Vinci Code Trailer

"Why does it always have to be a religious thing with you? Maybe they're coming from a swap meet." - Jack O'Neill (Stargate SG-1)

Check out the new trailer for The Da Vinci Code (if you have not already done so). I am looking forward to this movie coming out. (No, I haven't gotten around to reading the book - yet). You can also check out the official website.

Well, that is really all the time I have to write a blog. I have to get back to the large amount of homework I need to finish, all the grading I have to do, and the midterm I have to write. So many things to do, so little time...

Thursday, February 9, 2006

Thursday's Blog

"I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my squishy. Come on, squishy Come on, little squishy. Ow Bad squishy, bad squishy" - Dory (Finding Nemo)

The comic that explains the real truth behind grad school

A good reason to take math: "Math could predict Oscar award winners"

"Scientists discover possible ancestor of T.rex"

This morning in lecture for my algorithms class we spent the entire time on proving satisfiability is an NP-C problem. Oyh! My head hurts now. We were solving it for all satisfiability problems (and no a specific instance). I found it a little hard to wrap my mind around all of it - was it p(n) or p(n)+1...now p(n) stood for what again? Oh and since it is offset by one then... It was a very interesting lecture, but one very confusing lecture.

The sun is out and it is nice and sunny. Hopefully, the snow will melt. It up to 30 degrees outside. It doesn't seem like much but when I arrived at school this morning it was 16 degrees and no sun. (My classes start very early in the morning - 8 AM. OK, so that isn't that earlier for the world, but it is for the college world). I think the really cold weather makes you want to hibernate. Bears get to - why not humans?

OK, so I admit my grasps on reality are slowly disappearing. I think I will just stop typing and post this blog before I ramble anymore nonsense at ya.

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

Better Days, Never Saw Blue

"Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days" - Lyrics for Better Days by The Goo Goo Dolls

The Goo Goo Dolls (note: site plays music) have a single out since November - but I guess I was to busy with school to realize it. If you haven't heard Better Days, you should as soon as possible. In true Goo Goo Doll style they have created a very moving song. Just listen for the line "Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again". (You can find full lyrics here if you are interested). This is another song on my 'listen to over and over and over and over again list'. (I have already listened to it 69 times).

Another song I have been listening to is Never Saw Blue by Hayley Westernra. I haven't decided what it is about the song that I like so well. I can only explain it as "I just want to listen to it" kind of song. (Yes, it is on my 'listen to over and over and over and over again list'). I am so going to have to burn a new CD with these songs on it for listening when I drive back and forth to school from my parents.

This comic made me laugh (and I think it will have the same effect on anyone else who is in/has been in grad school or similar).

The air has a certain crispness up here in the cold they claim as Michigan. It is definite warm sweaters season. The little heater practically has to run continuously to keep the temperature confortable. It hasn't snowed any more - thankfully. We get little spits of snow on and off - flurries they like to call them. Of course, if the weather people are to be believed it is not going to get better any time soon. They are predicting a drop in temperature over the weekend. It is a good thing I have so many sweaters :-D

Other links you might be interested in:
Aren't they cute?

"The Growing Habitable Zone: Locations for Life Abound"

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

No Topic, More Random

"Nothing, nothing, really. It was just a little classroom, it sort of burned down." - Judy (What's Up, Doc?)

Well they say three heads are better than one...

Get your iPod, nice fresh iPods....

"E-mail firms to charge for first-class deliveries" (no comment...if you can't think of anything nice, don't say nothin' at all...)

To Pluto and beyond - faster!

What's up doc?

The lastest from Google chat! (Did you know about the Google Foundation?)

I'd rather not comment on this one either.

Saturday, February 4, 2006

MacGyverism...

"I learned something a long time ago: never laugh at what you don't know." - MacGyver

MacGyver returns: See new comercial here and behind the making of the commercial stuff. (Now I won't need to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday just to see the commercial!)

It is Saturday. Good ol' Saturday. The day in between Friday and Sunday. When I can work on stuff and not feel behind yet since I still have Sunday. Of course, the snow has started to come down. Rumors are 5-8 inches and a cold week to follow. Yuck.

Snow is one of those funny things. It looks pretty until you have to go out and drive in it. Which isn't bad until you hit an icey patch because it was raining all morning. So not only do we have snow, but we have ice under snow. This is also when you realize your little sporty convertable with rear wheel drive isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Moving on...

Doesn't this ("Nano World: Carbon nanotube capacitors") just sound cool?

It's the plot to a bad sci-fi film

Hmmm...maybe I should take that .Net programming class...

Eat your heart out people (who have told me that PCs that ran Windows were better because more businesses used them) - times are changing!

I recently finished reading "She Went All the Way" by Meg Cabot. It isn't that long of a book - but when you read it only a chapter at a time it can take a while.

I have also been reading "The Cat Who..." series by Lilian Jackson Braun. More about Lilian Jackson Braun and her book series - where you can learn interesting facts like: for 29 years she was the editor of “Good Living” a part of The Detroit Free Press or as it is know up here (and by it's email address) The Freep. They are excellent books for any mystery lover. The main characters are Quill (the newspaper writer turned millionaire several books into the series), Koko (the extremely intelligent mystery solving cat), and YumYum (another intelligent cat).

Friday, February 3, 2006

It's Friday...

"Trouble just never lets up, does it?" - MacGyver

Please turn that radio dial so you can check out: "SuitSat"

Just an interesting article: "'Trust me, I'm a physicist' – the weird world of quantum entanglement"

This makes me speechless - Brawny Man: Innocent Escapes. I am so not buying their paper towels...

OK, that is all I got for posting. I better get back to homework. It's Friday and that means new episodes of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica! I heard rumors of a big football game or something this weekend in Detroit...No I don't like football, but I did hear there is going to be MacGyver priceless commercial. (I only ever watch the commercials). Of course, everywhere you go there are signs about the game here in Michigan. There are these expressway signs that announce the "Super Bowl. Pass the keys. Drive Sober." (or something like that anyway).

Wednesday, February 1, 2006

Another Day, Another Blog

"It's like a torture chamber designed by renegade Keebler elves." - Josh (The West Wing)

Update: For the MacGyver in you...

It's Wednesday. The week is half way over. Well, my week is half way over...I grant you my work week is really only 3 days long. However, I spend all of my free time doing homework and preparing material for the class I teach. OK, so free time is really the word I should use is it? Where was I going with this? Haven't a clue. So I will just move on. How does that sound?

I recently was asked a similar question regarding graduate school. Of course, it had nothing to do with a job. However, I did give a similar answer...

Space, the final frontier: "New 'planet' is larger than Pluto"

This made me laugh: "Too much money to tax"

"Honda Accord ADAS auto-pilot system takes the reins"

Save your coconuts: "Philippine inventor turns coconut waste into environment-saver"

I hope you are having a nice day. It is finally sunny in Michigan! It has been a least a week since I even thought about using sun glasses. It actually got warm today - upper 40s! Yippee.