Trying a Little Yoga

(Or "Trying not to fall over on my computer")

I was standing at the checkout of a grocery store (the third one in a single day - don't ask).  Anyway, a magazine caught my eye, it was all about Yoga.  I have done some pilates in the past (key word here is past) and I had thought of taking it back up.  I also wanted to introduce a few changes and thought some basic yoga might be interesting.  I especially like the stretching portion of yoga.  So to end a long story, I bought the magazine.

I got out my mat (read: dusted off my mat after spending 10 minutes hunting for it) and opened the magazine to an article with some basic positions and stretching.  What did I learn?  It is nearly impossible to read the magazine and try to do the position at the same time without falling over.  If I wasn't falling over, I ended up partway and then couldn't see the magazine.

Of course, this is nothing wrong the magazine.  I highly enjoyed reading the articles!  So, I decided to dust off some episodes of beginners yoga I got off of iTunes first.  The instructors talk you through the activity so reading is no longer an issue.

Of course there was still one little tiny problem, when balancing do not look down at the computer screen with episode running.  Do not ask me how I know, just trust me.

P.S.  The computer is fine.
P.S.S I love that the iTunes tv shows include exercise videos.  This way I can take it with me via my iPod.

Bring on the Funny...

For my regular readers (wait...who am I kidding...) or more accurately the people who have stumbled onto my blog for some reason: you may or may not know that I am in the middle of working on an important step in my research. This means that I do the following things:

• Rarely leave the house
• Spend most of my day legitly staring at my computer screen
• From the last statement, I should add making up words
• Drinking wonderful ice tea (black current is my personal favorite)

The unfortunate side effect:  I feel slightly like a mole or maybe that was because I watched The Wind in the Willows on Dvd.  (There was a tv series too).  I have felt that I needed to bring a little funny into my life (and take regular breaks) every so many hours.  As this is a blog I will point you in the direction of some internet related funniness.

To Keep the Mole-Like Feelings at Bay List:

• Cake Wreaks: Hilarious on weekdays.  Amazing cakes on Sunday.  Plus it is about cake what other reason would you need?
• (The Customer Is) Not Always Right:  I think the title is self explanatory.
• Check out the products at Despair, Inc.  Try not to laugh too hard ;-)
• Article Circle Cartoons: This comic included penguins and polar bears.  (Why are you still here reading my blog?  Did you miss the part about the penguins?)

Well, that is all I have to talk about today.  Enjoy the summer while it lasts!

What's in a name? (Or Notes to Self Regarding Coding)

A couple of months ago (read: end of spring semester), I started writing so code (in java if anyone cares). It all started when I wanted to test some I was considering for my research. Attempting to be smart, I decided I would just write the program for reuse later. Now, that was not my mistake. The mistake was what came next: thinking I would brilliantly name all of my classes really good long descriptive names. My logic being that months later I would easily be able to use the code for the final intended purpose!

I have learned a new lesson: really long names are often just as problematic and did I mention a pain to type? However, I had no problem trying to figure out what was what. I think that was mostly due to the massive comments I left myself too. I have heard the wisdom that descriptive names make the code more "self documenting".

So the question really is: is there a balance between being descriptive and just being silly? Is it better to have names that are only 5-15 characters long? Or is 25+ characters just right or too long? Is it only really long when it gets over 45 characters? (OK I feel like the Goldilocks of programming at the moment...) Does the long names actually make the code less clear?

Wait...I have a blog?

I really should update this more often! But I have been very busy with graduate school and my research. I also decided to make a change to the look of the blog with one of the cool new templates. Maybe this will encourage me to come up with a whole blog of something important. Or (more likely) not. Now I understand micro-blogging, it is easier to come up with just 140 characters!

I have been spending most of my spare time knitting. I am finally getting to be halfway OK at it :) I have enough scarfs to last me for the next few years. Made 2 sweaters so far (1 more successful than the other). Learning socks was a interesting experience.

Anyway, I have a point...maybe. Hmmm...I forgot. Oh right, knitting + grad school + randomness + geekiness = blog. This should be interesting.