Travelogue for the Mind

the smell of fried onions

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:51:26 GMT

$100 says that, at least once, by a "journalist" working for a major "news" corporation, in the 2012 presidential campaign, a candidate will be asked about their views regarding the Mayan calendar and whether the world will end a mere month after the election.

Takers? Bet's off after Jan 1, 2009.

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:18:14 GMT

"Volatility frequently occurs when everyone suddenly realizes that the stock market's just a consensual mass delusion based on fictitious valuations of abstract assets."
--The Daily Show

...which is not to say that consensual mass delusions aren't useful.

early educationn

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:58:38 GMT

High school freshman at a coffee shop: "What's the formula to find the vertex of a parabola?"

His dad and me in unison: "Take the derivative and solve for zero."

Him: "I don't think my teacher covered that, yet."

the earth has been destroyed

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:42:33 GMT

go quickly before this link updates

http://qntm.org/?board

I am awesome

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 07:41:46 GMT

yeah that's right; that code that's been giving me no end of trouble these past months? I just pwned it's sorry ass. Got rid of that weird artifact, and improved the conservation of mass by two fucking orders of magnitude! With 9 lines of code in a 5000+ line program! And hell, could've done it in 3 if I weren't so lazy!

can i get a woot?

update!

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:50:59 GMT

so yeah

past 6 months

mostly working; the whole numerical modeling thing... not so much; it's not giving the results it says it should be giving

also i turned 27

i've been thinking lately about something an old teacher of mine said:

"i never let religion get in the way of going to church"
--jon arney, 2003

he said it in the way one says a profound truth when one knows it's a profound truth

he always reminded me of a wise gnome

i bought 12 lbs. of honey two days ago; i will use it to brew mead this weekend

yes

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:55:50 GMT

I am

the big rocks are to the west

Fri, 09 May 2008 01:52:03 GMT

Overheard in Longmont, CO, where I'm staying for the week. The speaker was a white man who'd recently turned 60, talking to a black man who'd turned 61 last week. This was at an Irish themed grill and pub. Longmont is home to a Butterball factory or processing plant or some such, but it's not clear if this is the plant in question. Longmont is also surrounded by horse ranches, and is about a half hour drive from both Boulder and Denver.

"...so turns out the plant manager was screwin' the same girl as the USDA inspector, and well that led to a big hullabaloo between 'em. [I have no idea how the following few clauses are relevant, but I've decided to include them for completeness --Ed.] Now the plant manager was hispanic, and the USDA inspector was hispanic, and so was the girl they were both screwin'. So after a couple o' weeks the plant manager decides to take the inspector hostage at gunpoint and takes him into his office and shot at him. Note I said 'at him'; he must've been a terrible shot, since the inspector was sittin' not more than 15 feet away on the couch in the plant manager's office, and the plant manager missed both times. Anyway, naturally the plant manager got arrested. So that's how I got from the livestock business to the processing business, and why my office has a bullet hole in the wall and a bullet hole in the couch!"

try

Fri, 02 May 2008 08:15:58 GMT

Via Slashdot:

"J.K. Rowling, Lexicon and Oz" by Orson Scott Card

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:50:16 GMT

it pleases me to imagine that the first full sentence ever uttered by one human being to another was:

now what do you suppose that is?

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:16:15 GMT

I'm apparently in a mood to listen to Regina Spektor and watch better players than me play go.

local news

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:05:42 GMT

Here's an interesting local story:

http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_8970799

A hip-hop artist from the Santa Cruz area was shot a week or so ago by police. The news story mentions a "fit of erratic behavior."

Now, I never saw him perform, but I think it's interesting that the news story leaves out - perhaps appropriately - some rumors I've heard. Word on the street is someone slipped him some meth, perhaps sold him some pot laced with meth, which would explain the erratic behavior. I'm curious if that will turn out to be true, and if so whether it will be reported. Rumor also has it that the police never did a tox report after his death.

Take all that for what you will.

Reading List

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:04:17 GMT

I often find myself trying to remember what I've read, and in what order. So, if only for my own posterity, following is a list of books I've read, in something resembling reverse chronological order, since about mid-December of last year.

1) just started re-reading Wizard's First Rule, by Terry Goodkind, the only fantasy novel with a nihil obstat from the Ayn Rand Institute. Didn't receive an impramateur because, at a mere 820 pages, it's not quite long enough.

2) been picking through Basics of Fluid Mechanics and Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics by Titus Petrila and Damian Trif. To give you some idea, here's a short excerpt from the beginning:

The notion of mass is defined by the following axioms:
a) There is always an m: {M} -> R+, i.e. an application which associates to a meterial system M, from the assembly of all material systems {M} a real positive number m(M) (which is also a state quantity joined to M), called the mass of the system.
b) For any "splitting" of the material system M in two disjoint subsystems M1 and M2 (M = M1 union M2, and M1 intersection M2 = null), the application m satisfies the additive property, i.e. m(M) = m(M1) + m(M2).
c) For any material system M, its mass m(M) does not change during its evolution, i.e. it is constant and consequently dm/dt = 0.

Awesome. I'm a pretentious asshole. This is mostly for school, though, so maybe doesn't count.

3) just finished The Postman by David Brin. Very quick post-apocalyptic read, with some vague attempts towards feminism by a male sci-fi writer of the 1980's.

4-6) re-read The Illuminatus! trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. Strange book, but one of my very favoritest of all time. Much better than Foucault's Pendulum imho.

7-8) Xenocide by Orson Scott Card. Also re-read Ender's Game by same. Still haven't read Speaker for the Dead or Children of the Mind, but I don't really feel I'm missing much.

9-10) Starship Troopers and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein. Great reads - the first is Heinlein's examination of fascism, and the latter is his examination of anarcho-capitalism.

11) I am America (and so can you) by Stephen Colbert. Not really worth it if you watch the show regularly, unless you have nothing else to do for a while. Decent airplane read.

12) Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, recommended by a friend of mine. Maybe worth reading the first two chapters, at best. Can actually be summarized aptly in one sentence: "If you want to do something, you actually have to WANT to do it." Congrats, you just read a whole book.

I'm probably forgetting a couple, but that's good enough for now.

True Story

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:16:19 GMT

Scene: me and some folks at a city park, grillin' some food. I have a beer in hand, contrary to city regs.

Cop: We're just coming by to look for alcohol and leashes and such.

Me: I guess I should pour this out then.

Cop: Yeah, you should pour it out. Or your could pound it quick.

Me: Mighty kind of you, sir.

Knowstrodamus

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:41:12 GMT

Regardless who wins, I'm extremely curious how the PA primary results will correlate to the Predictify results.

http://election2008.predictify.com/platformfirstpage2.aspx?P=43

Some interesting facets of the distribution of predictions so far:

Predictions are strongly skewed by age. Under 30 strongly favors Obama. >= 30 strongly favors Clinton.

Predictions made by users in higher percentiles of accuracy favor Clinton. However, new users are automatically assigned the lowest level of accuracy temporarily, and it's not clear how many of the predictions were made by new users.

Men actually slightly favor Clinton relative to women.

Democrats and Independents are predicting Obama. Republicans and "Other" are predicting Clinton.

Mind you, I have no idea what to make of any of that. Can we assume that some percentage of the "predictions" are simply wishful thinking? Is wishful thinking necessarily a bad predictor? Is the percentage the same for both candidates? What about pessimistic thinking? Does this balance wishful thinking? How would the mean prediction change if everyone could assign an uncertainty level to their own prediction? Does any of this even matter?

blood

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 08:18:24 GMT

I'm watching an online game of Go between two mid-kyu players. It's a surprisingly good spectator sport.

I find myself practically yelling at the screen. "Cut that shape! Cut it! No! What were you thinking!"

Maybe he was being nice. I don't know. But with one mere stone white could have ensured the capture of at least 25 black pieces.

Go has been compared to many things - being Discordian, I'll compare it to the Five Discordian Seasons:

1) Chaos - the board is empty; the first stone may be placed anywhere at all. The next stone, almost anywhere.
The possibilities are effectively limitless, and the placement of these first few stones is both virtually meaningless and possessing of great importance. Often there is a kind of unsaid truce, a politeness as both players initially avoid confrontation. For this is a stage where confrontation could mean forfeiture of position.

2) Discord - conflict begins as one player decides to attack. Attacks go back and forth, and territory begins to be defined by walls and the eyes that are necessary to watch over them. Here bold action is necessary to carve out your place in the game world. Stones are still not individually important.

3) Confusion - subterfuge. Here a single stone can mean the difference between life and death, winning and losing. A well-placed cut can destroy a shape, but one must be careful not to call attention to it too early. This is the season that truly determines the outcome of the game, and acting too boldly can be fatal. Distraction is key.

4) Bureaucracy - The territory is defined, and only a few points remain undecided. This is the season of settling details, shoring up walls and completing eyes. If the outcome of Confusion, however, was close, then it may be the best bureaucrat who wins yet. One must carefully threaten what little territory remains, and act rigorously lest your opponent take advantage of your disorganization.

5) Aftermath - the game ends, the points are tallied, the winner is declared, and the board is cleared for the next game.

I cultivate cognitive dissonance

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:16:59 GMT

Read this poem:

http://www.poems.com/poem.php?date=13938

while listening to the Brother Iz arrangement of Somewhere Over the Rainbow

then tell me you didn't achieve enlightenment for at least a moment

Miscellaneous

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:17:27 GMT

I really, really want to buy a Telopa.

It's out of my price range. I am poor.

I'm willing to spend $xxxx for the painting and the chance to really contemplate what attracts me to it so much.

Sure, the eyes. Always the eyes. But what else? It's visceral. I haven't processed it rationally, yet.

If I buy it, I plan for Telopa to never know it was me. This is also visceral.

Everything is debts and investments anyway, right?

Rock-writing

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:16:59 GMT

Went to Petroglyph the other day. I painted a bowl shaped like a Reuleaux triangle. It made me really happy.

shamisen

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 08:00:15 GMT

awesome video

http://www.videofantastica.com/view_video/31903/

Be afraid of the cold

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:35:17 GMT

they'll inherit your blood

Video of Regina Spektor singing "Apres Moi"

grading

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:23:33 GMT

Since when do I have to grade every student using identical criteria? Shouldn't I, as the teacher, recognize that students, being human, each respond to different stimuli - some better to reward, some to punishment, most to some mixture? Shouldn't I therefore grade based on what I think will best elicit motivation from the student in question? Giving extra credit to one student and not to another? Taking points off one answer but not another? The criteria also need to be malleable depending on what I think the student needs to focus on - first one concept before another.

Perhaps this means all our teachers need to be Zen masters. But is that really too much to ask?

music

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:38:02 GMT

Totally groovin' to Beat Down Sounds' "Piglet's Lament"

Also, I have to admit that sometimes, despite my complaints, a student of mine will write something particularly insightful, or say something in an intriguing way. Should I be giving them extra points for that? I mean, I take points away if they do the opposite.

Check this out

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:46:11 GMT

The Greeks and the Turks are talking to each other!

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/01/23/turkey.greece/

All these voices

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:22:43 GMT

So, if Hillary found her own voice after the New Hampshire primary, whose voice did everyone in Iowa and New Hampshire vote for?