Tetration

MxBackup

2008-10-29T22:26:00.005-04:00

I wrote my first iPhone application!

My 22-month old daughter loves to play with my iPhone. In particular, she likes MxTube, a YouTube downloader app, available if you Jailbreak your iPhone. After a while, she tends to delete my downloaded videos because her click and swipe coordination need some work.

So, I've written an app that backs up my videos and restores them whenever I need to. Ignore the "Background Enabled" message- that pops up when I try to take a screenshot because of another app I have installed.

Ubuntu

2008-10-29T22:22:00.000-04:00

Ubuntu 8.10 is coming to a home near you...

Blast from the Past

2008-08-30T16:35:00.000-04:00

Smart Phones

2008-08-04T23:34:00.014-04:00

Let me preface this post with this: I love what Palm has done. I hate what Apple has done.

Ok, got that out of the way.

I've been a "smartphone" user since it was available. I've been a loyal Palm user since the Palm III. I really jumped aboard the bandwagon when the Visor Deluxe was introduced and color came streaming back into my life. Then, a co-worker of mine told me something that I'd never forget: "Man, I wish I could make phone calls from my palm pilot."

An era was born. The treo 270 came out sometime in 2002. I didn't get one. The plan was so expensive, and did I really need one? Then, the treo 600 came out in 2003. I got one about 6 weeks after release. I wasn't sure what to expect. But when it came and I made my first call to my old co-worker buddy, he said something else I haven't ever forgotten: "Man, I'm loving this device."

I really did love my Treo 600. It had color Palm OS. It had my calendar, contacts, applications, etc. I could make phone calls and it was a great form factor. Small, no flip, a full keyboard. Sprint had reasonable pricing plans. I was hooked.

Eventually, Palm grew this creature. They added 320x320 support in the Treo 650, supported the cutting edge Palm OS 5 "Garnet". They released patches to fix bugs and sold a host of applications and accessories. Not only could I make phone calls and schedule appointments, but soon I could play SNES, John Madden Football, and tether it to use as a DUN modem!

Then, one day, the 700p came out. We begin a dark era...

The Treo 700p had a "p" appended to it's name, because Palm ventured out into the market and felt adding Windows Mobile to its line would add value to the Treo product. They could reach more customers. And they did. They also added more issues and more support load. The Treo 700p had a number of problems, readily identified, and Palm Support could not allocate the time and effort to fix them. Eventually, formal complaint letters poured into Palm's headquarters, message boards were flooded with angry posters, and Palm had to do something. Pocket Tunes skipped, applications froze, random resets, long lags and delays occured. It was awful and Palm knew it. They took a step forward and created a Blog where they could better communnicate with users. They began working on a patch to address the issues. And they eventually released the predecessor, the Treo 755p, to fix the real issues that couldn't be corrected with software. I was one of the poor schmucks who took the leap to the 755p and paid the full price for it. Don't feel too sorry for me, I could have jumped ship right there and transitioned to the BlackBerry. Sadly, I didn't. I couldn't. I had purchased so many apps already that I found myself in the "grocery line" predicament. I'm already invested in my current line and cannot switch now.

Around the same time, buzz got louder surrounding Apple's new invention: the iPhone. I hated Apple. I still dislike Apple. Apple is a company that prides themselves on keeping everything they work on held captive from third party intervention. They are willing to trade freedom for control. But I had to admit, even for an Apple-hater like myself, I was pretty impressed by the form factor and advertised features and demos that I saw from the early prototypes. I fell into the collection of outsiders who scoffed at the iPhone out of principal and not practicality. It wasn't until Apple announced the 3G model and a $200 price tag, before I seriously began considering it. Looking back, I think I bought it out of peer pressure, too, but I discovered that in the end, my peers were right. There are still things that the iPhone is not very good at and a laundry list of things I would like to see improved, so I will post my pros and cons at the end of this post in a compare/contrast with the Palm Treo device(s).

My Treo 755p grew old on my really quick. The battery began to diminish, my SD card (which was now a MiniSD) became corrupted and so apps began to run slow. It only took about 9 months for this to happen. I was forced with a decision to invest another $100 in replacing the battery and SD card, or upgrade. Upgrading to another Treo was hardly an option for me. I would never consider a Windows Mobile Treo. The Palm was all I knew and I had hundreds of $$ worth of software to switch over to another OS with basically the same hardware and form factor. To top it off, Palm made various suggestions that the Palm Pilot and the Palm OS was no longer a part of their strategic plan. The Centro was their baby, and they made it clear that the Centro would get all of their efforts and attention, when they began releasing the device for multiple carriers, in multiple colors, with software updates including the absurdly, long-awaited for Google "My Location". Statements made by Palm reps on their own Blog indicated that the Treo device had no plans to support Google "My Location". And I believe them. Palm is all but dead. Even with fantastic sales from the Centro and their ego-boasting articles of success, Palm's profits and stocks are dismal. Their lack of support and unclear direction are indirect evidence that they are sailing from hear on out.

So, in early July, I ordered my first iPhone. It took about 2.5 weeks to ship, but man was it worth the wait! Let me first talk about the things it can't do (or can't do well). And believe me, there are things it's not good at- don't let Apple bigots tell you things like "well, it can if..." or "you don't really need to because...":

iPhone: The Negatives

1. Keyboard. It's virtual and will never be as good as the real deal. I'm getting better at typing, but I don't believe it will ever be equal to the Treo.
2. Select Text (copy + paste). Doesn't exist. Moving your finger across text will only pan the page. Word has it there's work being done in this area, but as of this post, it's just not there.
3. iTunes. I hate iTunes. But to get information to and from your iPhone, you'd better start liking iTunes (or Jailbreak it, which I will explain later).
4. Developer SDK / 3rd party apps. It's there but it will cost developers. Third party developers must pay $100 to sign up and give 30% of their profits to Steve Jobs. In addition, not everything is exposed and easy to use. (however, read on about JailBreaking)
5. Mail application. It has a slick interface, but let's face it: it's no ChatterMail. The lack of features is embarrassing.
6. Native file handling. There is none. On my Treo, I could receive arbitrary attachments from eMail, save them to SD and transfer them to my computer. I could BlueTooth contacts, rename folders, copy files, delete things. With the iPhone, it must be either a photo or a song and even those must by synchronized through iTunes. Which means I must also be running a Mac or Windows. Ugh.
7. No removable battery. It's usually no big deal, but if you're on a 12 hour airplane flight, you're screwed.

iPhone: The positives:

1. Form Factor: It's 480x320, which makes it wonderful to view things on. But it's still very light and sleek.
2. Safari. The greatest browser to exist on a smartphone. Blazer is a joke that keeps getting funnier.
3. GPS. Enough said.
4. Visual Voice Mail.
5. Accelerometer. I can change the application's look & feel by simply changing it's physical orientation. There are also several creative games that are making more use of this chip.
6. Multi-touch interface: it's a brilliantly, intuitive feature, so why didn't anyone figure this out sooner?
7. Price: Palm is notorious for releasing $600 Treo devices. You just can't beat $200 for an iPhone
8. It runs Unix (again, see Jailbreak section below)
9. Native VPN support that supports several VPN services and easy to use and configure. I never could figure this out on my Treo.
10. App Store: I stick by what I said before about the SDK, however, the App Store also offers something unique to iPhone users and to developers. As a user, I can centrally locate all apps available and download them straight to my phone. I can also, search by category, make purchases, check for software updates and see star-ratings for each application. For developers, you have a means to market your app to every iPhone user out there and an easy way to sell your app.
11. WiFi: Why has it taken Palm so long to release a smartphone with WiFi and never for the Palm OS?

Jailbreaking
Within months of the first release of the iPhone, hackers found a way to disable the Apple application signature verification routines that exist on all iPhone firmware. By disabling the verification, new firmware was released that users could install and allow for 3rd party applications to be developed and run on the iPhone freely. This opened the door for a lot of customization that was missing from the iPhone software. Some of the nifty apps that can be run on the iPhone by jailbreaking:

1. Cydia: An Open Source debian package installer to find new open source applications, resolve dependencies, and become aware of available updates. Essentially, it's the AppStore, but everything is free.
2. MxTube: A YouTube downloader, so you don't have to be online to watch videos
3. NES Emulator
4. Winterboard: A replacement for Apple's iPhone launcher, SpringBoard
5. MobileTerminal: a Unix terminal app to interface with your iPhone
6. SSH (server and client)
7. Cycorder (a video recorder)
8. dTunes (iTunes, but everything is free!)

There are many, many others available including an HTTP server, Samba server, a full GCC compiler and debugger, etc.

In conclusion, there is no comparison. The iPhone simply puts all Palm devices to shame. Perhaps one day, Palm will wake up. My guess is they will, but it will be way too late.

joey!

2008-07-04T23:37:00.001-04:00

Thank you, Joey, for once gain making my 4th of July a dream come true: Joey Chestnut

High Definition

2008-06-03T18:35:00.005-04:00

A few months ago, I pulled together what handiness skills I have, combined with a techy background to create my very first High-Definition antenna. These antennas are typically $50 from your local radioshack, but they can be easily made by hand for $8 and 15 minutes of work.

The results:

BCS -1

2008-05-01T19:12:00.003-04:00

If you're like me and love college football to the extreme, you're well aware of the issues surrounding the BCS system. Recently, a proposal for a +1 system was once again rejected.

It's commonly known that the PAC-10 and BIG-10 conferences benefit big time from the current BCS system. They were absolutely overwhelmed with joy that the lopsided USC-Illinois matchup could take place last year. But it got me thinking. If so many people hate it, why is it making so much money? It seems that capitalism should apply in the situation, but it isn't. Or, there's a harsher truth at hand: that maybe too many people like it?

Well, I hate it. Long live southern football culture!

My car is an old school Nintendo

2008-04-19T22:02:00.002-04:00

While my purchase of Sirius Radio has been well used and enjoyed, I must listen to my tunes using an archaic cassette-tape adapter. Needless to say, it's on its last leg (hey, I just used "its" and "it's" properly twice in once sentence!). Every now and again- too hot, too cold, too humid, too morning, you name it- the tape skips three times and ejects itself. One day, I thought, "hey it worked for Nintendo cartridges when I was 9", so I blew on the cassette tape and eureka!

To this day, when I'm able to listen to Left of Center, I get teary-eyed with fond memories of Soda Popinski, Link and the classic 4-play Tecmo Bowl.

This is why I want a robot

2008-02-18T16:47:00.001-05:00

"Using recorded brainwave activity and eye movements during REM sleep to determine robot behaviors and head positioning, "Sleep Waking" acts as a way to "play-back" dreams. Through this piece we hope to investigate one of the possible human-robot relationships."

ALERT: Geek Post!

2008-01-13T21:50:00.000-05:00

The other week I purchased the LinkSys NSLU2, a home network storage solution for the very affordable price of $74. It boasts two USB ports on the backside of its 0.2 kilogram, 248 cubic centimeter frame. The device is used to attach external hard drives, connect to your network router, and provide a network-accessible storage drive for your home network.

The much more remarkable aspect of this mini-computer is that you can upgrade the firmware and install a small Linux kernel, featuring a complete file system and installable packages such as telnet, SSH, Apache, and a TiVo-server!

Giving him the Business

2007-11-25T16:57:00.000-05:00

Ron Cherry, a notoriously awful ACC football official made a hilarious call in Saturday's Maryland game when he explained the personal foul:

Apparently, this phrase was first used by another official a while back:

HD

2007-11-05T22:48:00.001-05:00

I was sitting in my kitchen watching t.v. on our 22-inch CRT tube. Then it occured to me: I always watch tv in my kitchen. Whenever we have company, we watch tv in our kitchen. So, we did something about it. We bought a new 26" LCD 720p HDTV and mounted it on our kitchen wall!!!

Man, is it beautiful. I lament watching shows in "low definition" now. I bought an antenna and pick up CBS, FOX and NBC all in HD now. AND, if I go to www.abc.com, I can watch any TV show in HD as well! I love watching even crappy shows if it means I can view it in high def. Football weekends are the best. I'm an addict, an HD junkie.

Theremin

2007-10-08T21:48:00.000-04:00

I was inspired by amillionmonkey's latest post on a robotic Gnarles Barkley cover of Crazy and searched out all of these youtube videos done with the theremin instrument:

Don't Tase Me, Bro!

2007-09-19T23:25:00.000-04:00

Well, noone else posted this:

Shame on you, University of Florida and shame on you, John Kerry, for allowing these rent-a-cops with tasers to violate this student.

One More Time

2007-09-14T16:21:00.001-04:00

Heard this cover on Sirius radio. Found it on youtube:

Freestyle Food Order

2007-09-06T00:59:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine sent this to me. Absolutely awesome!

U.S. Maps

2007-08-29T00:42:00.000-04:00

Thank you, Miss South Carolina, for making us proud!

supercentarian

2007-08-13T22:43:00.000-04:00

The world's oldest woman, Yone Minagawa, passed away at the ripe old age of 114. I have to agree- it seems that title is cursed!

My 98-year old great grandmother is waiting in the shadows...

The Price is Drew!

2007-07-28T23:49:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems they've decided to finally bury that corpse Bob Barker once and for all. Will the "spade & neuter" phrase be retired as well, I wonder?

Twisted Misters

2007-07-16T23:13:00.000-04:00

Well, the World Series of Pop Culture Season 2 is upon us!

Right now, I'm pulling for "Twisted Misters".

Get Your Hot Dogs!

2007-07-05T18:22:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Joey Chestnut for defeating Kobyashi! Having an American bring it home on Independence Day brings a tear to my eye.

"Normally, I wouldn't play into it at all," Chestnut said of the nationalist thump. "But on the Fourth of July - anything you do on the Fourth of July you feel patriotic about."

For Kids By Kids

2007-06-08T22:18:00.000-04:00

Man, I am loving theOnion's new video segments:

Gap Unveils New 'For Kids By Kids' Clothing Line

Prolific Bob

2007-06-03T09:54:00.000-04:00

Sent by a good friend of mine, this video clip is definitive proof of how Bob Dylan is responsible for every hit song in the past 35 years:

No Direction, Period

Scones

2007-05-26T23:04:00.001-04:00

One of the great pleasures in life.

Ohio State Uses T-Shirt Blaster To Pass Out Diplomas

2007-05-25T22:52:00.001-04:00

[from TheOnion: http://www.theonion.com/content/from_print/ohio_state_uses_t_shirt]

Paris Hil-JUN!

2007-05-04T21:04:00.000-04:00

Violat-JUN Of Probat-JUN for intoxicat-JUN. Not good for heiress of large fort-JUN. Paris says she'll pay more attent-JUN. 45 days in a federal pound-me-in-the-ass pris-JUN!

Meet Susana

2007-04-24T17:12:00.000-04:00

Since I decided to join the MySpace community, you'd never believe the number of slutty new women friends I have! In fact, they have all asked to be my friend, can you believe that? Take Susan, for example. She happens to live in Clemson, too, and "[likes] people who like to try new things and who can bring that side of [her]". What are the odds of finding such a gem?

Strangely, though, she has some sort of fetish with new MySpace layouts, available at freemyspacelayouts.org. Weird huh?

Ted's Band

2007-04-18T23:54:00.000-04:00

Ted's Band is one the best parts of watching the T.V. series Scrubs. He's the local hospital lawyer, who's too timid and clumbsy to win any case, but he has a secret life in his a cappella band. Here is a compilation of his songs:

Easter Weekend

2007-04-09T20:04:00.000-04:00

It's not very "Easter-y", but this is what my nephew's arm looked like Friday night after he went running down the stairs. He couldn't really remember (or didn't want to) what actually happened. Needless to say, his hand was attached to the rest of his arm by skin and tendons. My wife had to leave the room before she got sick and I was so awestruck, I didn't know what to do. And I thought I had parenting down..

Other than that, it was great to see all of my new nephews and nieces. Even at 3 months, our little Olivia was still not the youngest.

What do Utah, Brains and the Goo Goo Dolls Have in Common?

2007-03-23T01:08:00.000-04:00

I've spent all week at brainshare, a Novell technology conference. It's well known for nerdy commercial spoofs (SuSE), free food and spifs, and a Thursday night tradition called "Meet the Experts" (a.k.a "beat the geeks") in which customers who have consumed one too many beers asks all sorts of questions to the techies about why things were done the way they were done in our software products. Each year on Wednesday night, they have a band and a comedian perform. This year it was the Goo Goo Dolls. Turns out, they sing a whole lot more than I thought I remembered.

Oh, and I got to try a $65 bone-aged filet mignon at Spencer's. Yummmmmmy!

Say Anything

2007-03-15T01:21:00.000-04:00

It's always nice when you make a movie connection- an actor in some movie you recognize played in a really old movie. It's strangely (for me) even far more interesting when I find a connection that I should have known but discovered through http://www.imdb.com

I was watching "Say Anything" and discovered the father (John Mahoney) played Martin Crane in the TV series Frasier. Why didn't I see this?

Daylight Shavings

2007-03-13T01:03:00.001-04:00

Damn you, Spring forward. You always screw me over..

Everything Is Illuminated

2007-03-13T00:57:00.000-04:00

I was listening to the soundtrack and dug up the final letter narrated in the movie:

Jonathan!
I have reflected many times upon our rigid search.
It has shown me...
...that everything is illuminated in the light of the past.
It is always along the side of us...
...on the inside, looking out.
Like you say, inside out.
Jonfen, in this way, I will always be along the side of your life.
And you will always be along the side of mine.
Our families will be with us, and our families' families.
Your grandfather.
And perhaps, in some way, my grandfather as well.
It is possible I will never know why Grandfather did this to himself.
Perhaps he wished to bury his life...
...along the side of his past.
But I must tell you, Jonfen...
...in this moment, he seemed, as if for the first time in his life...
...contented to be where he was.
Jonfen, I am sending you this...
...because we have shared something to exist for.
And, of course, in case anyone comes searching.
Alexander Baruch Perchov
Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.!

House, MD

2007-03-07T23:32:00.000-05:00

The show has gotten progressively worse, but I still appreciate the dialog writing:

House: Your turn?

Chase: Do you have to do that?

House: You mean cheapen everyone's attempt at a human moment by identifying the real calculations that go into it?

Chase: Yeah.

House: Yeah, I do.

Lost

2007-02-21T20:12:00.000-05:00

Some dialog from the T.V. series Lost, which I really enjoy:

MICHAEL: I hear you're a priest.

EKO: Yes.

MICHAEL: I guess you believe in hell, then.

EKO: For a brief time I served in a small parish in England. Every Sunday after Mass, I would see a young boy waiting in the back of the church. And then one day, the boy confessed to me that he had beaten his dog to death with a shovel. He said that the dog had bitten his baby sister on the cheek; and he needed to protect her. And he wanted to know whether he would go to hell for this. I told him that God would understand -- that he would be forgiven, as long as he was sorry. But the boy did not care about forgiveness. He was only afraid that if he did go to hell -- that dog would be there waiting for him.

Thank you for not smoking

2007-02-17T23:33:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Lindsay and I went out to eat and see a movie (which we never watched). When I asked the host how long the wait would be, she said "30 minutes". I thought that was pretty good and asked if that was no preference. She responded "There is no preference now". I forgot! Greenville, SC has a public smoking ban!

I have to say, I originally thought it was a crazy idea to ban smoking in ALL public places. But when we walked to the bar for a pre-dinner drink, it sure was nice to not have smoke in our faces.

Save Me From Silverman

2007-02-03T20:49:00.000-05:00

Am I the only person in the world who thinks Sarah Silverman is just not funny? I hate her self-loathing comedy routine. During an interview she was shown an image of herself in Star magazine in one of those best dressed/worst dressed sections. She was in the worst dressed. Instead of being a sport about it or writing it off, she got really defensive like she was back in high school again getting picked on. Get over it!

Reason I bring it up: her new show is horrendous.

Cheating Indoor Stadium

2007-01-26T00:33:00.000-05:00

I grew up watching the wonders of Duke basketball. Now that I'm older and have had opportunities to see great and admirable ACC conference play, I can say that Duke has had neither.

The stigma of cheating at Duke Cameron Indoor Stadium with poor ref calling, fueled by crazies who wouldn't attend a football game if their finals depended on it, is justified. Tonight, Clemson got raped like a Lacross team prostitute.

Welcome to the postseason, rookie

2007-01-17T22:27:00.000-05:00

I must have watched this Sheldon Brown hit on Reggie Bush 25 times.

Baby Update

2007-01-11T22:03:00.000-05:00

Olivia Cameron Grieshop

Some new photos since we've been home for a week.

Saddam Hussein

2006-12-31T01:03:00.000-05:00

Good Riddance.

Sirius-licious

2006-12-27T15:57:00.000-05:00

One terrific xmas gift! I don't know how I lived with FM Radio for as long as I have. What I really like about it:

No Commercials - Always a big selling point for satellite radio, but rightfully so. I hate commercials.

BackSpin - Old Skool Rap Radio! Ever get the strange urge to listen to some Kriss Kross? Ice-T? DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince? Now you can!

LCD Display - A beautiful display and quite functional as well. It displays the current song and artist, so you don't have to play the "remember the chorus-find the station's website-lookup online programming" game.

Uncensored - There's an entire new world of hip-hop songs that I had no idea what the lyrics to were.

Comedy Channels - Sometimes I'm just in the mood for some standup while I'm sitting.

One brazillion channels - How many are in a brazillion?

Free Online Account - This xmas holidays, it was wonderful to be able to log into my online account and stream sirius radio over the internet. Made for great background listening at our house and the in-laws'.

10 Channel Presets - Ok, I could do this on my regular FM tuner, but not without pushing the AM/FM button. And with one brazillion channels to choose from, I found it oddly difficult to commit a channel to a button without carefully considering my other options.

80's Station/60's Station - 'nuf said!

Pause/Rewind - A little record button would be the icing on the cake!

Cheesecakes!

2006-12-17T16:36:00.000-05:00

I've been doing a lot of cooking and baking lately. Cheesecakes are my latest creations. Last week, I made an Amaretto cheesecake, which sounds great but the crust called for chocolate wafers which turned chewy when I cut a piece to try. Last night, I made a keylime cheesecake, which turned out awesome! My next task is to tackle a real NY-style cheesecake which takes more creamed cheese, sweetened condensed milk, more eggs and vanilla.

Wilco

2006-12-05T22:11:00.000-05:00

It's strange. Their song "Jesus" conjurs strong memories of a period of time a few years ago, but nothing very specific at all. I like songs that do that for me.

GMail Nightmare

2006-12-05T17:10:00.000-05:00

I've been using GMail for a couple years now and have ALL of my professional and personal email forwarded there. This morning I find the following on my browser:

We’re currently performing some unexpected maintenance on your account. While we can’t predict exactly how long it will take, we’re working as quickly as we can to restore access to your email--apologies for the inconvenience.

If you have questions, please contact us at gmail-maintenance@google.com.

I have never felt so disconnected. It's been unavailable for 10 hours now and I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. I've read horror stories of users being without access for as long as 2 weeks!

Fireworks!

2006-12-03T14:15:00.000-05:00

This is a cartoon-come-true!

A fireworks factory explodes:

Clemson Football

2006-11-25T09:47:00.000-05:00

The only thing that matters today.

Upset City!

2006-11-17T20:14:00.000-05:00

In lieu of my weekly NCAAF predictions, I'm going to simply call upsets this week:

Michigan 27
Ohio State 24

Rutgers 21
Cincinatti 27

I wish I could say South Carolina loses to Middle Tennessee State, but I just don't think Spurrier would let something like that happen. Who knows? The Blue Raiders have been tough against good opponents. Perhaps they will overlook MTSU?

More on Locobots

2006-11-10T12:10:00.000-05:00

Apparently, humans taste like bacon to robots! I don't know about you, but I don't trust 'em. Especially the snobby wine & cheese eatin' types.

High Performance Computing

2006-11-08T23:55:00.000-05:00

There's only a handful of times in my life when I could sense or even look back and say this moment is or was career-changing for me. Three months ago I was focused on Security and Identity Management. Then, Clemson University announced a new technology initiative to make the coveted "Top 20" for public schools. The path to reach this involves High Performance Computing which we will rapidly be engaging over the next year. Now, when somebody asks me what I do, I don't have to stumble over acronyms and analogies; instead, I may say we predict the weather, search for cancer cures, and map genomes.

Clap Hands!

2006-10-30T00:55:00.000-05:00

Saw Beck on SNL the other night. They did an amazing performance of "Clap Hands" using dinner table instruments: forks, knives, plates, glasses. It was awesome!

Below is their same performance taken from some other TV show. The SNL was pretty much the same:

The Prestige

2006-10-25T01:02:00.000-04:00

I don't post enough about movies. Mostly because I don't have time to watch a lot of 'em anymore. And I drift in and out of those that I do catch. Saw The Prestigue over the weekend, and man was it great! I was pretty focused on each scene and dialog, which is quite something for me and especially for a 135 minute film. Everything about the film was very well done- the characters, the magic, the plot, the dialog. The bottom line: watch it.

Week 8 NCAAF Picks

2006-10-21T00:36:00.000-04:00

Another tough week here. Not as many good matchups, but definitely some tight ones. I have a ticket to the Clemson - GA Tech game here in Clemson and excitement is abound!! We have ESPN Gameday on Bowman field, homecoming floats and fireworks, 7am eggs, kegs and bloody mary's (Ok, won't be there for that one). Look for me on TV from 10-12 AM. My picks this week:

Louisville 34 at Syracuse 17
Rutgers 24 at Pittsburgh 21 (Go Scarlet!)
Texas 31 at Nebraska 21
Wisconsin 28 at Purdue 17
Indiana 10 at Ohio State 37
Mississippi 9 at Arkansas 27
Kansas St 20 at Missouri 30
Tulane 6 at Auburn 45
UCLA 21 at Notre Dame 37
Washington 23 at California 27
Alabama 24 at Tennessee 30
Boston Coll 23 at Florida State 27
Iowa 13 at Michigan 28
Oregon 27 at Wash St 17
Boise St 38 at Idaho 13
Texas A&M 28 at Oklahoma 10
Colorado 10 at Oklahoma 24
GA Tech 27 at Clemson 31
Fresno St 9 at LSU 28

Demotivation

2006-10-18T00:16:00.000-04:00

Motivator: Create your own custom poster

I spent hours on this site. Unfortunately, the only pictures on my computer were not particularly interesting. Here's my try at it:

Week 7 NCAA Picks

2006-10-14T01:16:00.000-04:00

I'm batting .921. My picks this week:

Syracuse 13 at West Virginia 42
Minnesota 17 at Wisconsin 27
Iowa 37 at Indiana 6
Iowa St 13 at Oklahoma 33
Rutgers 21 at Navy 17
SE Missouri 9 at Arkansas 37
UCLA 17 at Oregon 30
Cincinnati 14 at Louisville 40
Missouri 34 at Texas A&M 20
Ohio State 38 at Michigan State 21
California 28 at Wash St 14
Baylor 13 at Texas 31
Nebraska 24 at Kansas St 17
Florida 17 at Auburn 13
Arizona St 14 at USC 34
Kentucky 7 at LSU 35

No real surprises here. I think I took all the spread favorites this week. Florida has the biggest chance of losing to a (still) good Auburn team. Maybe Michigan State can get that huge upset on Ohio State. Doubtful.

Queer.., No Gay.., Wait Funny!

2006-10-08T00:22:00.000-04:00

You know those 9th grade surveys that ask: "What's our most embarassing moment?" Well, this lady now has something to write down.

Week 6 NCAA Picks

2006-10-06T19:45:00.000-04:00

14/16 ain't bad. I overestimated poor Colorado and underestimated GA Tech. This week will be much tougher. Maybe the best weekend in NCAAF. Got my day mapped out from the moment I wake up. This week's picks:

Clemson 30 at Wake Forest 20
Arkansas 13 at Auburn 31
Purdue 10 at Iowa 27
W Virginia 38 at Miss St 7
Stanford 10 at Notre Dame 48
Washington 20 at USC 33
Maryland 13 at GA Tech 37
Bowling Green 6 at Ohio State 51
LSU 17 at Florida 23
Texas 33 at Oklahoma 37
Michigan St 24 at Michigan 34
Missouri 24 at Texas Tech 20
Tennessee 27 at Georgia 17
Oregon 34 at California 37
LA Tech 10 at Boise St 44
Nebraska 30 at Iowa St 21

Playing in the swamp will be to the Gator's advantage this week. Georgia will finally be exposed - the most overrated team in College Football. California continues their march with an upset over Oregon. Texas will be upset by a fantastic Oklahoma team with Heisman-deserving RB Adrian Peterson. And finally, Clemson will silence the doubters with a confident win over long-time foe Wake Forest.

Chess

2006-10-03T20:56:00.000-04:00

In play there are two pleasures for your choosing - The one is winning, and the other is losing.

Lord Byron

Snowmen

2006-09-30T14:29:00.000-04:00

Q: What did one snowman say to the other?

A: Smells like carrots.

Week 5 NCAA Picks

2006-09-29T23:24:00.000-04:00

I couldn't resist after correctly predicting all 21 game winners last week. So, here we go again:

Tennessee 35 at Memphis 9
Colorado 24 at Missouri 21
Sam Houston 10 at Texas 42
Miss State 3 at LSU 40
Alabama 10 at Florida 27
Purdue 17 at Notre Dame 37
California 33 at Oregon St 14
Boise St 42 at Utah 13
Oregon 37 at Arizona St 17
GA Tech 13 at Virginia Tech 21
USC 44 at Washington St 14
LA Tech 14 at Clemson 45
Kansas 9 at Nebraska 34
Michigan 44 at Minnesota 24
Ohio St 27 at Iowa 20
Georgia 34 at Mississippi 7

Only one upset this week- Colorado finally gets their first win of the season over #25 Missouri. I've heavily argued the possible upset of Ohio State, but I stay true to my prediction last week that they will instead lose their only game to Michigan. GA Tech has a great fighting chance over VA Tech, but I think the home game advantage will prove valuable for the Hokies.

Clemson, again, rolls on to keep their #2 offensive ranking.

Cord Blood

2006-09-29T23:04:00.000-04:00

In my brand new journey into parenthood, I've learned a lot! Several weeks ago, we went to our baby doctor for our 19 week sonogram. It seems that husbands/boyfriends are not the typical audience at these places. The magazine selection was slim pickens. Lots of cosmos, etc. with an occasional Sports Illustrated from, you know, the late 80's or 90's. The nurse who guided us through the sonogram described all the baby parts, head here, leg here, elbow here. Our baby would not show us the important organs, but instead wiggled and turned to avoid the question that was on all our minds- boy or girl??!! Finally, after what seemed an eternity, we discovered we were having a girl!

I have never heard of this until a few months ago when we were given a brochure, but we have the option of preserving our baby's cord blood. Cord blood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cord_blood), is blood extracted from the umbilica cord. It's very rich in stem cells and for a price we can preserve this blood which we may then use later in life should one of us develop some genetic diseases such as certain forms of cancer or degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. I don't think we're at risk for any of these, but I just wondered, has anyone else considered this or considered donating cord blood to a public bank?

Hold 'em

2006-09-28T23:40:00.000-04:00

After watching the 2006 World Series of Poker, it became very clear to me that Jamie Gold is the luckiest bastard in the world. He has no poker skills whatsoever. This is why I want to patent a new technology. I want to formulate a "luck" measurement meter, which can be displayed on each player throughout the match. This way people can look at the chip stacks, read the meter, and know who's who in the world of poker.

NCAA Picks

2006-09-22T22:34:00.000-04:00

I hope to make a habit each Friday night to post my picks for Saturday's Top 25 NCAA matchups. Heck, I'll put scores down, too.

VA Tech 31, Cincinnati 10
Clemson 34, UNC 14
Michigan 28, Wisconsin 13
Iowa 33, Illinois 17
Louisville 34, Kansas State 20
Georgia 41, Colorado 13
Auburn 38, Buffalo 3
Texas 45, Iowa St. 10
California 27, Arizona St. 21
Florida St. 44, Rice 6
Ohio State 30, Penn State 24
Tennessee 34, Marshall 9
West Virginia 41, East Carolina 13
Oklahoma 28, Middle Tennessee 17
Nebraska 44, Troy 21
Florida 40, Kentucky 17
USC 48, Arizona 9
NC State 27, Boston College 24
LSU 48, Tulane 10
Boise St. 30, Hawaii 10
Notre Dame 34, Michigan State 20

Not a lot of surprises this week. California will continue their fight back into football by upsetting Arizona St. Ohio St. will have the will to survive Penn State (but won't get so lucky against Michigan last week of the season). NC State will upset BC, because Clemson needs this to happen. Notre Dame, as overrated as they are, will turn their negative energy into a big victory over Mich. State.

Clemson, of course, will win. South Carolina will win by (only) 20.

The Why Of Fry

2006-09-21T23:45:00.000-04:00

Still the best episode of the best TV comic series. Ever.

Reggie Bush

2006-09-21T23:30:00.000-04:00

I was never so happy as to watch Texas triumph last year over USC in the Rose Bowl. In light of more recent allegations against Reggie Bush, I just want to emphasize how much respect I have for a student who has the "focus, intensity, and relentless effort to shelve over 450,000 books": http://www.theonion.com/content/node/53083

Tetration

2006-09-20T01:42:00.000-04:00

My first post shall explain the Blog title itself.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetration):

Tetration (also exponential map, hyperpower, power tower, super-exponentiation, and hyper4) is iterated exponentiation, the first hyper operator after exponentiation. The portmanteau word tetration was coined by Reuben Louis Goodstein from tetra- (four) and iteration. Tetration is used for the notation of very large numbers.

In a course I took called Computational Complexity Theory, I researched "Fast Growing Functions" such as the Ackermann Function (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ackermann_function) and Busy Beaver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busy_beaver). I was somewhat fascinated by the techniques we use to describe these functions. As with describing anything, we are forced to use concepts we already are familiar with. So, in describing such fast-growing functions, we "bootstrap" existing knowledge (functions), recursively, to wrap our heads around them.