A fresh new outlook

My new kitten, Rory

2009-11-15T16:46:00.002-06:00

I have adopted a wonderful stray kitten named Rorschach (after the psychologist, not the Watchmen character); she prefers Rory. As some of you know, Amanda and Brian (my roommates) foster kittens through a rescue organization, the 13th Street Cats. Basically, this involves getting kittens that are trapped or found when they are very young, nursing them, feeding them, getting them fixed, and then finding a home for them (right now we have Macy). I've been on the lookout for a cat to adopt permanently for some time.

I thought that cat would come through our fostering efforts, but Rory found me. One night while I was watching TV with the windows open, I heard a pitiful meowing sound from outside the window. When I went out, this poor emaciated cat was waiting on the porch. After feeding her some treats, she was very friendly, and started rubbing up against me immediately. We took her inside, got her to a healthy weight, and got her fixed. She was a fantastic personality -- both a lapcat and an incredible player/jumper.

I've taken some pictures and shared them on my picasaweb.

My new computer

2009-02-21T18:36:00.004-06:00

So, my old computer died. Totally dead. All I had on hand spare was a power supply, and the problem is not that.

So, I bought a new one. And, for the first time, I'm not building myself -- instead, I went with Central Computers in Santa Clara instead. They got me the following with install and burn in for less then $300 over the price of the components at Newegg, which I think is a fantastic deal.

Core i7 940 (2.93Ghz)
Asus P6T Deluxe OC
eVGA Geforce GTX285 superclocked
6GB (3x2GB) of DDR3-1600 CL8 Corsair RAM
Intel X25-M 80GB MLC SSD
750GB Seagate SATA 7200.11 HDD
Antec Nine Hundred Two Black case
PC Power and Cooling 750W Silencer power supply
Sony 22x DVD Burner
Vista Home Premium 64-bit

Should have it by Tuesday. Yay!

The Gun Laws are here

2009-02-16T13:36:00.002-06:00

From http://gunowners.org/111anatb.htm

H.R. 45 (Rush): This bill would require a license for handguns and semiautomatics, including those currently possessed. The applicant must be thumbprinted and sign a certification that, effectively, the firearm will not be kept in a place where it would be available for the defense of the gun owner’s family. The applicant must also make available ALL of his psychiatric records, pass an exam, and pay a fee of up to $25. The license may be renewed after five years and may be revoked. Private sales would be outlawed, and reports to the attorney general of all transactions would be required, even when, as the bill allows, the AG determines that a state licensing system is sufficiently draconian to substitute for the federal license. With virtually no exceptions, ALL firearms transactions (involving semiautos, handguns, long guns, etc.) would be subject to a Brady check. In addition, the bill would make it unlawful in nearly all cases to keep any loaded firearm for self-defense. A variety of “crimes by omission” (such as failure to report certain things) would be created. Criminal penalties of up to ten years and almost unlimited regulatory and inspection authority would be established.

The one reason I wavered on voting for Dems is going to be one of the first issues they push? Sadness.

Top 10 TV Shows and why

2009-02-04T00:45:00.006-06:00

Tagged by a coworker, I thought I might try a list.

1. Battlestar Galactica. The characters are impressive and just feel real to me. I could imagine knocking a few back with Colonel Tigh or engaging in debate with Apollo. I could never imagine that enjoying a card game with Riker, or fighting a battle with Skywalker. I think the story will end up disappointing in the end, as most TV science fiction is, but I will have enjoyed the fracking ride.

2. The West Wing. This show introduces us to our government without the biases of rah-rah patriotism or sinister government conspiracies. Sure, the show is political, but how can you tell a tale of our government at its highest level and not be partisan? Anyone who is anyone in government is partisan, and you just can't get inside without being that way yourself. The production values on this show are so high that you never feel like you are looking in from the outside.

3. Firefly. Why, oh why, did you have to kill this Fox? I will never like you, no matter how many Houses and 24s you put on. This will serve as my proxy for Joss Whedon's whole business really (Buffy, Dr. Horrible...)

Mal: Do you want to run this ship?
Jayne: Yeah
Mal: Well... you can't.

4. Top Gear. A car show you ask? You aren't even that in to cars! Ah, but this isn't a car show. It's a wacky comedy where three dudes do whatever they want with millions of pounds and get paid for it. Watch any of the races, and I guarantee you'll be hooked.

5. 24. OK, so the later seasons don't live up to the first one, but wow, what a first season. I sat down on a Christmas break from college at 9PM, intending to watch the first few episodes -- and finished the season at 3PM the next day. No other show has captivated me like that.

6. Scrubs. Sure, it's slapstick sometimes, but the show has a message and a plan each episode. Episodes like the one in which Jordan's brother dies and Cox goes through the 5 stages of grief are both hilariously funny and incredibly poignant. There was a rough patch, but I feel the show is back on it's game these season.

7. House. I don't know why, but it is just so damned fantastic, every single time. I know I'm being manipulated so easily, that the show has no realism, shallow characters, and plot holes you can drive BC-303s through, but it just works every time anyway.

8. Stargate. OK, mainly for longevity, but this show entertains me on a budget

9. Babylon 5. A story planned from day one, and it shows. Too bad they couldn't afford actors, set design, or writers, or this could've been much higher on the list.

10. I'm leaving this blank for the inevitable edit where I remember a show I just can't forget.

Your turn... What do you watch? (Television, not movies.)

Talk about close

2008-11-12T22:51:00.001-06:00

Alaska Senate Race Separated by 3 Votes With Begich in Lead

3 votes!?

Begich now leads Stevens 125,019 votes to 125,016 votes, according to the Alaska Division of Elections Web site.

Our fearless leader...

2008-08-10T13:06:00.003-05:00

Barack Roll

2008-08-10T12:59:00.001-05:00

Ha. Some people simply have too much time on their hands.

When Facebook stalking goes bad...

2008-07-20T14:13:00.002-05:00

(in regards to adding people you haven't spoken to in five years to your facebook friends):

Matt:
and since your motive is creepy, i guess you won't mind if making the friend request makes you seem creepy

Jason:
no, see, I absolutely don't want to seem creepy, just be creepy. It's an art, really.

The Engineer's Guide to cats

2008-04-14T01:21:00.000-05:00

Testing

2008-03-12T20:27:00.010-05:00

Poor Hillary

2008-03-08T11:13:00.000-06:00

How much bad luck is that?

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_030708WAB_hillary_ad_KC.328ab14f.html

Computer generated letters are funny

2007-12-09T23:41:00.001-06:00

About my 401(k): "... you will be automatically enrolled with an initial payroll deduction of 3%. Each year after the first year of participation, this savings rate is increased by 0%..."

Thanksgiving was fun. Work is fun. Christmas coming up soon. I'll be in JC from Dec 21 to Jan 1.

Ballad of Black Mesa

2007-11-05T00:08:00.000-06:00

It's that time again....

2007-11-04T02:02:00.001-06:00

... twice a year, I wind my clocks, and make a blog post. This is how it works.

I had a grand plan about getting out and doing something today. I ended up staying in and alternating between Harry Potter movies and Six Feet Under episodes this evening. I had forgotten how amazing the pilot for that show was. Actually, just about all of it.

Work is going extremely well. I'm starting to pick up bigger pieces, and I even know WTF I'm doing more often then not now. Living is going well, though I do think I might be moving in January to a new place. A nice 3 bedroom place with a roommate... I dunno, that does sound kind of nice, actually.

Holidays are coming up. I'll be in Washington (State) with my aunt for Thanksgiving and back in Johnson City for Christmas. I'm sort of an adult this year, I guess. That's going to be weird. I guess I really don't think of myself as grown up yet. And I really should.

I had a car accident last week, and had to send my Prius into the shop. Only 2500 miles on it! That same night, about an hour later, that earthquake happened. I felt it clearly here, though there wasn't much damage (certainly none this far north).

Anywho, see you in a couple months.

My Apartment

2007-06-01T11:47:00.000-05:00

In Mountain View

My Apartment (Mountain View)

My new car

2007-05-27T20:36:00.000-05:00

My new 2007 Toyota Prius!

Yay!

"Oh nine, eff nine!"

2007-05-02T00:50:00.001-05:00

That is all.

Gender Genie

2007-04-23T11:22:00.000-05:00

I found a cool website today called "Gender Genie." You paste in some text that you or anyone else wrote, and it uses a keyword analysis to try and find out if the author was male or female. It's identifying me as about half/half, so it's not super good at it, but it's a fun try :-)

Jason

Pictures, Interviews

2007-03-24T16:19:00.000-05:00

G'day all,

Life's good. I've got a big interview coming up with a certain large software company (I'm unsure how much my NDA covers right now) on Thursday, so that's fun. Lots of wrapping up school things going on, like passing all my classes this semester (which was supposed to be easy, but they keep getting in the way by, you know, actually requiring work.)

Today was beautiful, however, and since it'd been a while since I enjoyed the sunshine, I took a walk and a bunch of pictures.

Spring in Centennial Park

Anyway, that's all for now. Hope your spring is as swell as mine.

Wikipedia, HDR Photos

2007-03-03T17:08:00.000-06:00

I love Wikipedia. Such a fountain of useless trivia has never existed elsewhere in the universe; that I can guarantee you. Today, I learned that the version of rook (the card game) my family plays is known as Martin-Lawson Rook, and it is popular in areas of Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia and Tennessee, and among Mennonite circles especially Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

I'm glad someone has taken the time to classify and look up the origins of each variant of rook, and classify their geographical locations. The article on Rook, the card game, is over 2800 words. That's nearly as long as my longest term paper so far (clocking in at 12 pages and 3700 words).

I also played around with HDR photography today. My results are... well, obvoiusly quite young.

HDR Experiment Pictures

Spring break started today. Time for job applications to start flowing like a cresting river. Wish me luck!

Netflix, Studio 60, and LAN

2007-02-26T14:40:00.000-06:00

I had a great customer support experience today. These are so rare I figured I'd give some props. I purchased a Netflix account a few months back to get some stuff I couldn't find elsewhere for rent, and used it a few times. However, on my last bit of stuff, I lost one of the DVDs, and I haven't used it in a few months.

When I called up Netflix to cancel my account, they were immediately accomodating, not even asking any questions or trying once to get me to change my mind. When I told them I'd lost one of the four DVDs I had out, they told me "that sometimes happens" and "I wouldn't be liable for the cost of the DVD." You simply can't beat that level of service. Bravo, Netflix!

Speaking of media, Studio 60 has gone on hiatus a week early after their incredibly bad 4.1/2.6 in the demo. I'm sad that shows with writing this smart can't survive on American TV. I like Heroes, but it doesn't require a whole lot of thought, and it certainly doesn't do very much with social commentary or hot-button issues. Americans would rather watch escapist shows like that then anything remotely approaching relevance.

I read in a paper the other day that 13% of Americans claim they've never heard of global warming. We can debate all day about whether global warming is real or not, and whether we should do anything about it, but the fact that 13% of people in America claim to have never heard of global warming is just sad. Who are these people? Do they watch any sort of news, read... anything at all?

Speaking of escapism, the LAN Party went great. We had 196 (!) people signed up, with 165 marked present and some 120 playing in games. That is amazing, and a little scary. If it gets any bigger next year we won't be able to fit them into our areas!

Spring break is just a week away (4 days, really, now). Wish me luck in making it to the goal.

New Phone

2007-02-16T23:24:00.000-06:00

I got my new phone today. I originally intended to get a Samsung A920, but when that fell through was told the A900 was the newer, better version of the A900 by Sprint.

Well, that was wrong. But the phone is awesome anyway.

What I really miss? No removeable storage. None at all. That means I'm stuck with a measely 50MB of internal memory, which is about enough for... nothing, really. Nothing at all.

But power vision is amazing, and not for any of the reasons Sprint says it is. There is this application called Orb. It sits on your PC, and allows you to stream videos, music, etc. to your phone. It took me five minutes to set up and I was watching Scrubs! on my phone! I have access to my entire music library, and best of all, this is all legit. As long as I don't use my phone as a modem, Sprint says unlimited bandwidth is a-ok.

Sweet.

I'm such a sucker for TV musicals

2007-01-19T01:02:00.000-06:00

God, I love TV musicals. Buffy was a guilty pleasure for me, but I am semi-ashamed to admit that I still carry around the Buffy musical songs on my MP3 player.

Well, tonight, my favorite show of all time, Scrubs, did a musical. My head nearly exploded. I'm watching it now for the third time. The premise is that a woman collapses and starts hearing everything in song. Hearing J.D. and Turk singing about guy love nearly caused me to have an aneurysm of my own.

These two posts have been brought to you my the letters T and V. We will soon return to our regularly scheduled programming.

24

2007-01-07T03:38:00.001-06:00

All I have to say is, holy fucking shit.

That is all.

Grades, Christmas, Cycle of Life

2006-12-23T01:07:00.000-06:00

Hello all,

It has been a crazy month. The final portions of the semester went well. I had an amazing last minute curve from one of my professors that made a B- into an A-, and wrapped the semester with straight As (yay!). I now have a better GPA to quote to the job people; it's an incremental improvement, but I'm quite happy with it.

And now, the lovely Christmas vacation is upon us. I've been going crazy with the spending money since I've been home, alas. Much of it is gifts though, and I'm having a good time, and not only in the geeky late night Internet cafe way. I played pool twice at a bar, and felt socially pretty accepted, which is always good.

Unfortunately, some of that good time is tempered by the fact that my grandfather is very ill. He has been progressively worsening for many years, and for the past year or so has been completely out of it. He's so small now (he looks like a skeleton), and he can no longer form words at all (as opposed to merely forgetting which string of words he was forming). They've discontinued his medication and we expect him to expire sometime in the next couple of days.

Perhaps I'm just a morally bankrupt person, but I really think this is a good thing. 50 years ago, my grandfather would have died when he fell off the bleachers at a Little League game, but pacemakers kept him alive and let me get to know him. That same medical technology has extended his life way beyond what should have happened, though. In cases like his, I wish we could euthanize the old -- he would not have wanted to linger like he has, for three or four years with no ability to comprehend what was going on. I'm glad his struggle is over, and that our family can grieve and move on, as opposed to being sad every time we think of our ailing patriarch.

And as one man dies, another is born. My old friend Andy Levy became a father this past week when his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Congratulations, Andy! I'm sure you will be an excellent father. Your child is lucky to have you.

Update (8:30AM 23-Dec): My grandfather has passed. There went a great man -- husband, veteran of the great war, father of seven children, and member of the greatest generation. He will be missed.

Scrubs Season Premiere!

2006-11-30T21:35:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited for tonight's Scrubs season preimere. I'm going to watch it in a few minutes. By all accounts, this will be the last season for dear old Scrubs. Zach Braff, the guy who plays J.D., says this will most likely be his last season. So, everyone, tune in.

Craiglist now available in Tri-Cities

2006-11-21T16:15:00.000-06:00

I am home for Thanksgiving break, and I decide to check out Craigslist to burn some time and read some funny rants. I search through the TN cities and, lo and behold, what do I see but a Craigslist site for the Tri-Cities! Now, there isn't a whole lot on there yet, but still, this is very cool. I'm a big fan of craigslist; it really helped deck out my place in Nashville with all new stuff.

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone.

Ford/Corker Debate

2006-10-28T20:30:00.000-05:00

I just got back from the Ford/Corker ~~debate~~ forum here at Vanderbilt. I found many things interesting about the debate. I'm unsure how much of this is interesting to me because this is my first live, in-audience debate experience for me, and how much of it is interesting in general.

First, the scene when I arrived was awe-inspiring for a Tennessee election. There were barricades and police set up, at least 4 different live camera crews, and a crowd that could be heard 1500 feet away. Almost all of this early crowd was for Harold Ford, the Democratic candidate for office. There had been a preplanned rally by the Ford campaign that went out on the student leader's list approximately two days before, so I would not view this as indiciative of the general philosophical leanings of the university, but rather on better management by the street team.

I was led past two barricades (with no check of the ticket), lead into the auditorium (with only a cursory check of the ticket) and then lead by a couple of hostesses to my seat (with a more through examination of the ticket). I arrived approximately 40 minutes before the debate started. As debate time approached, about 20% of the seats remained unfilled. The organizers of the debate started offering tickets to the people outside, which were mostly partisan supporters of Ford at this point (as Fenno would say, these were in Ford's "Primary" constituency).

Among the last to be let in were various staff members of each campaign. I had managed through sheer force of will and hard staring to keep the seats on either side of my open, but at the last minute a lovely woman from the Corker campaign walked down the row and took one of my seats. I was in row Q, by the way, so a fair way back, about 5 rows from the back of the auditorium. We had a conversation about the campaign, and about my home town (Johnson City), which she said she would have loved to visit, but did not have a chance to do so [and why would she? Johnson City and all of Northeast Tennessee is already firmly in her candidate's pocket]. I unfortunately did not get her name. She did manage to insinuate in her brief time with me that Ford was not to be trusted (she brought up his family, and his brother's conspicuous absense), as well as that all professors, especially polisci professors, were extremely liberal and biased against her candidate. I actually think almost all of my professors here at Vanderbilt are to the right of me, and I'm hardly Karl Marx; though, to be fair, I do attend the school of engineering and not the liberal bastion of academia, Arts and Science.

One surprise to me was how the candidates were let in early to "vamp" the audience, much as a comedian or performer might. At this, even taking into account my personal bias and the bias of the crowd, Harold Ford excelled. He has an incredible personal charisma that had most of the attention (and all of the laughs) focused on him.

Another surprise was how low-tech the debate was. The League of Women Voters sponsored the event, and when the first couple announcers came up they had difficulties with the PA system. Even during the debate these problems were not quite eliminated. The time was kept by a person in the first row holding up cards that said "30 seconds" or whatever on them.

Chris Clarke, a local newsman from Channel 5, was the moderator for the event. He was a very no-nonsense kind of guy. At one point after a question he told the candidates, "Now look here. If y'all want to change the rules and ask questions of each other, then I'll be glad to do it, but otherwise cut this nonsense out." He also had the astounding habit of getting Ford and Corker mixed up for almost the entire night (or at least their names mixed up).

Most of the questions came from audience members, and most of them were young. Harold Ford asked every young person their ages, which ranged from 17 to 22. He tried to make a point of the fact that he was young whenever possible, though even he laughed when Bob Corker said, "Well, I may not be close to your age, son, but I have two young daughters your age..." which was a masterful retort from Corker to this tactic.

The debate itself was ho-hum. I personally thought Ford did a little better, but I wasn't blown away by his debating skills. Neither was I impressed with Corker's skills. Corker tried to pivot everything to his "Tennessee life" and "Tennessee values." He's trying to make the race about character and person, while Ford is trying to make this an issue campaign.

Neither Ford nor Corker represents my values very well. I'm an extreme social liberal, while being economically moderate. These candidates are both socially conservative. Harold Ford made some references to his religion, especially in his closing statement which focused on his faith for a good 20-30 seconds. Harold Ford supported the Torture Bill, and both candidates support tightening borders (which everyone supports until their loaves of bread cost $6 and they can't get fruit).

Harold Ford was interrupted for applause probably 5-6 times during the deabte, while Corker was interrupted only once for applause and perhaps a couple more times for laughter at a sardonic point. The charisma competition is really no contest, with Ford winning hands down, though Corker does have some of the good ole' boy charm.

Fall Break

2006-10-18T11:36:00.000-05:00

I had a great time over Fall Break. I watched "Man of the Year," which is a modestly funny movie with Robin Williams. He's still trying to do too much drama and too little comedy, but it was an enjoyable two hours, nonetheless.

On Sunday, we went to a picnic with my whole extended clan in the area there. We had some phenominal pork chops and enormous baked potatoes. The fall colors were pretty cool. I have some pictures:

Fall Break

On Monday, I saw my dad; he came over to eat spaghetti with us. That was cool, I guess. No point in staying mad at the guy forever, ya know? Waste of energy. And he seems to be trying to clean up his act some. At least he's off the hard drugs, so that's good.

Tuesday, I got a new license plate (TN issued everyone a new one this year) and got some new shoes. (Thanks, Mom!). Now, I have lots of homework that I didn't do waiting for me, so if you'll excuse me, I have to run.

Have a great week!

Music

2006-09-30T13:28:00.000-05:00

I'm really digging eMusic. Now, I know many of you are going “Jason, you are paying for music? I'm shocked!” but it's true. Why do I like eMusic so much, even though it costs?

It gives me recommendations based on the music I've downloaded already (similar to last.fm).
The music is of uniform quality, and uniform volume, something you don't get with the rips rampant on the Internet
The music is DRM-free, so I can listen on my desktop, my MP3 player, over WombatShare, whatever. All those are legimate uses, but the Digital Restrictions Management of the music companies would have me buy the music multiple times to do this, and I still wouldn't be able to stream via Shoutcast or Wombat.

There are a few things I don't like. The music is ripped a fairly high quality, but it's average bitrate MP3 set to 192Kbps or 224Kbps. This is actually pretty decent, but it isn't LAME --apx (Warning: Popups!). Or better yet, FLAC or SHN would be better, though less convienent for my MP3 player, so I can see it either way.

On eMusic so far, I've downloaded (all flashy band sites):

The new Barenaked Ladies album -- Barenaked Ladies are Me (27 tracks). Some highlights are Bank Job and Fun & Games. BNL has really grown musically while retaining their fun and hilarious lyrics.
Alkaline Trio: Great stuff that I'm sad I haven't heard yet. Emoish
Rufio: Some good scream-oish stuff
The new Gin Blossoms album, which is pretty decent as well
An old Fall Out Boy album
Knockout, a forgettable but fun rip-off of Jimmy Eat World
Plain White Ts, another JEW knockoff that is less forgettable

That's just a few of the things I've been downloading. 40 tracks is definitely worth $10 per month. There is even a free trial. Everyone should check it out.

Recommended.

LAN Party

2006-09-14T21:39:00.000-05:00

Hello, dear readers, and welcome to those of you on Facebook. The notes thing is automatically importing from my blog, which you can see by going to "View Original Post", in case you were curious.

There is a LAN Party on October 27th! Now, I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, "Jason, I know you are incredibly geeky, and like those computer thingys, but I'm just a regular person." Well, we need you too! This isn't a fringe event; last year, over one hundred people attended! 100! And this year, we're shooting for double that.

Still not convinced? Well, how about these apples: We're giving away a brand new Xbox 360! We're giving away an 4GB iPod Nano! We're giving away a Nintendo DS Lite! And there are more prizes, besides. Everyone who comes gets a chance to win! Come on, join us. You can go to www.vandycs.org/lan-party/ to sign up soon; in the meantime, here's the lowdown:

Friday, October 27th, 2006 from 6PM until midnight
Sarratt Student Center
Cost of attendance: NONE!
Food? Check
Xbox + Halo 2, DDR, Quake 4, and Counter-strike: Source tournaments? Check
Sound system? Check
Soft drinks and orange drink? Check
Fun? You betcha.

So, come join us! (Vanderbilt students, staff, and faculty only, please!)

Funniest thing I've seen all week...

2006-09-08T09:13:00.000-05:00

I can think the Facebook mini-feed for this one. (Named changed to protect the guilty):

Yesterday:
Guy joined the group If this group reaches 100,000 my girlfriend will have a threesome.. 2:34pm

Today:
Guy is single. 8:21am

Facebook unhinged

2006-09-06T13:14:00.000-05:00

So, as many people now know, Facebook recently added a feed feature. This aggregates all changes that would have been visible to you, and puts them in one place. Unfortunately for Facebook, this has made many people upset. Several people have left Facebook and many more are threatening to do so, and large groups (some 10,000 strong) have been formed to protest this feature.

I am not one of those people.

Many people upset with the Facebook feeds were simply unaware that anyone who gets those feeds was previously able to see all the changes listed in the feeds. It is actually much worse then that, of course; in fact, most people who go to the same college as you can see those changes, but the feeds are only for your friends.

Others object that, while the information was previously available, it was so easy to obtain. This is a valid point. However, the abuse scenarios (e.g. one of your friends stalking you) do not come into play. Those people who were already interested in your life were already checking your profile often. They would have already seen any changes you made.

Still others object that you don't want everyone seeing every change you make to Facebook. For instance, you may be friends with a sibling, but not want him/her to be able to see all those raucous photos of you at that party last night. I think this is a symptom of the "unaware that anyone who gets these feeds was previously able to see all changes listed in the feeds" syndrome.

So it appears I'm in the minority in liking these changes. The people who say Facebook did this because they don't care about their users are idiots, by the way. Facebook, as any other social networking site, makes money off advertisements. This feed thing is a really bad deal from an ad-impression standpoint, because people will only log in, check one page, and maybe publish a status update, rather then browsing to all their friend's profiles. I think the Facebook people thought, just as I think, that this would be a really cool feature.

Regardless, I have an acceptable solution to these problems. Sites like Myspace and Orkut have allowed you to rate your closeness to a friend for a long time now. Facebook has something similar in "how do I know this friend?" Facebook simply needs to allow/disallow viewing of events from your feed based on one of these two options. You could even customize a particular change; by default, it may be "friends at my college", but you could change it to "family", "high school buddies", "everyone", or anything else you can think of. This could even replace the groups interface for real world organizations, who tend to get lost in the muck of all the fan groups anyway (e.g. change the feed to "any member of my organization VandyCS").

In the meantime, I think this has served as a valuable lesson to all those people out there who thought Facebook was private. It can be, but for you, it probably isn't. It takes *literally* five clicks (login, My Privacy, Edit Settings (under primary network), Only Your Friends, Save) to restrict your information to only your friends. It only takes a couple more to turn off those embarassing photos and wall posts, or restrict those to only your friends. While I leave my profile more open (who would hate me?), if you do embarassing things on Facebook, you should take these steps.

That is all.

Web 2.0's Crown Jewels

2006-08-23T23:32:00.000-05:00

You may not know it, but I occasionally like to pretend I'm a web developer. But I could never compete with the awesomeness of this particular Web 2.0 site...

A Sunday drive

2006-08-13T17:37:00.000-05:00

Today was a beautiful day (80 and Sunny), and rather then spend it all indoors, I decided to get out. Brian was borrowing my car to head down to Green Hills, so I decided to ride shotgun and play with my camera. These shots are the ones that turned out.

Drive to Green Hills

Aug 13, 2006 - 31 Photos

Storm this evening

2006-08-10T20:00:00.000-05:00

There was a nice summer thunderstorm this evening. It was my first chance to play with my camera in weather. I did get the lens cover area a bit wet, so I hope I didn't damage anything. A little Picasa magic does wonders for my photos...

Nashville Storm

Aug 10, 2006 - 17 Photos

Canon in D

2006-07-23T15:38:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay, so I'm turning into one of those guys who posts the same videos that everyone else posts over and over, but this really blew me away. I wish I could play guitar, or, you know, anything like this...

One man's opinion...

2006-07-16T02:17:00.000-05:00

... of Pirates of the Carribean 2

Heh. Ask a Ninja is great, btw. You should watch them all (just search for askaninja on youtube, or go to AskANinja.com).

The update store was out of stock

2006-07-15T18:05:00.000-05:00

... but I'm back in business how. How is everyone? I had a great fourth of July holiday. We went boating on Watauga Lake with on my Uncle Henry's boat. My Uncle Bob and his wife and their boys came down, and we had a great time. Gotta love the fried chicken and potato salad, mmm mmm.

Been playing quite a bit with my camera. I'm still not very good, but I'm getting better. Photos of my 4th are up at http://people.vanderbilt.edu/~jason.roberts/photos/, with more hopefully to follow. I took some today I'm particularly proud of. With a few more months, I may even be able to start my family on learning the ways of picture taking with digital cameras. My question, however, is simple: do most people put all their pictures out there, or just the ones they are particularly proud of? I'll be running low on space on my Vanderbilt space soon and need to prune, either by moving the pictures to a site made for pictures (Flikr or Hello spring to mind...) or by just putting up the ones I like.

The Israel/Lebenon/Gaza thing seems to be heating up, but I think it's hyped a little by the media. They're talking about world war three and all I'm seeing is Israel doing their buttkicking thing that they do periodically when they get frustrated with some of their closest neighbors.

Work is busy. I slacked off Friday and I'm behind, but I'll get caught back up. Without a defined job, the random projects are interesting, but I'm still not sure which I'd like better. At least this way, it doesn't get boring, but I have to be a "jack of all trades". Most of what I do is find out about something new, find out the options available for that same something, and pick the top three. Kind of a fun job.

Boring week

2006-06-19T00:17:00.000-05:00

This week was pretty boring. Didn't do much during the week; didn't do much during the weekend. The highlight of my week was getting my new camera. Funny story, that. Turns out the camera had been sitting in my box since June 6th. I kept looking on the Dell website and it said the order was "in production," which I assumed meant it hadn't shipped yet. However, I finally clicked on that little "in production," and found that the camera and memory card had shipped the day after I ordered, and had been there for more then a week. Why was the order still in production? Well, there was a delay in the soft bag I bought for the camera. Figures. Anyway, I've been taking a few pictures here and there, but nothing I want to show off yet, so we'll leave it at that for now.

I also got my two posters I had been waiting for. Jimmy Eat World looks down from above my monitors, and the Nashville skyline graces the wall above my writing desk. Did I mention that? I stopped looking for a desk for my room, and just got another table instead. So all my computer stuff has a dedicated desk, now, and I have a seperate desk for papers/homework/fans/"whatnot". That'll definitely help with the clutter. Now, just need to get some drawers and a shelf or two out here, and it'll be just how I want it.

Besides that, nothing to report. Hope your week was more exciting then mine!

Planes, Paris, and Scrubs

2006-06-11T13:01:00.000-05:00

This week was pretty crazy at work. I didn't have a lot of time to come up with blogging topics, so this may be an abbreviated entry. We rolled out a new webmail interface for our e-mail system that was a major regression in nearly every user definable way, and of course our users reamed the Help Desk for it.

Air shows are fun, don't you think? We didn't have one this week, but someone took an amazing picture of an F-16, F-22, F-117, and P-51 in formation flight. Good stuff. I also found a site detailing the kind of spy/detective equipment that is available to the general public. Some of that stuff is pretty scary... did you remove every screw in your wall when you moved in? One last fun site: A timeline of American Military Interventions. Makes you realize that regardless of what you think of the current administration, we've definitely not been the "good guys" for a very long time.

Conroe didn't get released this week. Intel did release more performance numbers, but I don't really trust them to set up an even playing field. I do know that now is an excellent time to get an Intel processor of the previous generation. They've dropped prices ridiculously low. The Pentium D 805 -- a dual core processor! -- can be had for just over $100. AMD has a tough few months ahead, because they simply can't compete with Intel when Intel chooses to sell for a loss.

I rewatched almost all of Scrubs this week (Seasons 1-4). Scrubs is an amazing show; just the right blend of comedy and drama for me. Any show that can tackle serious issues on a episode-by-episode basis and still make me belly laugh at least twice per episode is okay in my book.

I also did the SAOP (Summer Academic Orientation Program) presentation for ITS. I need to come up with better material then I was given though: the third group laughed at the password generation algorithm I told them. Since we're using the "song lyrics or TV quotes you know, capitalize and replace i with ! or a with 4" thing, I think a Powerpoint would be very handy. What do you think of using "There once was a man from Nantucket..." as my generator phrase?

Hope you all have a great week!

Movies, work, and a new camera

2006-06-04T10:40:00.000-05:00

I saw three movies this week of slightly different genres. The first was X-Men 3. I have to say I was slightly disappointed at X:3. It seemed to be more of a pure action movie, and not able to be as serious about the issues it raised as the previous two movies. On the other hand, there were no lines of dialog that jumped out and bit me with the cheesy affliction, and a lot of the effects were very cool. If you see this movie, be sure you stay until after the credits -- there is a 15 second clip that changes a lot, should they decide to do a sequel as they claim they won't. Recommended.

The second movie was King Kong (I finally saw it). Definitely could tell it was Peter Jackson and WETA behind this movie (some of the scenes were straight from LotR). I've never seen the 1933 version, but I imagine this one was pretty similar. Jack Black is excellent in a serious role (I had my doubts). One thing about older movies I notice is that the dramatic structure is so much more regimented; there are no real transitions as there are in modern movies. Recommended.

The last movie was Over the Hedge. Again, as I said in an edit to my last post, this movie was awesome. I agree with some of the reviewers that the "family" focus of its last act did grow a bit tiresome, but the jokes were funny through the whole thing (Spoiler Alert!), and a lot more complex then I was expecting in some cases (Quick: Name the last cartoon movie that mentioned the Geneva Conventions. Anyone?) The animation was great (it was claimed that each frame of the movie took on average 17 hours to render). People compared it to Toy Story and said the animation was worse, but Toy Story was much less ambitious with what, exactly, it animated. OtH rendered everything to be as lifelike as possible. Highly Recommended.

Transitioning from movies to music for a moment: I found three new bands I really like. It's been a while since I found any new music I really like, but this new stuff may have provided me with a new favorite song. The three bands are Death Cab for Cutie, Motion City Soundtrack, and Brand New. None of them are new to the scene or anything, but they're new to me, and if you like Jimmy Eat World/All American Rejects type stuff, you owe it to yourself to give them a listen.

Work's going great. My boss's boss really liked my last report, and I can feel some of the fall out from that daily. I feel like I'm really a part of the team now, and people certainly solicit and listen to my input. A guy couldn't ask for more in this type of job. Now, I just have to make sure I don't screw it up :-). Sometimes I regret not going to Google for the summer, but there I would never be more then a lowly intern. Here, I get to influence actual policy.

I bought my new camera. Last week, I had all but decided on the Canon Powershot A530. However, there was a phenominal Dell deal on the Canon Powershot A620 this week, so I grabbed it. This baby has a 7.1MP sensor, 4x optical zoom, and all the Canon goodies in the interface. I also picked up a gig SD card and a soft case for it, while I was buying. Expect pictures as soon as Dell decides to ship it to me (I hope this doesn't turn into another flash drive debacle with them...)

That's about it for this week. I expect an epic battle between Conroe (Intel's new processor) and AM2 (AMD's new platform) to be unleashed this week (I'm not sure of the exact NDA date on Intel's stuff, but I have it on good authority it is this coming week). I'll have post-review impressions next week. Until then, have a great week!

Long time no update

2006-05-28T17:31:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've updated. According to alistapart, I "betray my readers" when I don't update on a regular schedule. So, I'm going to try to do a weekend update each week, hopefully soon with photographic illustration!

Speaking of a camera, I think I've decided on my model: The Canon Powershot A530. It's a sweet camera; 5 megapixel CCD and 4x optical zoom. But what makes it great are the deals you can find on it right now. It's been spotted as low as $120 at OfficeDepot. I'm waiting on it to dip below $150 again so I can snap it up. I was also considering the Canon Powershot A620, which bumps the CCD to 7.1 megapixels, and gives some extra video options. For a light user like myself, however, the A530 will be fine.

Work's going great. I just completed a project where I reviewed 14 online backup solutions and completed a comparison table and made recommendations. I have two other projects: Image Acquisition, which is basically finding an easy-to-use scanner for departmental and individual use, and the VUaccess installer for next year (a CD we put together containing a whole bunch of free software, our licensed anti-virus/anti-spyware, and setup for a dial-up connection). Neither will be as much fun, but interesting nonetheless.

Michelle managed to get herself bitten by a brown recluse again. It definitely doesn't look like it's going to be fun for her. Her landlord needs to rid that place of the spiders or he can face some serious liability. Besides the spiders, he also hasn't fixed their air conditioner, and I can't imagine that's fun for her with this heat.

My cousin Brooke graduated from high school last week. I'm very proud of her. I didn't have my good camera yet, but we got some digital prints from a disposable that I've cropped and made more pretty. A big congratulations to her!

That's all for this week. Tune in next week: same time, same channel.

Update: Over the Hedge is AMAZING. You should go see it.

I'm done

2006-05-04T23:23:00.000-05:00

I am done with all the finals, all the papers. It's all over. I just finished a bottle of rum to wash it all down. I'm so happy that this semester is over. Just thought I'd give you an update. Classes for next semester are signed up. Hope y'all have a great week.

The last 7 days

2006-04-16T16:57:00.000-05:00

The last seven class days are here. What's due:

20 page paper on my artificial neural network project, which hasn't quite been started (I have the data, though).
25-40 page report in my program and project management class on renovating community kitchens (this one is well on it's way to being complete).
Final project in database. This is about 15-20 pages, and almost completely finished (We're putting final touches on Monday night and turning it in). I'm very comfortable with this one
Final project in compilers, where we take an abstract syntax tree in the COOL language and convert it to an annotated abstract syntax tree. Evidentally, the solution is going to be at least 1300 lines of code. Not started.
2 oral progress reports on my AI Project.
(Optional) Homework in algorithms
2 homeworks in compilers (past due)
A test in compilers

So it should be a fun seven class days (9 real days). After that comes exams, of course, which won't be any easier. I feel like I'm going to do either really poorly or pretty much okay this semester... I have no idea how I'm doing in 2 of 5 classes. The other ones I know I've got an A, and A, and a B. So AABCC would drop my GPA but not dramatically. It would hurt my major GPA pretty good (ABCC, on a 3.64).

But, enough about school. The apartment is coming along nicely. We have stuff in the kitchen, a couch, a chair, two end tables, a coffee table, a tv stand, and a TV in there now, along with a couple of lamps. Brian and I christened the apartment on Friday evening by making spaghetti, drinking, and watching West Wing. I think next year is going to be a good year.

A friend has suggested I do Google's Summer of Code. It certainly would be interesting. It pays $4500 ($500 goes to your sponsor), and it would teach me a lot about programming and get my name on a real project. However, I'm not even sure programming is what I want to DO when I leave here, so I don't know whether I'll do it or not. It would be an enormous time commitment. I don't want to have an 80 hour work week again, which I have a feeling is what this would entail. Not to mention I'm not even sure at all I would be a contender for a spot. But all that aside, I'm considering it.

Have a better week then me!

Bill Nye Angers Some Creationists During Lecture

2006-04-06T17:32:00.000-05:00

Bill Nye (The Science Guy) made some statements about Genesis during a lecture, causing some creationists in the audience to get up and leave, exclaiming "I believe in God!".

--

Sad that we still have to deal with this. Do these people honestly not believe that the moon isn't a light, or does their brain just turn off every time they hear the word "Bible?"

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Busy, busy week

2006-04-05T22:13:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update. Apartment stuff is going. Still haven't gotten anything moved in, but craigslist will provide a savoir, I'm confident. I'm vacillating on whether to use a used mattress/bed set or buy new.... new is expensive (>$500), used might have all manner of unpleasentness that I have avoiding from a generally boring lifestyle, but is less than a third of the price. It's an interesting quandary, and one to which I could use input.

This week has been the week from hell. On Monday, a compilers program (6 hours, incomplete when due) and a database quiz were due (DB got pushed back to Wednesday). On Tuesday, an algorithms homework was due (12 hours), plus my 8-page project proposal. That got pushed back to 'whenever', from what I understand (I'll probably finish it tomorrow afternoon). Today was the database quiz and compilers homework (not complete). Tomorrow is day 1 of a 2 day test in algorithms (150 minutes total, 75 per day). So, an exciting week. I knew weeks like this would exist when I made the schedule though. I'm hoping for As in algorithms and MT, a B+ in database, and Cs or better in AI and Compilers, which would put me at about my average GPAs for everything (lowering my major GPA by a significant fraction, but I can deal).

I've put some thought lately into being a lawyer. Coding just doesn't hold the appeal for me it once did, and being a lawyer would give me a unique position from which I could affect a lot of technology related law over the next lifetime. It seems like a large percentage of the limitations currently being placed on technology are not technological but social limits. I'd like to take part in shaping those social limits. Plus, IP law evidentally pays well. Who knew?

Good day,

More new apartment pics and a floor plan

2006-03-29T16:05:00.000-06:00

The exciting news is... we've got the apartment! We've already gotten a key and been inside our place. The electric will be switching over on Monday. I'm incredibly excited about my first place. The room is basically the same size as my towers room, except the closet isn't inside the room but adjacent to it, so I get more space before you even factor in the living room and kitchen. More new apartment pictures and a floor plan are up. The place is about 700 sq. ft., which is small but definitely larger then 120 sq. ft. where I live now, so I'm really excited. Also, my credit is good enough to waive a deposit for electric (who knew?)

I'm going to waste the rest of the afternoon playing with Visio placing furnature, so wish me luck :-)

A quick edit before bed

2006-03-29T00:51:00.000-06:00

The last few days have been exciting. I did very little over the weekend, and then paid dearly for it on Monday night when I was finishing my projects for MT234: Project Management and CS269: Project in Artificial Intelligence. Nevertheless, that's over now.

The big news of the day has to be our initial approval for the apartment previously mentioned, though. I'm so excited! The purchasing of various furnature makes life interesting, money-wise, but my mother is helping with donations of both older furnature (a kitchen table, a chest of drawers) and some money to help with my bed. There is a lot of stuff you need when first moving out though: couches, tables, lamps, lights, bookshelves, desks... well, it's a lot of stuff. Nearly a grand's worth of stuff new just for the basics. Luckily, we should be able to get a lot of good used couches, tables, and what-have-you on Craigslist, so I'm pretty thrilled.

Anyway, hopefully next time you read this I'll be the proud new renter of an apartment.

O Happy Days

V for Vendetta

2006-03-24T23:04:00.000-06:00

V for Vendetta was awesome. It was smart, funny, inspiring, topical, and well-acted. Cliches were avoided, the timing was good, the action was spot-on (including "knife time" from the makers of "bullet time"). Hugo Weaving pulled off a role that depended entirely upon body language and vocal inflection with a precision that makes me weep, and Natalie Portman rocked the role of Evey all the way to the bank. Do yourself a favor, and even though it is the MPAA, take time to at least steal this movie, or preferably see it in the theater.

Carrabba's was excellent, with enough spaghetti to fill a large serving bowl (I, being me, ate it all, of course). Thanks to Cassie for making the dinner fun; how she maintains such a positive happy attitude even while working food service, I'll never know. And Matt avoided any particular wall-wetting incidents (he knows what I mean)

Have a great weekend people.

New Apartment

2006-03-24T12:46:00.000-06:00

Apartment hunting is fun. It seems odd, though, that the first place we've looked at is one we want to jump on. It is awfully nice, though. $875/mo., 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 2 nice big closets. It's relatively small (900 sq ft?), and I'm a little upset about the lack of a real "dining area" (a normal table takes up the entire space where dining would normally happen).

If you'd like to see pictures of the place we're thinking about, I've put up a (simple, ugly) set of pictures. [Thanks Brian!] I would be in the smaller bedroom, at least at first, but I don't mind really. It's big enough for a full bed, a computer desk, and a chest of drawers, and that's all I really need. Plus, the cheaper rent (I was thinking $600-700 month, people, each!) gives me lots more latitude in what I can do next year, and you can't beat the location (the first picture on that page is taken from my on-campus window). If we get it, we'll have it from April 1st on, so I can slowly move my stuff in (and maybe start sleeping on a real bed, woohoo!) I sure will miss the fast Internet though (good bye, 10MB/s Usenet downloads).

Final exams end on May 4th this year. And, as always, even though I only have 2 (maybe 3) exams, I have one on the morning of the last day. This phenomenon is pathetic. Luckily, I'll have a full week to study for my 2 important exams. Look on the bright side, as always. Hope you have a wonderful day!

The concern is overwhelming

2006-03-22T22:08:00.000-06:00

(10:06:09 PM) Me: k
(10:06:17 PM) Me: I may be doing funky things with high voltage
(10:06:27 PM) Brian: cool
(10:06:36 PM) Brian: just don't kill yourself
(10:06:41 PM) Brian: I can't afford 875/month

If anyone is reading, let me know by leaving a comment; I want to see how many people got lost over my half-year absence from the blogosphere.

The first blog post

2006-03-22T13:44:00.000-06:00

The wonderful world of my life has just been added to blogger. For those of you who were dying to find out more about me, well, you are in luck. For the rest of you, you can skiddadle.

What's hot?

My Project in Artificial Intelligence class is now entering month three. Why is it hot? No grades yet. There were no grades given prior to the class withdrawl period ending. C'est la vie.
I skipped class today. Why is it hot? I had absolutely no reason for doing so. I used the extra time to play Day of Defeat and "prepare" for homework by watching The Daily Show.
Apartment viewing tomorrow. Why is it hot? $875/mo split two ways means I come out way ahead on rent for next year, while getting both more space and (finally!) a kitchen.
Algorithms homework is due tomorrow. Why is it hot? My 103 on the test makes the homework seem just that much more... worthless. 6% of my grade is important, though.

My previous blog was over at Xanga. I don't suggest you visit that site, however; it was a different me. If this year has done anything, it's made me realize that I am an adult; things don't come easily any more. Now's the time to dig in, learn what I need, and change the world. Then I get to do the really exciting stuff :-)