Have you ever noticed that thing where when there is a group of people and a portion of the group is listening to one person while others are listening to another then all the attention shifts away from one of the speakers the audience-less speaker will just kind of stall while looking around for anyone to continue telling the story to, even if the new audience has no overlap with the old one. And there's that awkward bit of eye contact language as the story teller tries to drag people in and audience members try to avoid glances or get sucked in.
I find the whole eye contact communication fairly funny. But what I find especially amazing is how little it matters who gets sucked in to hear the rest of the story. If someone starts talking you can give the person the benefit of the doubt that she/he thinks there is information the audience would appreciate knowing (or would find amusing or...). Then when the audience is lost if the person only started again upon regaining the attention of the original audience it would be one thing. But as far as I can tell it rarely matters who gets sucked in by the eye contact game. Which I think eliminates pretty much any possibility other than the story teller is talking purely for his/her own sake. Not that this is such a terrible thing - telling others a story can be very therapeutic. But the instances of this scenario really make it seem like a huge portion of communication must be more for the sake of the speaker than listener. Yeah I know I'm far from the first person to come to this conclusion. And yes as I started writing this post I did realize the irony of writing about people who talk for their own sake without caring who is listening on my blog.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Dollhouse
Semi-spoiler alert.
So my understanding was that Whedon had a 5 season plan for dollhouse. They made it 1.5 seasons in before Fox decided to cancel the show. That left 9 hours of dollhouse. I really think they are covering the whole 5 year plan which means each episode is about 0.4 seasons and it does feel like each episode is covering a half season story arc. As the guy in the attic said - that's ahead of all projected schedules. I'm getting extra mad at fox because the last few episodes haven't been as enjoyable since the plot is so rushed, but they do seem like they would be awesome multi-episode plots. But with the speed they are going through the story I'm barely caught up with the idea that Echo has gone from slave to super hero. At least we got to see Victor being Topher.
So my understanding was that Whedon had a 5 season plan for dollhouse. They made it 1.5 seasons in before Fox decided to cancel the show. That left 9 hours of dollhouse. I really think they are covering the whole 5 year plan which means each episode is about 0.4 seasons and it does feel like each episode is covering a half season story arc. As the guy in the attic said - that's ahead of all projected schedules. I'm getting extra mad at fox because the last few episodes haven't been as enjoyable since the plot is so rushed, but they do seem like they would be awesome multi-episode plots. But with the speed they are going through the story I'm barely caught up with the idea that Echo has gone from slave to super hero. At least we got to see Victor being Topher.
The Eye of the World
Lending someone a book you think they'll like seems like it would be nice, except it is a bit less clear when it is first book in the third longest novel series (in latin or cyrillic characters). Wow, just looked up #1 on the list - that is a giant ball of silliness.
There is a definite sense in the book of struggling against an overwhelming enemy who can be set back but never really defeated. I think Robert Jordan helps bring this out by giving the reader an overwhelming number of pages to read. No matter how much I read in a day it barely dented the book, and finishing the book is barely denting the series.
I actually really liked The Eye of the World and appreciate Julie lending it to me. This book is very lord of the rings, although based on the ending I expect it to start diverging in the next book. And I think the actual writing style is somewhat different (well the most obvious is there aren't many songs and poems in this one).
One of my few criticisms of LOTR is that Tolkien made Gandalf so powerful that he then had to handicap him by giving him orders to not intervene too much. I still think Gandalf is awesome, but I do think that in The Eye of the World the power of the characters is a bit more balanced so no one is artificially holding back (well, later books might correct that). Although I am left wondering if those three characters are so important why is there only one Aes Sedai with them? What are the others up to that's so important? I imagine this will be answered later so if you know the answers to these questions don't tell me.
There is a definite sense in the book of struggling against an overwhelming enemy who can be set back but never really defeated. I think Robert Jordan helps bring this out by giving the reader an overwhelming number of pages to read. No matter how much I read in a day it barely dented the book, and finishing the book is barely denting the series.
I actually really liked The Eye of the World and appreciate Julie lending it to me. This book is very lord of the rings, although based on the ending I expect it to start diverging in the next book. And I think the actual writing style is somewhat different (well the most obvious is there aren't many songs and poems in this one).
One of my few criticisms of LOTR is that Tolkien made Gandalf so powerful that he then had to handicap him by giving him orders to not intervene too much. I still think Gandalf is awesome, but I do think that in The Eye of the World the power of the characters is a bit more balanced so no one is artificially holding back (well, later books might correct that). Although I am left wondering if those three characters are so important why is there only one Aes Sedai with them? What are the others up to that's so important? I imagine this will be answered later so if you know the answers to these questions don't tell me.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Office and Counterpoint
I think that what The Office has been doing recently is kind of interesting. The show started off with the typical office humor point of view where there's a normal person or two, the boss is incompetent and each coworker has their own bit of insanity. Pretty much the Dilbert formula. I'm not saying there wasn't anything original about The Office (well, ok there was nothing original about the American version), but the perspective was pretty standard. Over the past couple of seasons as Jim has taken on more responsibilities we've seen hints about the transition to come. And now that Jim is a co-manager they've really flipped the situation around. We learn that while Michael is a weirdo and somewhat incompetent, some of the insanity is on purpose and Jim who is expected to know better is actually needing direction from Michael.
Nothing that extraordinary, but if office fans are the Dilbert crowd who go through their day convinced they know better than their boss then the show is in some way now making fun of their fans (or at least correcting them). Seems like a bit of a strange move. Luckily Michael still comes off insane so it is not a complete reversal of views.
This sentence is acting as a transition between topics.
When news and talk shows have Jenny McCarthy on to talk about vaccines I scream "WTF IS GOING ON? WHO'S BEEN HANDING OUT THE STUPID PILLS?". Oh, that's not where I was going with that. Let's try again. When news and talk shows have Jenny McCarthy on to talk about vaccines it might seem appropriate to have another guest who is a vaccine specialist at the CDC or some university explain why vaccines are actually good and talk about the extensive studies that show they don't cause autism.
However, that's not the counterpoint that should follow her appearance. The guest after Jenny McCarthy should be a vaccine specialist at the CDC or some university and should be wearing a sport coat with chalk dust on it over a t-shirt with Maxwell's equations, too loose pants and pure white tennis shoes, also acceptable is a free t-shirt from a career fair plus jeans that were purchased in the early 80s and birkenstocks with white socks, bonus points for taped glasses and extra bonus points for soldered glasses. The scientist should be there to provide a counterpoint to Jenny McCarthy's choice of outfit.
If McCarthy cries foul because she went to the "university of google", the scientist can explain that he went to the university library and read all the books on fashion he could find, most of which happen to be from previous centuries, but hey he read a bunch of stuff so he's just as qualified to discuss fashion as she is to discuss vaccines.
The weird thing is I don't even watch the shows that have McCarthy on, but it generates so much buzz that I hear about it on NPR and news websites. Hm, I just admitted that I'm complaining about interviews I've never even seen. Well I guess I should go ahead and dedicate this post to everyone attending the "university of google" where poorly informed rants like this post count as reading assignments. Remember that anytime a claim from this blog is cited it can be proceed by, "My source, who has a graduate degree from MIT, says...".
Nothing that extraordinary, but if office fans are the Dilbert crowd who go through their day convinced they know better than their boss then the show is in some way now making fun of their fans (or at least correcting them). Seems like a bit of a strange move. Luckily Michael still comes off insane so it is not a complete reversal of views.
This sentence is acting as a transition between topics.
When news and talk shows have Jenny McCarthy on to talk about vaccines I scream "WTF IS GOING ON? WHO'S BEEN HANDING OUT THE STUPID PILLS?". Oh, that's not where I was going with that. Let's try again. When news and talk shows have Jenny McCarthy on to talk about vaccines it might seem appropriate to have another guest who is a vaccine specialist at the CDC or some university explain why vaccines are actually good and talk about the extensive studies that show they don't cause autism.
However, that's not the counterpoint that should follow her appearance. The guest after Jenny McCarthy should be a vaccine specialist at the CDC or some university and should be wearing a sport coat with chalk dust on it over a t-shirt with Maxwell's equations, too loose pants and pure white tennis shoes, also acceptable is a free t-shirt from a career fair plus jeans that were purchased in the early 80s and birkenstocks with white socks, bonus points for taped glasses and extra bonus points for soldered glasses. The scientist should be there to provide a counterpoint to Jenny McCarthy's choice of outfit.
If McCarthy cries foul because she went to the "university of google", the scientist can explain that he went to the university library and read all the books on fashion he could find, most of which happen to be from previous centuries, but hey he read a bunch of stuff so he's just as qualified to discuss fashion as she is to discuss vaccines.
The weird thing is I don't even watch the shows that have McCarthy on, but it generates so much buzz that I hear about it on NPR and news websites. Hm, I just admitted that I'm complaining about interviews I've never even seen. Well I guess I should go ahead and dedicate this post to everyone attending the "university of google" where poorly informed rants like this post count as reading assignments. Remember that anytime a claim from this blog is cited it can be proceed by, "My source, who has a graduate degree from MIT, says...".
Mind Reading Showers
First off for all the Stars Wars fans there's this.
Ok, now for the overly thought out terrible idea.
I want a hat that I wear when I take a shower that reads my EEG. Over time I would train it to learn when I'm feeling too hot and too cold. Once it has caught on to what pattern indicates my feeling about temperature it could take over control of the shower temperature. If you think having an EEG learn when I feel hot vs cold is the most impractical part of this idea, I think you'd be surprised - this is when a link to an article about one of those devices that let people move a mouse cursor with their mind would be helpful, but it's too late at night to bother. Might be able to make the problem easier by also looking at something like rates of nerves firing on the skin, especially for an early indicator if the temperature is too high or low. Of course the feedback system would have to be carefully designed so that it wouldn't make changes too rapidly or overshoot the goal by too much, but that's not terribly difficult (basically just need to make it an over-damped system or critically damped if a little overshoot is acceptable).
This might sound super lazy and it is, but I am annoyed when I have to keep adjusting the knob up and down to maintain what feels like a comfortable temperature. There should also be a shutoff button that both electronically and mechanically shuts off water to the shower in case the system went haywire and cranked up the temperature. If the EEG was connected to the shower by wires that would get in the way, but all of this could be done wirelessly, especially if the hat did some of the data processing. Hm, I guess the hat would get in the way of washing my hair, but do you really have to wash hair since after a while you cut it off and grow new hair anyway? Well, I guess clean hair is nice so instead of a hat for EEG the shower could be built inside a fMRI. I'd have to keep perfectly still, but if I'm spending a million dollars on a shower I could probably have it wash me without it needing me to move.
Somewhat more seriously I'm surprised that I've never seen a digitally controlled shower. I wouldn't expect it most places, but maybe fancy hotels - well maybe fancier hotels than I go to.
Ok, now for the overly thought out terrible idea.
I want a hat that I wear when I take a shower that reads my EEG. Over time I would train it to learn when I'm feeling too hot and too cold. Once it has caught on to what pattern indicates my feeling about temperature it could take over control of the shower temperature. If you think having an EEG learn when I feel hot vs cold is the most impractical part of this idea, I think you'd be surprised - this is when a link to an article about one of those devices that let people move a mouse cursor with their mind would be helpful, but it's too late at night to bother. Might be able to make the problem easier by also looking at something like rates of nerves firing on the skin, especially for an early indicator if the temperature is too high or low. Of course the feedback system would have to be carefully designed so that it wouldn't make changes too rapidly or overshoot the goal by too much, but that's not terribly difficult (basically just need to make it an over-damped system or critically damped if a little overshoot is acceptable).
This might sound super lazy and it is, but I am annoyed when I have to keep adjusting the knob up and down to maintain what feels like a comfortable temperature. There should also be a shutoff button that both electronically and mechanically shuts off water to the shower in case the system went haywire and cranked up the temperature. If the EEG was connected to the shower by wires that would get in the way, but all of this could be done wirelessly, especially if the hat did some of the data processing. Hm, I guess the hat would get in the way of washing my hair, but do you really have to wash hair since after a while you cut it off and grow new hair anyway? Well, I guess clean hair is nice so instead of a hat for EEG the shower could be built inside a fMRI. I'd have to keep perfectly still, but if I'm spending a million dollars on a shower I could probably have it wash me without it needing me to move.
Somewhat more seriously I'm surprised that I've never seen a digitally controlled shower. I wouldn't expect it most places, but maybe fancy hotels - well maybe fancier hotels than I go to.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
802.11 Wireless Networks
About a year and a half ago I bought 802.11 Wireless Networks The Definitive Guide and I've been slowly making my way through it since then. I finally finished.
I got a lot out of reading the book since it answered a lot of my questions about how the circuits I design at work are used, what is going on around them, and why certain features are required. But for anyone else I think you either know you want to read a book about WiFi or you don't. Although if I was going to get a book about WiFi I would look for something more recent, especially since 802.11n was still poorly defined when the book came out in 2005.
I'm trying to think of any interesting details to share. But a lot of the user stuff really only applies to large networks, not setting up a single access point in a home.
I got a lot out of reading the book since it answered a lot of my questions about how the circuits I design at work are used, what is going on around them, and why certain features are required. But for anyone else I think you either know you want to read a book about WiFi or you don't. Although if I was going to get a book about WiFi I would look for something more recent, especially since 802.11n was still poorly defined when the book came out in 2005.
I'm trying to think of any interesting details to share. But a lot of the user stuff really only applies to large networks, not setting up a single access point in a home.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Holy Water
I'm going to a baptism on Saturday. I'm kind of worried. Is this one of those events with holy water? If I get some holy water splashed on me how badly will it burn? Would it be wrong to bring a plastic tarp like the first few rows at a Gallagher show? I think my only hope is if god made a coding error and wrote holy water burns if Jew XOR atheist instead of Jew OR atheist.
Stuff and Things
2nd patent application has been submitted. But because of how it was filed it won't show up on the uspto site till it is approved.
Dollhouse has been canceled :'(. I guess not showing any episodes during sweeps was a bit of a sign (not to mention airing it on Friday night). At least we get a few more episodes. It's kind of odd that I'm more upset about them canceling firefly even though I didn't even know the show existed when they canceled it.
Day man
Fighter of the Night man
Champion of the sun
You’re a master of karate and friendship…for everyone
Day man, day man
Uhh ahhahh
Fighter of the Night man
Uhh ahhahh
Champion of the sun
Uhh ahhahh
Master of karate and friendship…for everyone
Day man, day man
Uhh ahhahh
Fighter of the Night man
Champion of the sun
That one is for the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fans. It's strange, when I watch that show I alternate between not laughing, but thinking, oh that's a funny concept and laughing like crazy. Actually I think it is just a matter of how much Charlie ranting time the episode has. I also think it shares the aqua teen hunger force effect - the later at night it is the funnier the show is. (Hm, that paragraph isn't a strong endorsement for the show, but I actually think it is really funny).
On Castle Mal squared off against the bad guy from the second to last episode of firefly. It was way better when it happened in firefly.
I do actually have more going on in my life right now than TV, really, there's other stuff and even things.
Dollhouse has been canceled :'(. I guess not showing any episodes during sweeps was a bit of a sign (not to mention airing it on Friday night). At least we get a few more episodes. It's kind of odd that I'm more upset about them canceling firefly even though I didn't even know the show existed when they canceled it.
Day man
Fighter of the Night man
Champion of the sun
You’re a master of karate and friendship…for everyone
Day man, day man
Uhh ahhahh
Fighter of the Night man
Uhh ahhahh
Champion of the sun
Uhh ahhahh
Master of karate and friendship…for everyone
Day man, day man
Uhh ahhahh
Fighter of the Night man
Champion of the sun
That one is for the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fans. It's strange, when I watch that show I alternate between not laughing, but thinking, oh that's a funny concept and laughing like crazy. Actually I think it is just a matter of how much Charlie ranting time the episode has. I also think it shares the aqua teen hunger force effect - the later at night it is the funnier the show is. (Hm, that paragraph isn't a strong endorsement for the show, but I actually think it is really funny).
On Castle Mal squared off against the bad guy from the second to last episode of firefly. It was way better when it happened in firefly.
I do actually have more going on in my life right now than TV, really, there's other stuff and even things.
RSS Ads
There's a blog on EDN I occasionally read (unfortunately it's way too focused on digital). As with all blogs that I read I follow the RSS feed. I was just fooled into clicking on an ad because the blog's RSS feed incorporated links to ads as if they were links to posts (ok, I wasn't paying much attention because all the ads start with "Sponsored Link"). Not sure how common that is, but it is the first time I've seen it. Putting ads as posts in an RSS feed - LAME.
Hm, I guess the only thing lamer than that is a link that goes to a blog post that talks about ads in RSS feeds and even worse then tries to make it ok by using a self-referential joke...
Hm, I guess the only thing lamer than that is a link that goes to a blog post that talks about ads in RSS feeds and even worse then tries to make it ok by using a self-referential joke...
Row 14
All life on Earth, including humans, is carbon based.
Carbon is in the 14th row of the periodic table of elements and thus has 4 valence bonds (it's outer ring of electrons has 4 spots filled and the other 4 spots open).
Semiconductors are typically made out of silicon which is also in the 14th row and thus has similar chemical properties to carbon. Other semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide and indium phosphide are made up of elements in other rows that combine to act like row 14 elements (the two examples are combinations of rows 13 and 15). Sometimes germanium is added to silicon which works out since germanium is also in row 14. There are plenty of other crazy combinations of elements used in semiconductors, but those are the major ones used for integrated circuits.
So both life and semiconductors are based on row 14 elements and thus are both based on similar chemistry. Kinda cool.
Yes, I realize that lots of people have proposed the idea that we could find silicon based life on other planets, although that usually refers to finding something animal like, just based on silicon chains rather than carbon chains. What struck me was the similarity between semiconductors and humans. But that's about as far as I've gotten with that thought.
Carbon is in the 14th row of the periodic table of elements and thus has 4 valence bonds (it's outer ring of electrons has 4 spots filled and the other 4 spots open).
Semiconductors are typically made out of silicon which is also in the 14th row and thus has similar chemical properties to carbon. Other semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide and indium phosphide are made up of elements in other rows that combine to act like row 14 elements (the two examples are combinations of rows 13 and 15). Sometimes germanium is added to silicon which works out since germanium is also in row 14. There are plenty of other crazy combinations of elements used in semiconductors, but those are the major ones used for integrated circuits.
So both life and semiconductors are based on row 14 elements and thus are both based on similar chemistry. Kinda cool.
Yes, I realize that lots of people have proposed the idea that we could find silicon based life on other planets, although that usually refers to finding something animal like, just based on silicon chains rather than carbon chains. What struck me was the similarity between semiconductors and humans. But that's about as far as I've gotten with that thought.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Repeated Dilemmas
On TV there's a reasonably common scenario in which a decision has to be made about trading off risk to an individual vs a group (in fact if you leave on the Syfy channel you'll probably see this multiple times a day). Often there will be two characters who disagree, the one who takes up the "greater good" argument is typically a scientist or other logic driven character and the one who pushes "leave no man behind" or "this is the morally correct way to go" or "how could we live with ourselves" is typically a member of the military or some other hero type character. The scientist argument can sometimes be a mask for "do whatever is least risky for me" which is typically the jerk scientist, but I'll ignore this side of the argument for this post.
I imagine that just about everyone sides with the character who supports saving the individual and so do I (I always side with Helo and almost never side with Baltar).
First I'd like to defend the scientist a little. While I overall disagree, I will say that often "leave no man behind" will pose significant risk to the entire group, and if TV shows didn't care about keeping main characters or audiences then we'd probably see a more balanced set of outcomes which may call the hero choice into question. I think that more movies like The Watchmen would do a lot of good for all other stories since the audience would believe something bad could actually happen (of course that thought is part of the justification for Wash's death so maybe I'll take that back).
However, I would claim that simplistic logic leads to the "greater good" argument and that the scientist character should be far too smart for it. The major downfall of the greater good argument is that on these shows it is almost never a one time event that is being dealt with. But rather something that happens about once a week (ok in the course of the show it may be less often, but is still a repeating occurrence). So they are not in a single game, but a repeated game. (If you're getting bored, just think prisoner's dilemma vs repeated prisoner's dilemma and you've basically got my point).
Yes, in a truly isolated incident maybe it does make sense to loosen your morals for a moment and let one guy die to save the group. However, if this decision is going to be faced repeatedly there are several consequences. For one thing the person out doing something dangerous is probably the person who would do other dangerous things in the future. If an important marine/viper pilot/away team member dies every time there is a threat to the group they're going to have a shortage of these important people. In addition after this happens once or twice that could do some serious damage to moral and reduce the risks team members are willing to take on. Both of these concerns are especially significant if they are a group on say one or more space ships and have no connection with other humans or there are no other humans. Also in situations involving the military it is always going to be a repeated dilemma since at some point the military will face another dangerous situation and its policies and reputation from past decisions will matter.
I think that this logic is somewhat built into human emotions and societal norms/morality. This is why the hero type will know the right answer from a gut feel or moral standpoint. However, writers seem to think that the scientist is applying logic to only the single situation. Seems like they think the scientist showed up for the psychology or economics lecture where the prisoners dilemma was covered, but skipped the next week when the repeated version was discussed.
I think I just took down Spock using logic! Which makes me wonder if Spock and Kurk had the opposite positions would the situation also be reversed in all the scifi shows since then.
I imagine that just about everyone sides with the character who supports saving the individual and so do I (I always side with Helo and almost never side with Baltar).
First I'd like to defend the scientist a little. While I overall disagree, I will say that often "leave no man behind" will pose significant risk to the entire group, and if TV shows didn't care about keeping main characters or audiences then we'd probably see a more balanced set of outcomes which may call the hero choice into question. I think that more movies like The Watchmen would do a lot of good for all other stories since the audience would believe something bad could actually happen (of course that thought is part of the justification for Wash's death so maybe I'll take that back).
However, I would claim that simplistic logic leads to the "greater good" argument and that the scientist character should be far too smart for it. The major downfall of the greater good argument is that on these shows it is almost never a one time event that is being dealt with. But rather something that happens about once a week (ok in the course of the show it may be less often, but is still a repeating occurrence). So they are not in a single game, but a repeated game. (If you're getting bored, just think prisoner's dilemma vs repeated prisoner's dilemma and you've basically got my point).
Yes, in a truly isolated incident maybe it does make sense to loosen your morals for a moment and let one guy die to save the group. However, if this decision is going to be faced repeatedly there are several consequences. For one thing the person out doing something dangerous is probably the person who would do other dangerous things in the future. If an important marine/viper pilot/away team member dies every time there is a threat to the group they're going to have a shortage of these important people. In addition after this happens once or twice that could do some serious damage to moral and reduce the risks team members are willing to take on. Both of these concerns are especially significant if they are a group on say one or more space ships and have no connection with other humans or there are no other humans. Also in situations involving the military it is always going to be a repeated dilemma since at some point the military will face another dangerous situation and its policies and reputation from past decisions will matter.
I think that this logic is somewhat built into human emotions and societal norms/morality. This is why the hero type will know the right answer from a gut feel or moral standpoint. However, writers seem to think that the scientist is applying logic to only the single situation. Seems like they think the scientist showed up for the psychology or economics lecture where the prisoners dilemma was covered, but skipped the next week when the repeated version was discussed.
I think I just took down Spock using logic! Which makes me wonder if Spock and Kurk had the opposite positions would the situation also be reversed in all the scifi shows since then.
Driver's Test and Probability
Today at lunch a coworker mentioned this story about a woman who took 950 tries to pass the written part of the driver's test and started asking about the probability of passing by guessing each answer.
Our guess is that the test contains 20 questions and that each one has 4 or 5 choices. Let's go with 4 choices for now. The article says she only needed 60% to pass. Well, to figure out the chances of getting 12 or more right by chance just sum the probability of getting 12 to 20 right answers. For a set number of right answers n the probability is (1/4)^n*(3/4)^(20-n)*(20 choose n) since you need n right answers, 20-n wrong answers and you have to account for all the ways of arranging them (they aren't unique so it is choose rather than permutations). So then the probability of getting 12 or more right in one sitting is sum (1/4)^(n)*(3/4)^(20-n)*(20 choose n) from 12 to 20 = 0.000935392 or 1 in 1069. Not very likely that someone would pass by blind guessing once.
However, what are the odds of passing at least once in 950 tries? This could be solved in basically the same way as the last question, but there is a faster way. This is the same as asking what is 1 minus the chances of failing 950 times which is simply 1-(1-0.000935392)^950 = 0.588949 which is approximately 59%. So even if she was purely blind guessing she was actually slightly unlucky it took that many tries to pass.
However, if there were actually 5 choices per question then she actually only had a 9% chance of passing in 950 tries. If that was the case she was lucky, but still not terribly far from the realm of blind guessing.
Remember how excited I was about wolfram alpha? This may be the first time I've used it since a few weeks after posting about it. I guess a combo of google calculator and matlab tend to keep me satisfied. Actually wolfram alpha is in a weird in between spot. It is not as immediately available as google calculator due to the firefox search box. On the other side it doesn't allow for scripting (at least it is not immediately obvious to me how to do it) or even have an obvious way to feed one answer into the next calculation so it's not that great for anything serious. I guess it fills in when I need to do some math at home.
Our guess is that the test contains 20 questions and that each one has 4 or 5 choices. Let's go with 4 choices for now. The article says she only needed 60% to pass. Well, to figure out the chances of getting 12 or more right by chance just sum the probability of getting 12 to 20 right answers. For a set number of right answers n the probability is (1/4)^n*(3/4)^(20-n)*(20 choose n) since you need n right answers, 20-n wrong answers and you have to account for all the ways of arranging them (they aren't unique so it is choose rather than permutations). So then the probability of getting 12 or more right in one sitting is sum (1/4)^(n)*(3/4)^(20-n)*(20 choose n) from 12 to 20 = 0.000935392 or 1 in 1069. Not very likely that someone would pass by blind guessing once.
However, what are the odds of passing at least once in 950 tries? This could be solved in basically the same way as the last question, but there is a faster way. This is the same as asking what is 1 minus the chances of failing 950 times which is simply 1-(1-0.000935392)^950 = 0.588949 which is approximately 59%. So even if she was purely blind guessing she was actually slightly unlucky it took that many tries to pass.
However, if there were actually 5 choices per question then she actually only had a 9% chance of passing in 950 tries. If that was the case she was lucky, but still not terribly far from the realm of blind guessing.
Remember how excited I was about wolfram alpha? This may be the first time I've used it since a few weeks after posting about it. I guess a combo of google calculator and matlab tend to keep me satisfied. Actually wolfram alpha is in a weird in between spot. It is not as immediately available as google calculator due to the firefox search box. On the other side it doesn't allow for scripting (at least it is not immediately obvious to me how to do it) or even have an obvious way to feed one answer into the next calculation so it's not that great for anything serious. I guess it fills in when I need to do some math at home.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The Future of VOIP
Sending voice over the internet is a bit tricky since what you care about is latency (how long from the time a sound is made to when the other person hears it) rather than throughput (how much data you can send over an extended period of time). The internet is largely designed for throughput so people go off and do all sorts of fancy things to improve latency for VOIP (voice over internet protocol).
So if the computer could see a little into the future (like the elevators in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, or Daniel in the Avatar episode of stargate), over the course of the conversation it would be sending the same amount of data in the same time, but it could deal with short delays. Of course the universe has decided to be causal which ruins so many time travel stories. But the world is increasingly pointing out that human speech really is quite predictable. Type into an iphone and it becomes clear that after just a few letters it often knows what you are going to say. Even more disturbing is the google search box in safari and firefox that will complete what you thought was such a unique search phrase.
So VOIP could see into the future. Obviously it would sometimes be wrong and often would just have a list of possibilities, but it could send across a list of several possibilities (make use of the excess throughput) and then once it knows for sure, just send a short message saying which one it turned out to be. And in the cases where it was wrong then it just sends the voice data as usual. (Has some similarity to pipelining in processors.) You might point out that it doesn't just need to know what word to send, but needs to actually send the sound of your voice, but that just means it has to train over the course of several conversations.
If I was Scott Adams 100 people would now tell me about how this is already being done and another 100 would tell me why it is a stupid idea. Being me, the comment box will sit empty while my friends question if they can delete this RSS feed.
So if the computer could see a little into the future (like the elevators in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, or Daniel in the Avatar episode of stargate), over the course of the conversation it would be sending the same amount of data in the same time, but it could deal with short delays. Of course the universe has decided to be causal which ruins so many time travel stories. But the world is increasingly pointing out that human speech really is quite predictable. Type into an iphone and it becomes clear that after just a few letters it often knows what you are going to say. Even more disturbing is the google search box in safari and firefox that will complete what you thought was such a unique search phrase.
So VOIP could see into the future. Obviously it would sometimes be wrong and often would just have a list of possibilities, but it could send across a list of several possibilities (make use of the excess throughput) and then once it knows for sure, just send a short message saying which one it turned out to be. And in the cases where it was wrong then it just sends the voice data as usual. (Has some similarity to pipelining in processors.) You might point out that it doesn't just need to know what word to send, but needs to actually send the sound of your voice, but that just means it has to train over the course of several conversations.
If I was Scott Adams 100 people would now tell me about how this is already being done and another 100 would tell me why it is a stupid idea. Being me, the comment box will sit empty while my friends question if they can delete this RSS feed.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Lithium
Today foreignpolicy.com had a slide show about where lithium comes from. It's not really a sad story since Bolivia is actually trying to make sure it gets some money out of the deal as opposed to what has happened with previous natural resources.
But something about it really struck me. I guess it is just that lithium batteries is this growing high tech area so it seems so odd to know that it comes from people digging evaporation ponds and moving around old plastic tubs by hand. I imagine that a lot of what we take for granted comes from similar sources. But the change from an image of middle class people sitting in front of computers in cubicles or taking measurements in electronics labs to the woman holding a plastic tub was a bit jarring this morning.
Oh well, I'm sure in a day or two I'll have reverted back to my previous set of mental images.
But something about it really struck me. I guess it is just that lithium batteries is this growing high tech area so it seems so odd to know that it comes from people digging evaporation ponds and moving around old plastic tubs by hand. I imagine that a lot of what we take for granted comes from similar sources. But the change from an image of middle class people sitting in front of computers in cubicles or taking measurements in electronics labs to the woman holding a plastic tub was a bit jarring this morning.
Oh well, I'm sure in a day or two I'll have reverted back to my previous set of mental images.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
A Sad Realization
As I've gone from a kid who is good with computers to MIT student to MIT grad working in electronics, I've kind of felt like eventually I should hit a point where tech support people treat me like slightly less of an idiot.
My current job is designing part of commercial WiFi chips. A few days ago I was calling AT&T because I occasionally lose internet access for short periods. The tech support person decided it was a WiFi problem. I tried to explain that it doesn't make sense since it is not that I get an error from the browser but an error page sent by the router which is delivered over WiFi. That got me nowhere. (No, I didn't mention what I do for work, I didn't want to be that guy).
The individual incident is a pretty mild tale of dealing with tech support (it is not like I was trying to explain the difference between 1 cent and 0.01 cents). But it has forced me to realize that I will never be qualified enough to convince a tech support person to trust me over where their script has led them.
My current job is designing part of commercial WiFi chips. A few days ago I was calling AT&T because I occasionally lose internet access for short periods. The tech support person decided it was a WiFi problem. I tried to explain that it doesn't make sense since it is not that I get an error from the browser but an error page sent by the router which is delivered over WiFi. That got me nowhere. (No, I didn't mention what I do for work, I didn't want to be that guy).
The individual incident is a pretty mild tale of dealing with tech support (it is not like I was trying to explain the difference between 1 cent and 0.01 cents). But it has forced me to realize that I will never be qualified enough to convince a tech support person to trust me over where their script has led them.
Cornel West
Does Cornel West have graduate students? Is his office the collection of coolest people in the world or is it just a typically group of divinity and African American studies graduate students? In group meetings does every statement need to be phrased as prose? Instead of accompanying him on trips to conferences did they go to the set of The Matrix with him? Are any of his graduate students conservatives?
Health Insurance
While I have some reasonably strong opinions about health care reform, I'm kind of bored of the whole thing so this post isn't about pushing my opinion.
As I've been listening to the debates about health insurance one aspect strikes me as odd. Part of health insurance really is insurance. You pay a regular set amount and in exchange the company will pay on the unlikely chance that you have a problem that costs a large amount of money. The insurance company has low risk because they pool a large number of uncorrelated risks and you pay them more than your expected costs because they take on your risk.
But there is another aspect to health insurance. In addition to paying for unexpected events they also pay for regular check ups and other expected expenses. It's like if your car insurance paid for oil changes. Some of those expected expenses like regular check ups aren't even so expensive that you need insurance against them. There are other events that may not be 100% expected, but are sufficiently likely you don't need to average with other people. Such as going to the doctor for a cold or flu or other minor issues. It will vary some year to year, but the variation is probably small enough you don't really need to insure against it. Maybe the insurance would be if the number of visits were to exceed some large number.
There's also pre-existing conditions and prescriptions. If someone has been prescribed a medicine they're going to take for the rest of their life then the next year when they renew their insurance, they're not really insuring against needing the prescription. They know they're going to need it, it is not about paying to share their risk with others.
I'm absolutely not saying that these items that aren't really insurance should not be covered. I'm just saying that it seems like what we buy is more like a monthly subscription fee rather than insurance. It may just be a change in phrasing, but it could help reshape how the problem is viewed. Such as if you consider them insurance companies then it is kind of weird for them to insure against a condition someone already has. But if you consider it paying a monthly subscription fee, then as long as the person (or their employer or the government or...) is paying for their plan then they should get treatment. And I think it is easier to make the argument that everyone should be allowed to pay for health care through a monthly subscription fee regardless of existing conditions. It could also be a way of by-passing insurance companies by allowing medical groups to directly offer these plans.
As I've been listening to the debates about health insurance one aspect strikes me as odd. Part of health insurance really is insurance. You pay a regular set amount and in exchange the company will pay on the unlikely chance that you have a problem that costs a large amount of money. The insurance company has low risk because they pool a large number of uncorrelated risks and you pay them more than your expected costs because they take on your risk.
But there is another aspect to health insurance. In addition to paying for unexpected events they also pay for regular check ups and other expected expenses. It's like if your car insurance paid for oil changes. Some of those expected expenses like regular check ups aren't even so expensive that you need insurance against them. There are other events that may not be 100% expected, but are sufficiently likely you don't need to average with other people. Such as going to the doctor for a cold or flu or other minor issues. It will vary some year to year, but the variation is probably small enough you don't really need to insure against it. Maybe the insurance would be if the number of visits were to exceed some large number.
There's also pre-existing conditions and prescriptions. If someone has been prescribed a medicine they're going to take for the rest of their life then the next year when they renew their insurance, they're not really insuring against needing the prescription. They know they're going to need it, it is not about paying to share their risk with others.
I'm absolutely not saying that these items that aren't really insurance should not be covered. I'm just saying that it seems like what we buy is more like a monthly subscription fee rather than insurance. It may just be a change in phrasing, but it could help reshape how the problem is viewed. Such as if you consider them insurance companies then it is kind of weird for them to insure against a condition someone already has. But if you consider it paying a monthly subscription fee, then as long as the person (or their employer or the government or...) is paying for their plan then they should get treatment. And I think it is easier to make the argument that everyone should be allowed to pay for health care through a monthly subscription fee regardless of existing conditions. It could also be a way of by-passing insurance companies by allowing medical groups to directly offer these plans.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Stargate
A while ago I was asking about scifi with multiple governments. Martian Time-Slip had elements of what I was thinking of, but that was just part of the background.
But there's one scifi story that seems to exactly fit what I was talking about, well except now it is syfy, but I won't hold that against it. And the winner is: Stargate SG-1. While the stargate program is really run by the US government at various points they cover interactions between earth governments, alien governments, different branches of the us government and combinations of each.
I'm sure that everyone is excited that the search no one but me cares about has ended! And yes I did just link to my own blog twice in a single post.
But there's one scifi story that seems to exactly fit what I was talking about, well except now it is syfy, but I won't hold that against it. And the winner is: Stargate SG-1. While the stargate program is really run by the US government at various points they cover interactions between earth governments, alien governments, different branches of the us government and combinations of each.
I'm sure that everyone is excited that the search no one but me cares about has ended! And yes I did just link to my own blog twice in a single post.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Dollhouse
At some point early in season 1 I came up with a metaphor for dollhouse and in celebration of the start of season 2 I'll share it with all of you (aren't you lucky... or something).
The actives are people who normally are completely blank, live in a really nice place where people take care of them. They spend their downtime exercising and caring for their looks. Many of their assignments involve sex and/or violence. -Actors and actresses.
Tofer is the one who designs personalities for the actives (and he's the funny one). He likes his job for when he gets to do good, but often his boss has him do work he isn't proud of. -Joss Whedon.
Adelle is the boss telling Tofer what to do and picks assignments based on what will make money. She takes better care of the active that she slept with. -Network executive. (Hm, I used to like Adelle, but now I'm mad at her for canceling firefly.)
Handlers look after actives. They go on assignments to watch over them and make sure everything is going ok for them. -Agents/managers.
Paul Ballard is tortured by always making the correct moral choice. -Helo.
Dr Saunders is a doctor. -Doctors (ok, I don't have one for her, especially now that we know more about her)
If I wanted to stretch this way too far I could stick in something about Echo's awareness being related to Eliza becoming a producer in addition to actress.
The actives are people who normally are completely blank, live in a really nice place where people take care of them. They spend their downtime exercising and caring for their looks. Many of their assignments involve sex and/or violence. -Actors and actresses.
Tofer is the one who designs personalities for the actives (and he's the funny one). He likes his job for when he gets to do good, but often his boss has him do work he isn't proud of. -Joss Whedon.
Adelle is the boss telling Tofer what to do and picks assignments based on what will make money. She takes better care of the active that she slept with. -Network executive. (Hm, I used to like Adelle, but now I'm mad at her for canceling firefly.)
Handlers look after actives. They go on assignments to watch over them and make sure everything is going ok for them. -Agents/managers.
Paul Ballard is tortured by always making the correct moral choice. -Helo.
Dr Saunders is a doctor. -Doctors (ok, I don't have one for her, especially now that we know more about her)
If I wanted to stretch this way too far I could stick in something about Echo's awareness being related to Eliza becoming a producer in addition to actress.
Traffic
Just before heading off to Boston I finished up Traffic, Why We Drive The Way We Do. It's strange because I normally remember why I pick out books to read, but I can't remember why I picked this one. The author is a writer for slate so that could have had something to do with it.
In my own words I would say the main point of the book is - you suck at driving and you suck so bad you don't even realize how bad you suck. The book actually covers a number of topic related to driving. Some of it is about the psychology of how drivers interact with each other and with pedestrians, traffic planning, safe driving, estimating risk, local driving habits...
On the one hand I thought the book is interesting because it does explain a lot about driving and traffic, which considering I spend a decent amount of time in a car it is cool to know. On the other hand most of it is just telling you what the problem is, not what you can actually do about it. And on the weird mutant third hand, it is a book about traffic and driving so it can only be so exciting.
A few interesting things I picked up from it:
-Dialing a cell phone seems way more dangerous than talking on a cell phone. And for a set time it is more dangerous. In fact talking on a cell phone almost imperceptibly increases the second to second risk while driving. But when you integrate the increased risk of talking on the phone over a half hour conversation it adds up to be significant and far more than the moment it takes to dial.
-One of the best ways to be safer on the road is to have a passenger (except if you're a teenage boy and the passengers are teenage boys). Both because you'll drive safer for the other person and because it is the rare time when you actually have feedback about your driving and a second set of eyes. The you suck so bad at driving you don't even know it has a lot to do with the fact you almost never get feedback about your driving.
-The book talks about numerous safety measures and traffic designs tried by traffic engineers and they all seem to come down to two things, the main one is getting people to slow down and pay attention. One village in Denmark (or one of those northern european countries) has a city with zero traffic signs. They never have accidents because they make the roads seem dangerous and integrated with pedestrians (narrow roads near pedestrians and lots of round abouts) so people slow down and pay attention. Actually the idea that what seems dangerous is actually often safer because it gets the drivers to slow down and pay attention is a common theme in the book.
-There were some interesting descriptions of how traffic jams travel as waves which is why when you see a slow down it seems to be at a completely random spot and time.
-He also discusses issues with traffic reduction schemes. One interesting part was about people often wish they'd just open another lane on a busy road. But adding extra lanes almost never helps because more people will use that road (you might think that would clear up other roads, but a lot of it is added traffic that wouldn't exist otherwise). He talked about evidence that it is only a matter of a day or two before people will re-route to use the added space.
While the book is really about driving it does have some interesting insight into other topics like psychology and risk assessment.
One odd thing about the book is it is 402 pages long. But if you don't count the acknowledgments and footnotes it is 286 pages. So it is much shorter than it first appears.
In my own words I would say the main point of the book is - you suck at driving and you suck so bad you don't even realize how bad you suck. The book actually covers a number of topic related to driving. Some of it is about the psychology of how drivers interact with each other and with pedestrians, traffic planning, safe driving, estimating risk, local driving habits...
On the one hand I thought the book is interesting because it does explain a lot about driving and traffic, which considering I spend a decent amount of time in a car it is cool to know. On the other hand most of it is just telling you what the problem is, not what you can actually do about it. And on the weird mutant third hand, it is a book about traffic and driving so it can only be so exciting.
A few interesting things I picked up from it:
-Dialing a cell phone seems way more dangerous than talking on a cell phone. And for a set time it is more dangerous. In fact talking on a cell phone almost imperceptibly increases the second to second risk while driving. But when you integrate the increased risk of talking on the phone over a half hour conversation it adds up to be significant and far more than the moment it takes to dial.
-One of the best ways to be safer on the road is to have a passenger (except if you're a teenage boy and the passengers are teenage boys). Both because you'll drive safer for the other person and because it is the rare time when you actually have feedback about your driving and a second set of eyes. The you suck so bad at driving you don't even know it has a lot to do with the fact you almost never get feedback about your driving.
-The book talks about numerous safety measures and traffic designs tried by traffic engineers and they all seem to come down to two things, the main one is getting people to slow down and pay attention. One village in Denmark (or one of those northern european countries) has a city with zero traffic signs. They never have accidents because they make the roads seem dangerous and integrated with pedestrians (narrow roads near pedestrians and lots of round abouts) so people slow down and pay attention. Actually the idea that what seems dangerous is actually often safer because it gets the drivers to slow down and pay attention is a common theme in the book.
-There were some interesting descriptions of how traffic jams travel as waves which is why when you see a slow down it seems to be at a completely random spot and time.
-He also discusses issues with traffic reduction schemes. One interesting part was about people often wish they'd just open another lane on a busy road. But adding extra lanes almost never helps because more people will use that road (you might think that would clear up other roads, but a lot of it is added traffic that wouldn't exist otherwise). He talked about evidence that it is only a matter of a day or two before people will re-route to use the added space.
While the book is really about driving it does have some interesting insight into other topics like psychology and risk assessment.
One odd thing about the book is it is 402 pages long. But if you don't count the acknowledgments and footnotes it is 286 pages. So it is much shorter than it first appears.
Wedding Weekend
Last Tuesday night I headed off to Boston. Thanks to Jeremy and Emily for the ride to the airport. Wednesday was pretty low key, but I got to see Mike, Laura, Max and Alex for the first time in quite a while.
While I was in Boston I stayed at Alice's place (thanks Max and Alice). Short tangent: I was reading this daily beast article where they rank the smartest cities in America. Boston came in number 3 and one of the comments about the city is "When you go into somebody’s office or you go into their home, one of the things you case out is their bookshelf" and the room I stayed in contains a bookshelf I am declaring the winner.
Thursday I was still adjusting to the time zone and got up rather late. After some lunch at the miracle of science and an unfruitful search for a glass for Mike to step on we headed out for the bachelor party. First stop was india quality. I'm so glad that in college we picked a restaurant that's actually really good so we can now do the combo of nostalgia and good food (nud pob and burrito max were good and all, but even if one of those was the Sunday post clean up place I couldn't see either being the aepi alumni meet up spot). (Yes I just explained that I'm glad that we liked a place I like).
After IQ we headed to Fenway where we watched the Red Sox beat the Indians. Well really we watched the backs of the Sox beat the backs of the Indians, but at least we were close to the field. Then off to Jillian's for some pool playing.
Friday after I took a little nostalgia walk through MIT while reading the Tech, Jeremy, Emily and I made our way down to the cape (and found a good glass for stepping on). We hung out at Laura's place and did the rehearsal. Afterwards we headed to a nice restaurant and had the rehearsal dinner where I won the over-under bet on the number of toasts (total coincidence the toast I made gave me the win - yeah, coincidence that's the ticket). (I also won the over - under for the wedding night, not that I'm competitive or anything).
Up to this point both in Boston and on the cape the weather had been really nice. So the day of the wedding it starts raining. A school bus picked us all up and drove us around for the wedding pictures. There was a spot on the beach with a covered area so we took pictures there for a while. Then the rain stopped for a bit so we headed out to the beach for some pictures. When we got back a group of us were given the assignment to greet people arriving and the assignment to empty beer cans to string to the back of the bus. This turned out to be an interesting combination.
The wedding itself was very nice. The party afterwards was a great time. Some good Russian food and a handle of vodka on every table makes for a good time. I think that was the first time I took part in the chair raising for the horah. I was quite surprised both how easy it was at first and how hard it was by the end of the song.
The next morning after the group breakfast Max and Alice gave me a ride back to the city where I took a little walk through the Commons and headed to China Town for lunch before heading off to the airport. Thanks Julie and Saeed for the ride back from the airport.
Overall a very good time! Congratulations Mike and Laura!
While I was in Boston I stayed at Alice's place (thanks Max and Alice). Short tangent: I was reading this daily beast article where they rank the smartest cities in America. Boston came in number 3 and one of the comments about the city is "When you go into somebody’s office or you go into their home, one of the things you case out is their bookshelf" and the room I stayed in contains a bookshelf I am declaring the winner.
Thursday I was still adjusting to the time zone and got up rather late. After some lunch at the miracle of science and an unfruitful search for a glass for Mike to step on we headed out for the bachelor party. First stop was india quality. I'm so glad that in college we picked a restaurant that's actually really good so we can now do the combo of nostalgia and good food (nud pob and burrito max were good and all, but even if one of those was the Sunday post clean up place I couldn't see either being the aepi alumni meet up spot). (Yes I just explained that I'm glad that we liked a place I like).
After IQ we headed to Fenway where we watched the Red Sox beat the Indians. Well really we watched the backs of the Sox beat the backs of the Indians, but at least we were close to the field. Then off to Jillian's for some pool playing.
Friday after I took a little nostalgia walk through MIT while reading the Tech, Jeremy, Emily and I made our way down to the cape (and found a good glass for stepping on). We hung out at Laura's place and did the rehearsal. Afterwards we headed to a nice restaurant and had the rehearsal dinner where I won the over-under bet on the number of toasts (total coincidence the toast I made gave me the win - yeah, coincidence that's the ticket). (I also won the over - under for the wedding night, not that I'm competitive or anything).
Up to this point both in Boston and on the cape the weather had been really nice. So the day of the wedding it starts raining. A school bus picked us all up and drove us around for the wedding pictures. There was a spot on the beach with a covered area so we took pictures there for a while. Then the rain stopped for a bit so we headed out to the beach for some pictures. When we got back a group of us were given the assignment to greet people arriving and the assignment to empty beer cans to string to the back of the bus. This turned out to be an interesting combination.
The wedding itself was very nice. The party afterwards was a great time. Some good Russian food and a handle of vodka on every table makes for a good time. I think that was the first time I took part in the chair raising for the horah. I was quite surprised both how easy it was at first and how hard it was by the end of the song.
The next morning after the group breakfast Max and Alice gave me a ride back to the city where I took a little walk through the Commons and headed to China Town for lunch before heading off to the airport. Thanks Julie and Saeed for the ride back from the airport.
Overall a very good time! Congratulations Mike and Laura!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Whitney
Thursday night after work Jeremy and I hit the road and headed to Mt Whitney. We got in late, set up a tent at 10,000 ft and got a few hours of sleep to start the acclimation to altitude. The next morning we got up and headed to the ranger station. Normally to hike up the Whitney trail you have a put in a request in February. But by 11 am enough people had canceled that we were able to get two permits.
Soon after getting our permits and bear boxes and wag bags (oh, there are some smelly stories to be told about the wag bags, but I'll skip those on the blog). We started off at Whitney portal at about 8,300 ft and hiked our way up to our first camp site at 10,000 ft. The walk up was tiring, but I assumed it was the minimal sleep the previous night. That night I had to force myself to finish my dinner - if you know me, that should strike you as a very strange statement. The next day I really struggled to make it up to the next campsite at 12,000 feet. At times I had to stop and lean against the mountain because I was feeling light headed. Once we got to camp I started feeling nauseated. So I rested for the rest of the day. The next day I took things slow getting up and packed up while Jeremy headed up to the summit. The whole walk up and time at camp I wasn't feeling great physically and was in a terrible mood.
Once I got packed up I started heading down the mountain. Around 9,500 feet I was getting low on water so I found a place to rest while I waited for Jeremy. Jeremy flew down the mountain so I was only resting for about an hour. By time he got there I was breathing well, had my appetite back and most surprisingly was in a pretty good mood. Since after 3 days I wasn't able to acclimate to 12,000 feet I think I'll be setting my sights on lower altitude adventures. While it is possible that if I wanted to I could push through the physical effects, the bad mood kind of ruins the point.
On one hand that was a bit of a downer, but on the other hand I wanted to know how I would do at altitude and now I know.
Soon after getting our permits and bear boxes and wag bags (oh, there are some smelly stories to be told about the wag bags, but I'll skip those on the blog). We started off at Whitney portal at about 8,300 ft and hiked our way up to our first camp site at 10,000 ft. The walk up was tiring, but I assumed it was the minimal sleep the previous night. That night I had to force myself to finish my dinner - if you know me, that should strike you as a very strange statement. The next day I really struggled to make it up to the next campsite at 12,000 feet. At times I had to stop and lean against the mountain because I was feeling light headed. Once we got to camp I started feeling nauseated. So I rested for the rest of the day. The next day I took things slow getting up and packed up while Jeremy headed up to the summit. The whole walk up and time at camp I wasn't feeling great physically and was in a terrible mood.
Once I got packed up I started heading down the mountain. Around 9,500 feet I was getting low on water so I found a place to rest while I waited for Jeremy. Jeremy flew down the mountain so I was only resting for about an hour. By time he got there I was breathing well, had my appetite back and most surprisingly was in a pretty good mood. Since after 3 days I wasn't able to acclimate to 12,000 feet I think I'll be setting my sights on lower altitude adventures. While it is possible that if I wanted to I could push through the physical effects, the bad mood kind of ruins the point.
On one hand that was a bit of a downer, but on the other hand I wanted to know how I would do at altitude and now I know.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Santa Barbara
Over labor day weekend I headed down to Santa Barbara (well Jeremy and Emily provided the ride - thanks!). It was great to see my little cousins and catch up with my Uncle and Aunt (thanks for having me over and feeding me!).
We went swimming and got to the beach. It isn't the first time I got to the beach this year, but the first time I did beach stuff. Zach and Zoe were nice enough to let me use a boogie board and Zach showed me how to use it. After that a few times I actually caught a wave and it was awesome! I was also there for Zach's early birthday party. We also spent some good time chillin on the couch and played some board games. Zach and Zoe seem great and are getting tall.
And I was able to catch up on the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana.
Overall an awesome labor day weekend.
We went swimming and got to the beach. It isn't the first time I got to the beach this year, but the first time I did beach stuff. Zach and Zoe were nice enough to let me use a boogie board and Zach showed me how to use it. After that a few times I actually caught a wave and it was awesome! I was also there for Zach's early birthday party. We also spent some good time chillin on the couch and played some board games. Zach and Zoe seem great and are getting tall.
And I was able to catch up on the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana.
Overall an awesome labor day weekend.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Blog notification on twitter
Just set up on twitterfeed so if it works it will send a message on twitter when there's a new blog post. Not sure how well it will work. Let me know if you follow me on twitter and it gets annoying. For those following on RSS there won't be any change.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
The Problem With GPS
GPS is awesome for all sorts of reasons. Having it for driving directions is great. And as more devices have GPS included in them there will be an increasing number of cool ways to use it.
So what's wrong with it?
Well, since it is so awesome people will work hard to make it even better, but it reduces the motivation for finding other methods of determining location. Which isn't a big deal if you have GPS satellites orbiting the planet you are on. But what happens when we start moving to other planets? Are we going to have to put a series of satellites around every planet we inhabit? Sure there will be other issues to be dealt with, like terraforming the planet and getting people there in a reasonable amount of time. And yeah humans explored basically all of Earth without GPS. But still, wouldn't it be nice if once we set up on a planet we immediately had precision location information?
That's the problem with GPS (inspired by watching way too much Stargate SG-1).
Really once we hit a certain point of technological progress shouldn't we start back over as cavemen in order to increase the motivation for technological innovation?
Hm, that phrase about necessity is the mother of invention is actually really wrong. I think that if you look at recent history the amount of need has decreased sharply while the rate of invention has increased rather rapidly. Everyone moving back into caves would instantly create massive need and yet severely slow down innovation. Plato, I'm calling shenanigans!
So what's wrong with it?
Well, since it is so awesome people will work hard to make it even better, but it reduces the motivation for finding other methods of determining location. Which isn't a big deal if you have GPS satellites orbiting the planet you are on. But what happens when we start moving to other planets? Are we going to have to put a series of satellites around every planet we inhabit? Sure there will be other issues to be dealt with, like terraforming the planet and getting people there in a reasonable amount of time. And yeah humans explored basically all of Earth without GPS. But still, wouldn't it be nice if once we set up on a planet we immediately had precision location information?
That's the problem with GPS (inspired by watching way too much Stargate SG-1).
Really once we hit a certain point of technological progress shouldn't we start back over as cavemen in order to increase the motivation for technological innovation?
Hm, that phrase about necessity is the mother of invention is actually really wrong. I think that if you look at recent history the amount of need has decreased sharply while the rate of invention has increased rather rapidly. Everyone moving back into caves would instantly create massive need and yet severely slow down innovation. Plato, I'm calling shenanigans!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Charge it! (aka Mt Whitney)
Over the weekend I headed down to Mt Whitney with Jeremy and Emily. It was a mere 7 drive each way. Jeremy and I both wanted to try out hiking at elevation (the peak of Mt Whitney is the highest place in the continental US) and get the full story on getting permits for multiday trips up Whitney (yes I've heard of the series of pipes and tubes, but the Whitney permit site is pretty bad).
So we headed out early Saturday. Got into the area and got some info at the ranger station, made our way to our campsite, set up and then headed to Whitney Portal. Hiked for 3 hours then headed back to camp while it was still light and not raining too badly. I definitely felt the altitude (we were at about 9,000 ft at that point), but I was hiking really fast. I strongly felt my heart beat in my head and started to get a bit of a headache (even though I was drinking a ton of water). As soon as we started heading down hill everything cleared up.
That night it rained fairly hard so we did a simple dinner then hung out in my tent before heading to bed. Again my fancy new tent kept me and my stuff nice and dry.
The next day we did another 3 hour hike. The altitude had far less impact that day (got to about 9,500 feet). I wasn't hiking as fast although we did take a more challenging trail (some scrambling up and down rocks).
For lunch after the hike we went to a pizza place in Lone Pine (the town next to Whitney) and the two guys at the table next to us started talking to us about hiking/climbing. They used the term "charge it" more than once per sentence to describe anything from hiking to climbing to driving. When we asked about what is labeled a challenging climb, their opinion was "if you've ever climbed before, then you'll be fine, just charge it".
Hiking around Mt Whitney was cool especially since it looks more "mountain like" than the hills along coastal California. There is a valley lined on either side by mountains which was nice to look down at from Mt Whitney.
One thing I didn't expect is in that valley is where one of the Japanese internment camps was located. There was a small museum although we weren't there for long so we didn't visit. But it was a reminder of how little is taught about that event in school. I was also surprised how small the museum looked.
So we headed out early Saturday. Got into the area and got some info at the ranger station, made our way to our campsite, set up and then headed to Whitney Portal. Hiked for 3 hours then headed back to camp while it was still light and not raining too badly. I definitely felt the altitude (we were at about 9,000 ft at that point), but I was hiking really fast. I strongly felt my heart beat in my head and started to get a bit of a headache (even though I was drinking a ton of water). As soon as we started heading down hill everything cleared up.
That night it rained fairly hard so we did a simple dinner then hung out in my tent before heading to bed. Again my fancy new tent kept me and my stuff nice and dry.
The next day we did another 3 hour hike. The altitude had far less impact that day (got to about 9,500 feet). I wasn't hiking as fast although we did take a more challenging trail (some scrambling up and down rocks).
For lunch after the hike we went to a pizza place in Lone Pine (the town next to Whitney) and the two guys at the table next to us started talking to us about hiking/climbing. They used the term "charge it" more than once per sentence to describe anything from hiking to climbing to driving. When we asked about what is labeled a challenging climb, their opinion was "if you've ever climbed before, then you'll be fine, just charge it".
Hiking around Mt Whitney was cool especially since it looks more "mountain like" than the hills along coastal California. There is a valley lined on either side by mountains which was nice to look down at from Mt Whitney.
One thing I didn't expect is in that valley is where one of the Japanese internment camps was located. There was a small museum although we weren't there for long so we didn't visit. But it was a reminder of how little is taught about that event in school. I was also surprised how small the museum looked.
The Crippled Angel
Last week I finished The Crippled Angel the last book in The Crucible Series which includes The Wounded Hawk and The Nameless Day.
Semi-spoilers ahead.
I really enjoyed the series. It takes place around 1380. Although based on a quick look through wikipedia I think that some the "real" parts of the story are a bit off and shifted in time. Since I don't know anything about the time period I don't actually know, but it seems like she makes it feel like you are in the 1370s.
The part that makes it far more interesting is the religion/magic mix which gets more and more hilariously anti-religion. She does a good job of changing things up through out the story. Which is extra nice since so many fantasy stories take the LOTR approach - Froto you have to destroy the ring then a whole bunch of pages later he destroys the ring. Actually there is some similarity to part of LOTR - Froto finds out he is going to take away the power of the Elf queen and that Elven town would be destroyed. This series kind of takes that idea and runs with it. Plus add in some Harry Potter where the main character is interlinked with the bad guy (except by then who's bad and good has gotten mixed around). I'm trying to be somewhat vague because of the number of twists.
Overall good stuff - I'd recommend it to any fantasy fans out there. I would say that the series really reads as a single book so approach it that way. The first one is good, but is really the background and build up. The action, humor and more interesting stuff (such as explanations for what the heck is going on) is really in the next two books.
One thing I did pick up from this book is being king really wasn't such a great deal in a feudal society. I'd really rather be king at a later point when kings had more direct control rather than just trying to get the support of the lords who have the real military power and money. In general I always figured I'd rather be the King's cousin than the King - nice life style without all the responsibility and people trying to kill you. But in a feudal society that just meant being a lord so there was still responsibility and assassination attempts. So the take away is if you are going to become European royalty at some point in history think more 1600s than 1300s.
Semi-spoilers ahead.
I really enjoyed the series. It takes place around 1380. Although based on a quick look through wikipedia I think that some the "real" parts of the story are a bit off and shifted in time. Since I don't know anything about the time period I don't actually know, but it seems like she makes it feel like you are in the 1370s.
The part that makes it far more interesting is the religion/magic mix which gets more and more hilariously anti-religion. She does a good job of changing things up through out the story. Which is extra nice since so many fantasy stories take the LOTR approach - Froto you have to destroy the ring then a whole bunch of pages later he destroys the ring. Actually there is some similarity to part of LOTR - Froto finds out he is going to take away the power of the Elf queen and that Elven town would be destroyed. This series kind of takes that idea and runs with it. Plus add in some Harry Potter where the main character is interlinked with the bad guy (except by then who's bad and good has gotten mixed around). I'm trying to be somewhat vague because of the number of twists.
Overall good stuff - I'd recommend it to any fantasy fans out there. I would say that the series really reads as a single book so approach it that way. The first one is good, but is really the background and build up. The action, humor and more interesting stuff (such as explanations for what the heck is going on) is really in the next two books.
One thing I did pick up from this book is being king really wasn't such a great deal in a feudal society. I'd really rather be king at a later point when kings had more direct control rather than just trying to get the support of the lords who have the real military power and money. In general I always figured I'd rather be the King's cousin than the King - nice life style without all the responsibility and people trying to kill you. But in a feudal society that just meant being a lord so there was still responsibility and assassination attempts. So the take away is if you are going to become European royalty at some point in history think more 1600s than 1300s.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Is XKCD right?
I've got some longer posts coming, but I should be off to bed. So I'll just take a moment to ask if this xkcd comic is right?
Not sure if it captures everything, but sure seems awfully close.
Not sure if it captures everything, but sure seems awfully close.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Mountain Rescue Doctor
I was at the library looking through some books to see what they had to say about altitude sickness and noticed the book Mountain Rescue Doctor. The author Christopher Van Tilburg is an emergency room doctor who is part of a volunteer mountain search and rescue team called the Crag Rats in Hood River Oregon.
Each chapter is the story of a rescue (and/or search). In addition to each rescue story he goes into discussions of other topics like the risk reward trade off of outdoor activities (and how having a family changes that), his background, tips for survival, and so on.
There are search and rescue teams that run in with a litter (stretcher) and carry the person out. The group this book is about take care of the situations where they need to set up ropes and climb to get to the person.
The individual stories are fairly good. Even though he describes a variety of situations, it does get a little repetitive to read about, but not too bad. I liked getting a sense for the search and rescue side of rescues. I was actually surprised by how willing they were to send out rescue missions. I was also surprised that in most states, unless you do something especially negligent the state actually pays for the rescue mission and that large parts of rescue missions are done by unpaid volunteer groups. One amusing item is that while everyone says you should have basic survival stuff (like a map, compass, whistle...), in a large portion of the rescues the most helpful item was a cell phone (well, sufficient food, water and shelter were also fairly key). In one of the stories of an extended search they even had the cell phone company triangulate the position of the climbers.
The book did drive home the need to make sure rangers know your plan in as much detail as possible. Even knowing stuff like what gear you have and your experience level can help guide their search (more important when doing technical climbing than hiking). Also making sure you have enough equipment to deal with unexpected situations and how helpful it can be to have a partner with you. He also pushed that if you get in trouble you should stop and take a moment to evaluate your situation rather than just pushing on. He also discussed how important it is to get medical attention quickly for serious injuries and that the first hour is especially critical (this is where cell phones become really helpful - normally someone would have to hike out to get to a phone, add in a gps device and the search can be way faster).
Semi-related, after reading the book I bought a gps app for my phone that gives me the raw gps data since knowing the closest address isn't terribly helpful in the woods. I find it kind of strange that the standard map program won't just tell you the raw coordinates.
Each chapter is the story of a rescue (and/or search). In addition to each rescue story he goes into discussions of other topics like the risk reward trade off of outdoor activities (and how having a family changes that), his background, tips for survival, and so on.
There are search and rescue teams that run in with a litter (stretcher) and carry the person out. The group this book is about take care of the situations where they need to set up ropes and climb to get to the person.
The individual stories are fairly good. Even though he describes a variety of situations, it does get a little repetitive to read about, but not too bad. I liked getting a sense for the search and rescue side of rescues. I was actually surprised by how willing they were to send out rescue missions. I was also surprised that in most states, unless you do something especially negligent the state actually pays for the rescue mission and that large parts of rescue missions are done by unpaid volunteer groups. One amusing item is that while everyone says you should have basic survival stuff (like a map, compass, whistle...), in a large portion of the rescues the most helpful item was a cell phone (well, sufficient food, water and shelter were also fairly key). In one of the stories of an extended search they even had the cell phone company triangulate the position of the climbers.
The book did drive home the need to make sure rangers know your plan in as much detail as possible. Even knowing stuff like what gear you have and your experience level can help guide their search (more important when doing technical climbing than hiking). Also making sure you have enough equipment to deal with unexpected situations and how helpful it can be to have a partner with you. He also pushed that if you get in trouble you should stop and take a moment to evaluate your situation rather than just pushing on. He also discussed how important it is to get medical attention quickly for serious injuries and that the first hour is especially critical (this is where cell phones become really helpful - normally someone would have to hike out to get to a phone, add in a gps device and the search can be way faster).
Semi-related, after reading the book I bought a gps app for my phone that gives me the raw gps data since knowing the closest address isn't terribly helpful in the woods. I find it kind of strange that the standard map program won't just tell you the raw coordinates.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Lassen Volcanic Park
Two weekends ago (weekend of August 1st) I headed out to Lassen Volcanic Park with 4 other fellow backpackers. Unfortunately I don't have the pictures yet, but I'll post a link once those go up.
Friday night we drove up and camped near the cars. Used my fancy new tent for the first time (well other than in my living room) - thanks mom and dad. Next morning we got up and headed to the start of the trail. Then wasted an hour figuring out that we had to head back to the camp ground to get a permit. Was a waste of time, but I did get to drive around the hills with the top down in the mustang, so not all bad. Then we headed out. Did about 8 miles getting into camp. Was a nice walk, a bit of elevation gain/loss but not too much and walked by a few lakes. While the elevation gain/loss wasn't much, everything started out at about 6,000 feet so we had to breathe a bit harder than usual. Once we got to camp (this was a camp where you want place so "getting to camp" was picking a place along the lake to plop down) we put up a line between trees to hang our food (keeps it away from bears and keeps the smell above bear nose level). During this exercise we learned that when I sit on Jeremy's lap I still can't reach any higher than the one female backpacker in the group. Then after I made some overly harsh comment about the idea of finishing the day after only 8 miles, 4 of us headed out to see the lava bed and climb the cinder cone:
View Larger Map
The person we got the permit from told us it would be about a two hour walk from the lake to the top of the cinder cone and back. Well it took about two hours from the lake to the base of the cinder cone and we weren't cruising, but we weren't that slow. Especially since we didn't take backpacks, just some water. Well it was a very cool view from the base of the cinder cone - we looked down at "painted dunes". Basically rocks that were a few different colors, it was other worldly looking. One of us decided to turn back at that point since it was just starting to get dark. The trail was very clear so we weren't super worried about someone going off on their own. Then the three of us started walking up and noticed the mass of clouds in the distance and the thunder and lightening. We stopped to discuss and decided that rather than spending a bunch of time discussing we should just walk up. Several minutes later I took another look at the clouds and the ground we were on (basically a giant pile of ash) and envisioned racing down a pile of wet ash while it rained on us. So I suggested we turn back and the other two readily agreed. Once we got to the bottom the clouds had moved in right over the top of the cone - those clouds moved super fast. So then we embarked on what was probably the most intense hour and a half of walking of my life. Only got rained on a little. The main motivation was we hadn't set up tents or had dinner.
After that walk we got back, set up tents as fast as possible. Got rained on a little in spurts, but nothing bad. Got the food down, cooked, ate, got the food back up (this time super fast) and got in tents just as it started to pour. Luckily the tent kept me and my stuff completely dry.
Next day we got up, played around in the lake a bit. Had breakfast and headed out. This time we were taking an 11 mile path back to camp. Not too strenuous, but we did have a 5 hour ride ahead of us so we wanted to move at a decent pace. At one point Jeremy and I were a bit ahead of the others and took a wrong turn. Then decided that would be a good place to wait for the others. Waited a really long time then Jeremy realized our mistake. Not that we had to catch up with the others, but seemed like a good thing to do so we got moving. All day I had felt a bit tired and my feet and knees ached. Once we kicked up the speed all my pain and tiredness faded away and I was feeling great. Caught up with the others, walked with them for a bit, but then decided to kick the speed up again.
Early in the drive back stopped at applebees (by far the best choice in the town we stopped in) and ate a hamburger with a side of buffalo wings. And then drove till 3 am. The next day at work around 4 pm I literally had to concentrate on keeping my eyes open.
Friday night we drove up and camped near the cars. Used my fancy new tent for the first time (well other than in my living room) - thanks mom and dad. Next morning we got up and headed to the start of the trail. Then wasted an hour figuring out that we had to head back to the camp ground to get a permit. Was a waste of time, but I did get to drive around the hills with the top down in the mustang, so not all bad. Then we headed out. Did about 8 miles getting into camp. Was a nice walk, a bit of elevation gain/loss but not too much and walked by a few lakes. While the elevation gain/loss wasn't much, everything started out at about 6,000 feet so we had to breathe a bit harder than usual. Once we got to camp (this was a camp where you want place so "getting to camp" was picking a place along the lake to plop down) we put up a line between trees to hang our food (keeps it away from bears and keeps the smell above bear nose level). During this exercise we learned that when I sit on Jeremy's lap I still can't reach any higher than the one female backpacker in the group. Then after I made some overly harsh comment about the idea of finishing the day after only 8 miles, 4 of us headed out to see the lava bed and climb the cinder cone:
View Larger Map
The person we got the permit from told us it would be about a two hour walk from the lake to the top of the cinder cone and back. Well it took about two hours from the lake to the base of the cinder cone and we weren't cruising, but we weren't that slow. Especially since we didn't take backpacks, just some water. Well it was a very cool view from the base of the cinder cone - we looked down at "painted dunes". Basically rocks that were a few different colors, it was other worldly looking. One of us decided to turn back at that point since it was just starting to get dark. The trail was very clear so we weren't super worried about someone going off on their own. Then the three of us started walking up and noticed the mass of clouds in the distance and the thunder and lightening. We stopped to discuss and decided that rather than spending a bunch of time discussing we should just walk up. Several minutes later I took another look at the clouds and the ground we were on (basically a giant pile of ash) and envisioned racing down a pile of wet ash while it rained on us. So I suggested we turn back and the other two readily agreed. Once we got to the bottom the clouds had moved in right over the top of the cone - those clouds moved super fast. So then we embarked on what was probably the most intense hour and a half of walking of my life. Only got rained on a little. The main motivation was we hadn't set up tents or had dinner.
After that walk we got back, set up tents as fast as possible. Got rained on a little in spurts, but nothing bad. Got the food down, cooked, ate, got the food back up (this time super fast) and got in tents just as it started to pour. Luckily the tent kept me and my stuff completely dry.
Next day we got up, played around in the lake a bit. Had breakfast and headed out. This time we were taking an 11 mile path back to camp. Not too strenuous, but we did have a 5 hour ride ahead of us so we wanted to move at a decent pace. At one point Jeremy and I were a bit ahead of the others and took a wrong turn. Then decided that would be a good place to wait for the others. Waited a really long time then Jeremy realized our mistake. Not that we had to catch up with the others, but seemed like a good thing to do so we got moving. All day I had felt a bit tired and my feet and knees ached. Once we kicked up the speed all my pain and tiredness faded away and I was feeling great. Caught up with the others, walked with them for a bit, but then decided to kick the speed up again.
Early in the drive back stopped at applebees (by far the best choice in the town we stopped in) and ate a hamburger with a side of buffalo wings. And then drove till 3 am. The next day at work around 4 pm I literally had to concentrate on keeping my eyes open.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Transmitting Silence
This is probably a no one but me cares post (or may be an everyone already knows, but I'm guessing more of the former).
It just occurred to me that when you tune your radio to your favorite FM station and instead of hearing music and/or talk you hear silence it is not that they're not transmitting. If they weren't transmitting then you'd hear static like when you tune to an empty station, as your radio tries to pick up any little signal out on the air (or even the internal electrical noise of the stereo). But rather you are getting silence which for FM means that the radio is picking up one dominant signal, but the frequency of that signal is not changing (or changing too quickly - the key is none of the change is in the 20 Hz to 20 kHz range). So it is not that the station's transmitter is broken or turned off, it must be an earlier stage that isn't working.
It just occurred to me that when you tune your radio to your favorite FM station and instead of hearing music and/or talk you hear silence it is not that they're not transmitting. If they weren't transmitting then you'd hear static like when you tune to an empty station, as your radio tries to pick up any little signal out on the air (or even the internal electrical noise of the stereo). But rather you are getting silence which for FM means that the radio is picking up one dominant signal, but the frequency of that signal is not changing (or changing too quickly - the key is none of the change is in the 20 Hz to 20 kHz range). So it is not that the station's transmitter is broken or turned off, it must be an earlier stage that isn't working.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
The Wounded Hawk
Finished up The Wounded Hawk a couple days ago. This is the second book in the same series as The Nameless Day.
Still going to wait to finish the whole series before saying much. But this book definitely kicks up the action and the heresy a notch.
Thanks again to Julie for letting me borrow the series.
Still going to wait to finish the whole series before saying much. But this book definitely kicks up the action and the heresy a notch.
Thanks again to Julie for letting me borrow the series.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Three Cups Of Tea
While I was in Tahoe I read most of Three Cups Of Tea and then finished it up a bit after getting back. My Mom introduced me to the book and let me borrow it. The book is about Greg Mortenson who has spent about 16 years building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The book starts out talking about his attempt to climb K2 and some of his life story. I really enjoyed reading about his attempt at K2. The life story stuff is good build up to understand where he is coming from, but not the most interesting part. Then when it really gets into his work building schools in Pakistan it is very cool. It has a great message about the power of small contributions to education. Also some cultural info and a look into the life of the mountain villages. There is a bit of back and forth over if people who live in small mountain villages have a simpler better life or if living in tough conditions with minimal money isn't so great. I actually almost wonder if that's some natural back and forth or perhaps the voices of the two different authors coming through. And there's some good adventure. Just getting from place to place is a bit of an adventure, but the peak is when he gets captured and held for 8 days with minimal explanation.
This is far from the main point of the book, but often times when I hear about adventurous travel or outdoor adventures I think, oh that would be so cool to do (even if it is far beyond what I'd really do). But this book showed me someone who takes risks beyond what I have any interest in taking. So that was kind of cool to bound my interest in adventure by reading the book. (Note, just because that is an upper bound doesn't mean something far less adventurous would not also be an upper bound).
Not that I've read a lot of biographies, but I think this may be the first that was about someone who is still alive. It doesn't make a big difference, but it is a bit different. I found myself sometimes questioning how well he remembered all the details and feelings, but I think that was one of those MST3000 "It's just a show, I really should just relax" moments. And I do get the sense that the main author did a lot of interviewing and fact checking on all the important stuff.
Unlike a lot of what I read which tends to have a more focused audience, I'd really recommend this book to basically anyone.
The book starts out talking about his attempt to climb K2 and some of his life story. I really enjoyed reading about his attempt at K2. The life story stuff is good build up to understand where he is coming from, but not the most interesting part. Then when it really gets into his work building schools in Pakistan it is very cool. It has a great message about the power of small contributions to education. Also some cultural info and a look into the life of the mountain villages. There is a bit of back and forth over if people who live in small mountain villages have a simpler better life or if living in tough conditions with minimal money isn't so great. I actually almost wonder if that's some natural back and forth or perhaps the voices of the two different authors coming through. And there's some good adventure. Just getting from place to place is a bit of an adventure, but the peak is when he gets captured and held for 8 days with minimal explanation.
This is far from the main point of the book, but often times when I hear about adventurous travel or outdoor adventures I think, oh that would be so cool to do (even if it is far beyond what I'd really do). But this book showed me someone who takes risks beyond what I have any interest in taking. So that was kind of cool to bound my interest in adventure by reading the book. (Note, just because that is an upper bound doesn't mean something far less adventurous would not also be an upper bound).
Not that I've read a lot of biographies, but I think this may be the first that was about someone who is still alive. It doesn't make a big difference, but it is a bit different. I found myself sometimes questioning how well he remembered all the details and feelings, but I think that was one of those MST3000 "It's just a show, I really should just relax" moments. And I do get the sense that the main author did a lot of interviewing and fact checking on all the important stuff.
Unlike a lot of what I read which tends to have a more focused audience, I'd really recommend this book to basically anyone.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Ted and Bruno
First of all - I've been slow to recommend Better Off Ted because in some surface way it seems like it's not a great show. Maybe one of the ads just hit me wrong. Although I think there's more - one example is there are times when characters are supposed to be really mad, but they still seem like they are smiling. But the show is awesome! I'm laughing the whole time and they do a great job ripping into the questionable morals of corporations. And it has a bit of an Arrested Development feel (more than just because Portia is in the show).
Bruno SPOILERS coming up.
I saw Bruno recently. I was laughing the whole time. I can't recommend it since there may be stuff you just don't want to see. I've only heard/read a few reviews, but I really think they are missing something. Obviously a big part of it is that Bruno is an outdated gay stereotype and a certain portion of the movie is about how people react to him. That seems to grab most of the attention. Although I think the movie dedicates just as much if not more time to making fun of the search for celebrity.
What reviewers seem to miss is how self-referential the movie is. Fairly early on Bruno shows a TV pilot he made to a test audience. The test audience absolutely hates the pilot and can't imagine anyone watching it. First of all - when you watch the movie you see the pilot. Second it is a rough approximation of the rest of the movie (think Terrance and Philip in South Park). So right up front you're watching people tell you how bad the movie you are watching is. Later on one of the strongest comments on society is when Bruno asks parents what they would be willing to let their kids do in order to be included in a photo shoot. He then proceeds to do similar things with a baby. So now he's also making fun of the parents that let him use their baby in the movie. Now given those two scenes think about the fact that to make a movie that makes fun of what people will do to be famous Cohen goes off and does very crazy, dangerous, and disgusting stuff.
I'll admit I have a tendency to reach too far on these things, but I really think that buried in there is Cohen making fun of himself.
Ok, even if you don't buy all that, you have to admit that the wrestling scene and the scene with Paula Abdul were hilarious.
Hm - seems I posted a bit too soon. Dana Stevens's review makes a similar point.
Bruno SPOILERS coming up.
I saw Bruno recently. I was laughing the whole time. I can't recommend it since there may be stuff you just don't want to see. I've only heard/read a few reviews, but I really think they are missing something. Obviously a big part of it is that Bruno is an outdated gay stereotype and a certain portion of the movie is about how people react to him. That seems to grab most of the attention. Although I think the movie dedicates just as much if not more time to making fun of the search for celebrity.
What reviewers seem to miss is how self-referential the movie is. Fairly early on Bruno shows a TV pilot he made to a test audience. The test audience absolutely hates the pilot and can't imagine anyone watching it. First of all - when you watch the movie you see the pilot. Second it is a rough approximation of the rest of the movie (think Terrance and Philip in South Park). So right up front you're watching people tell you how bad the movie you are watching is. Later on one of the strongest comments on society is when Bruno asks parents what they would be willing to let their kids do in order to be included in a photo shoot. He then proceeds to do similar things with a baby. So now he's also making fun of the parents that let him use their baby in the movie. Now given those two scenes think about the fact that to make a movie that makes fun of what people will do to be famous Cohen goes off and does very crazy, dangerous, and disgusting stuff.
I'll admit I have a tendency to reach too far on these things, but I really think that buried in there is Cohen making fun of himself.
Ok, even if you don't buy all that, you have to admit that the wrestling scene and the scene with Paula Abdul were hilarious.
Hm - seems I posted a bit too soon. Dana Stevens's review makes a similar point.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Tahoe
The week leading up to the 4th of July my parents, brother and I headed out to Tahoe. My family was nice enough to work around the shutdown week at the company I work for and to head somewhere in driving distance for me. We stayed at a huge house with a great view of the lake in south lake Tahoe just on the Nevada side.
The trip could be described as short hike + work out video, 8 mile bike ride, longer hike, drive around the lake, 20 mile bike ride, kayaking. In addition to the outdoor activities we (well, mostly the other three) spent some time cooking up healthy meals. And generally hanging out as a family. Oh, and can't forget Tiger Wood's golf on the Wii and especially can't forget the frisbee golf section of the game since that was the one part I dominated - my dad clearly had the lead on the normal golf part. The last night we watched the fireworks over the lake from the house. There was a show across the lake we could see clearly and there was a closer one partially blocked by the hill. Oddly the partial blocking of the hill created a cool effect and made the fireworks a bit more interesting.
The second hike was at Emerald Bay which is a bit hilly and next to a little bay (weird to think of a lake having a bay) with an island in the middle. So great place to hike. Oh and I'm purposefully just telling my stories from the trip since I'm publishing this online. The 8 mile bike ride was a fun ride through a historical area. The 20 mile ride was a bit taxing, I'm going to blame a piece of that on the altitude. We rode from North Lake Tahoe to Squaw Valley where we biked around for a bit and got some food then biked back. It was a good ride. The only downside was it was the 3rd so Tahoe had filled up and pedestrians had taken over portions of the bike path. Up by Squaw was great since almost no one else was on the paths. On the 4th we headed to a cove near the house. They only had tandem kayaks left so Eric and I shared one. After we had covered the whole area where we were supposed to go we headed off for a ways. Apparently my estimating the time based on the position of the sun skills need some work since what I thought was about 1 hour turned out to be 2. Oddly the only muscle soreness I felt was some shoulder pain, but the next day my whole back let me know what it thought about those 2 hours. While we were at the cove we watched all the college students roll in and fill up the beach in preparation for the fireworks.
One final thought. It may be tempting to think - oh a biggest loser exercise tape - I should be able to do what a bunch of overweight people can do. However, there are several flaws to that thought. First, this is post competition so they're no longer overweight. Not only are they not overweight, they've been doing so much exercise they were able to lose a ton of weight so they're actually in great shape and very strong. On top of that, they are mostly the ones who did well so they are indirectly selected for a willingness to exercise really hard.
The trip could be described as short hike + work out video, 8 mile bike ride, longer hike, drive around the lake, 20 mile bike ride, kayaking. In addition to the outdoor activities we (well, mostly the other three) spent some time cooking up healthy meals. And generally hanging out as a family. Oh, and can't forget Tiger Wood's golf on the Wii and especially can't forget the frisbee golf section of the game since that was the one part I dominated - my dad clearly had the lead on the normal golf part. The last night we watched the fireworks over the lake from the house. There was a show across the lake we could see clearly and there was a closer one partially blocked by the hill. Oddly the partial blocking of the hill created a cool effect and made the fireworks a bit more interesting.
The second hike was at Emerald Bay which is a bit hilly and next to a little bay (weird to think of a lake having a bay) with an island in the middle. So great place to hike. Oh and I'm purposefully just telling my stories from the trip since I'm publishing this online. The 8 mile bike ride was a fun ride through a historical area. The 20 mile ride was a bit taxing, I'm going to blame a piece of that on the altitude. We rode from North Lake Tahoe to Squaw Valley where we biked around for a bit and got some food then biked back. It was a good ride. The only downside was it was the 3rd so Tahoe had filled up and pedestrians had taken over portions of the bike path. Up by Squaw was great since almost no one else was on the paths. On the 4th we headed to a cove near the house. They only had tandem kayaks left so Eric and I shared one. After we had covered the whole area where we were supposed to go we headed off for a ways. Apparently my estimating the time based on the position of the sun skills need some work since what I thought was about 1 hour turned out to be 2. Oddly the only muscle soreness I felt was some shoulder pain, but the next day my whole back let me know what it thought about those 2 hours. While we were at the cove we watched all the college students roll in and fill up the beach in preparation for the fireworks.
One final thought. It may be tempting to think - oh a biggest loser exercise tape - I should be able to do what a bunch of overweight people can do. However, there are several flaws to that thought. First, this is post competition so they're no longer overweight. Not only are they not overweight, they've been doing so much exercise they were able to lose a ton of weight so they're actually in great shape and very strong. On top of that, they are mostly the ones who did well so they are indirectly selected for a willingness to exercise really hard.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Nameless Day
Julie let me borrow The Crucible Series by Sara Douglass. I read the first book The Nameless Day. I liked the book and I'm enjoying the story. But at this point there's a lot that still isn't clear so I'm going to hold off on writing more till I finish the series (I think it would be like talking about The Fellowship of the Ring before reading the other two, except in this case it is not even clear that Frodo should destroy the ring). I will say she does a good job of putting you in the world (Europe in the 1300s), and does a good job with the main character's transition. And unlike some authors who write long books with lots of characters (Neal I'm looking at you) she's nice enough to sometimes remind you who they are and what happened that you should remember.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Project #2 Part 3
I've been very slowly building a boost converter as part of the grand plan for the iphone charger. A boost converter takes power from one source and then outputs power. What makes it special is the voltage it provides is higher than the input voltage. It does this by storing energy from the source in an inductor and then disconnects the inductor from the source and dumps the power onto a capacitor. The output draws power from the capacitor.
While 4 batteries in series works as a perfectly good charger for the iphone (I actually used it on the lost coast trip). It doesn't fit into the desired case, is hard to charge from USB and can be higher than 5V, which is fine for the iphone but technically above specifications.
The Maxim MAX1703 does the whole job of boost converting with just a few external components. And should be able to handle more current than needed.
I spent some time thinking about how to position the big components which I'm kind of happy with. However, when I went to actually connect things I just started putting things in one by one without a grand plan (obviously I had a schematic of what connections to make, just not where to physically put the wires). I think the technical term for the soldering style I ended up using is: crap. I was going to say rat's nest, but that actually is a technical term. Thanks in part to the poor style at first I had missed a couple connections when I hooked up the battery and the chip got very hot. Not sure if I did damage or not. Once I got that corrected the output was 4.6 V (within spec of 4.5 to 5.5). But when I connected a 10 ohm resistor the voltage dropped to 3.8 V (so it was only able to source 380 mA instead of 500 mA).
When I connected my ipod mini it charged for a moment than stopped. The ipod mini only requires 200 mA. So this is really a story of failure :(. I have more of all the components so I may try the same thing again and see if better wiring and not cooking the chip will work better.
I also learned the limits of 90 second epoxy. Its strong, but some inadvertent lever action can overcome it. Also, when the two sides mix it gets a little hot - not a big deal unless you don't know that and get some on your fingers and wonder what on Earth is happening to you.
I'm also going back and forth on if this is really the right approach or if it makes more sense to just find a nice case for the 4 series battery option.
While 4 batteries in series works as a perfectly good charger for the iphone (I actually used it on the lost coast trip). It doesn't fit into the desired case, is hard to charge from USB and can be higher than 5V, which is fine for the iphone but technically above specifications.
The Maxim MAX1703 does the whole job of boost converting with just a few external components. And should be able to handle more current than needed.
I spent some time thinking about how to position the big components which I'm kind of happy with. However, when I went to actually connect things I just started putting things in one by one without a grand plan (obviously I had a schematic of what connections to make, just not where to physically put the wires). I think the technical term for the soldering style I ended up using is: crap. I was going to say rat's nest, but that actually is a technical term. Thanks in part to the poor style at first I had missed a couple connections when I hooked up the battery and the chip got very hot. Not sure if I did damage or not. Once I got that corrected the output was 4.6 V (within spec of 4.5 to 5.5). But when I connected a 10 ohm resistor the voltage dropped to 3.8 V (so it was only able to source 380 mA instead of 500 mA).
When I connected my ipod mini it charged for a moment than stopped. The ipod mini only requires 200 mA. So this is really a story of failure :(. I have more of all the components so I may try the same thing again and see if better wiring and not cooking the chip will work better.
I also learned the limits of 90 second epoxy. Its strong, but some inadvertent lever action can overcome it. Also, when the two sides mix it gets a little hot - not a big deal unless you don't know that and get some on your fingers and wonder what on Earth is happening to you.
I'm also going back and forth on if this is really the right approach or if it makes more sense to just find a nice case for the 4 series battery option.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
One of the Series of Pipes is for Jose Cuervo
Used the series of pipes and tubes to do a cross country video chat shot with Laura and Jeremy. I know the technology has been around for a while, but was still a first for me.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Mike and Laura when they come out to the Bay Area in July! And it is great that they found such cheap flights. Coming out for the weekend is definitely worth the cost of those tickets.
I realized that I only posted about Dollhouse once, early on in the season. Before every episode I declared that this would be the one where it gets awesome so I was very disappointed when we got to episode 5 and it was still just ok. But then episode 6 happened and awesomeness occurred and continued through episode 12 (10's main story has a cool concept, but isn't as awesome, but the side story totally makes up for it). If you're dedicated I'd say watch the whole way through (don't be scared off by episode 3). If you're willing to watch a few episodes I'd say watch episode 1 to get introduced to the characters and idea then start at 6 and go up from there till you're hooked. If you're a Firefly/Buffy/Angel/BSG/Matrix fan you should be able to identify 5 actors by the end of the season. And you'll want to be caught up with season 1 so you're ready for when River shows up in season 2.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Mike and Laura when they come out to the Bay Area in July! And it is great that they found such cheap flights. Coming out for the weekend is definitely worth the cost of those tickets.
I realized that I only posted about Dollhouse once, early on in the season. Before every episode I declared that this would be the one where it gets awesome so I was very disappointed when we got to episode 5 and it was still just ok. But then episode 6 happened and awesomeness occurred and continued through episode 12 (10's main story has a cool concept, but isn't as awesome, but the side story totally makes up for it). If you're dedicated I'd say watch the whole way through (don't be scared off by episode 3). If you're willing to watch a few episodes I'd say watch episode 1 to get introduced to the characters and idea then start at 6 and go up from there till you're hooked. If you're a Firefly/Buffy/Angel/BSG/Matrix fan you should be able to identify 5 actors by the end of the season. And you'll want to be caught up with season 1 so you're ready for when River shows up in season 2.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Weekend
Julie and Saeed fed me dinner Friday night - thank you! Also got in some good castle crushers and bomber man time.
Saturday afternoon I headed to a party with Jeremy and Emaily. I only knew a few people, but it was a fun crowd. After hanging out there for a few hours Julie and Saeed picked me up (thanks again) and drove me to Dublin where we had dinner with Ben who was in town and Adam (from aepi) and his wife who apparently live about 10 miles from me. It was great to see all of them. Then headed back to the party for a bit before heading home.
Sunday I killed a lot of the day watching TV, but eventually got off my butt and headed to Planet Granite to go climbing with Jeremy and Nina. I passed my belay test so I won't have to deal with that next time I go. I had a few moments where I thought I had suddenly gotten a lot better and a few other moments where I failed on stuff I expected to be able to do.
Overall great weekend.
Saturday afternoon I headed to a party with Jeremy and Emaily. I only knew a few people, but it was a fun crowd. After hanging out there for a few hours Julie and Saeed picked me up (thanks again) and drove me to Dublin where we had dinner with Ben who was in town and Adam (from aepi) and his wife who apparently live about 10 miles from me. It was great to see all of them. Then headed back to the party for a bit before heading home.
Sunday I killed a lot of the day watching TV, but eventually got off my butt and headed to Planet Granite to go climbing with Jeremy and Nina. I passed my belay test so I won't have to deal with that next time I go. I had a few moments where I thought I had suddenly gotten a lot better and a few other moments where I failed on stuff I expected to be able to do.
Overall great weekend.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Maker Faire
On Sunday I headed to the Maker Faire with Saeed. Thanks to Andy for the free tickets!
Probably the coolest thing there for anyone who played Mouse Trap as a kid was the life size, fully functional version (unfortunately these are iphone pictures so they don't do a good job capturing everything):
Also very cool was seeing the mentos and diet coke guys do their 100 bottle show which was fairly similar to the YouTube video (I know it's so 2002, but how often do you get to see it in person?):
What I think makes this giant hydraulic arm super cool is that someone puts their hand in a glove like thing and the big hand mimics what their hand is doing:
There was some more serious and focused stuff like people who will turn a Prius into a plug in hybrid. And there were some people selling tools and services to DIY types. And some smaller projects, many of which had a bit more focus. And then of course there's stuff like a spinning ball of fire:
And this thing (extra creepy if you saw Terminator the day before), can't see it in the picture, but the video is the people looking at it and is all ascii characters:
And of course some people doing their Steampunk thing.
Overall very cool. I'll definitely try to go again in the future.
Probably the coolest thing there for anyone who played Mouse Trap as a kid was the life size, fully functional version (unfortunately these are iphone pictures so they don't do a good job capturing everything):
Also very cool was seeing the mentos and diet coke guys do their 100 bottle show which was fairly similar to the YouTube video (I know it's so 2002, but how often do you get to see it in person?):
What I think makes this giant hydraulic arm super cool is that someone puts their hand in a glove like thing and the big hand mimics what their hand is doing:
There was some more serious and focused stuff like people who will turn a Prius into a plug in hybrid. And there were some people selling tools and services to DIY types. And some smaller projects, many of which had a bit more focus. And then of course there's stuff like a spinning ball of fire:
And this thing (extra creepy if you saw Terminator the day before), can't see it in the picture, but the video is the people looking at it and is all ascii characters:
And of course some people doing their Steampunk thing.
Overall very cool. I'll definitely try to go again in the future.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Spice
I had the spiciest meal of my life today! This beat the Sichuan style meal I had in Beijing and the time I had a Thai restaurant not hold back. I went to smoke eaters with some coworkers today. The restaurant serves buffalo wings with 7 levels of spice. Most of us find their highest level quite spicy, but still easily edible. The restaurant also has the hell fire challenge where they make extra spicy wings and you have to eat 12 in 10 minutes with no drink or napkins. None of us wanted to do that, but we wanted to try the higher level of spice and figured we'd have a few of those and the rest of the meal would be level 7 wings. The hell fire challenge wings were covered in a thick brown sauce which was basically habanero paste. The others had less than one wing, I had two. After that the level 7 wings tasted mild.
What I learned: If you start to hiccup on your first bite of spicy food then stop. If you continue and a few tears run down your face then stop. If you still continue and for a moment your mouth seems to cool down, don't think that means you can handle more. Even if there's some guy at the next table actually doing the challenge and looking like it doesn't even phase him, still stop.
Wow, I ended up with a lot of time to play sudoku on my iphone (how's that for a euphamism?). Well I found my spice limit, and have no need to repeat that experience.
Luckily my stomach calmed just in time for Julie and Saeed to feed me dinner. Thank you Julie and Saeed!
What I learned: If you start to hiccup on your first bite of spicy food then stop. If you continue and a few tears run down your face then stop. If you still continue and for a moment your mouth seems to cool down, don't think that means you can handle more. Even if there's some guy at the next table actually doing the challenge and looking like it doesn't even phase him, still stop.
Wow, I ended up with a lot of time to play sudoku on my iphone (how's that for a euphamism?). Well I found my spice limit, and have no need to repeat that experience.
Luckily my stomach calmed just in time for Julie and Saeed to feed me dinner. Thank you Julie and Saeed!
Google Wave
Someone is starting a rumor that google wave is a firefly reference. Which I'm believing because they use Shiny! in a message and the error message really is "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal".
Thursday, May 28, 2009
KC and Naples Part 2
It's been pointed out that I kind of sped through the posts on KC and Naples. Didn't mean anything by it. I think I just had the backpacking trip on my mind and rushed through the others. Here's attempt #2.
In KC we went on a great bike ride. I was very happy that the bike seat hurt my butt a lot less than it had in the past. A lot of the time in KC was spent talking to my family which was great, but makes for some boring blogging. For my Grandma's 75th birthday we had dinner at my parent's house. For mother's day we headed to the plaza for brunch and then did a short walk to Starbucks where we discussed Bringing Down the House and gambling strategies, which is a bit odd since I don't think anyone in my family goes to a casino with more than $100. While it was nice to meet my friends' babies, I'm not really at a point where babies hold a lot of appeal (all me, nothing to do with their babies). I did head out to a bar with Ben to play pool which was great, especially since I was playing fairly well. It really highlights how much moving I've done that it wasn't just that I didn't know if I had told people about where I live now, but wasn't sure if they knew about the move before that.
I headed to Naples on a Saturday and got there Saturday night. My flight happened to show up at almost the exact same time at the gate directly next to Steve's flight. We grabbed a surprisingly cheap rental car (thanks to whoever it was that set us up with that) and headed to the Inn on Fifth which is a cute hotel on a cute street in Naples. Downtown Naples actually felt a lot like Santa Barbara, except the people were older. We met up with what we decided were for the most part the male college friends on the bride's side, which oddly includes Laura. Had some good sushi then bought some booze at CVS and headed to the hot tub at the hotel - again brought back some memories of SoCal life. Next morning we headed to the wedding. It was a tad hot outside, but there was ice water that was very helpful. It was cool to be one of the friends and know most of the people in the wedding party. And the bride looked so happy - awwww. There was quite the MIT crowd so I spent a lot of the wedding party catching up with them. A crowd also headed outside for a bit to marvel at Florida's sudden down pours. After the wedding a few of us met up at the bar next to the hotel. Then off to the out of towner dinner. I spent a lot of this time describing to Laura the "plans" for Mike's bachelor party. The dinner was nice especially because the bride and groom had more time to talk. Next morning some of us met up with the bride and groom at the bar next to the hotel for breakfast. Then off to some thai food, Edison house, and airport.
MIT crowd at the wedding:
In KC we went on a great bike ride. I was very happy that the bike seat hurt my butt a lot less than it had in the past. A lot of the time in KC was spent talking to my family which was great, but makes for some boring blogging. For my Grandma's 75th birthday we had dinner at my parent's house. For mother's day we headed to the plaza for brunch and then did a short walk to Starbucks where we discussed Bringing Down the House and gambling strategies, which is a bit odd since I don't think anyone in my family goes to a casino with more than $100. While it was nice to meet my friends' babies, I'm not really at a point where babies hold a lot of appeal (all me, nothing to do with their babies). I did head out to a bar with Ben to play pool which was great, especially since I was playing fairly well. It really highlights how much moving I've done that it wasn't just that I didn't know if I had told people about where I live now, but wasn't sure if they knew about the move before that.
I headed to Naples on a Saturday and got there Saturday night. My flight happened to show up at almost the exact same time at the gate directly next to Steve's flight. We grabbed a surprisingly cheap rental car (thanks to whoever it was that set us up with that) and headed to the Inn on Fifth which is a cute hotel on a cute street in Naples. Downtown Naples actually felt a lot like Santa Barbara, except the people were older. We met up with what we decided were for the most part the male college friends on the bride's side, which oddly includes Laura. Had some good sushi then bought some booze at CVS and headed to the hot tub at the hotel - again brought back some memories of SoCal life. Next morning we headed to the wedding. It was a tad hot outside, but there was ice water that was very helpful. It was cool to be one of the friends and know most of the people in the wedding party. And the bride looked so happy - awwww. There was quite the MIT crowd so I spent a lot of the wedding party catching up with them. A crowd also headed outside for a bit to marvel at Florida's sudden down pours. After the wedding a few of us met up at the bar next to the hotel. Then off to the out of towner dinner. I spent a lot of this time describing to Laura the "plans" for Mike's bachelor party. The dinner was nice especially because the bride and groom had more time to talk. Next morning some of us met up with the bride and groom at the bar next to the hotel for breakfast. Then off to some thai food, Edison house, and airport.
MIT crowd at the wedding:
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Lost Coast
Last weekend I headed to the Lost Coast with a portion of the usual hiking crowd. We drove up on Friday night. Put down some tarps on the beach and slept in our sleeping bags looking up at the stars. Saturday morning we drove to the start of the trail. We did the 24 miles from Mattole to Blacksands Beach over the course of Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Hiking 24 miles with basically no elevation over 3 days was sounding pretty easy so we had planned out some extra hikes we could do. Well, we didn't have to hike on the sand for very long to realize this wasn't the cake walk we expected. Then we hit the segments where the sand was replaced by piles of rocks and we started wishing for the sand. The creek crossings threw in another bit of unexpected challenge, especially with backpacks and heavy wind - I wish I had spent more time practicing balancing on the Wii Fit. While the creeks weren't that deep, none of us wanted to hike with wet feet. The trip did have some time pressure because there were sections that became impassible during high tide. The added challenge was cool, but my knees did not appreciate the constant tilt of the path due to walking in one direction next to the ocean, they weren't too thrilled about me slipping in one of the creeks either.
It was a cool adventure. We were next to the ocean the whole time and got fairly close to some seals and birds. Also there was a bunch of drift wood and people had built some amazing shelters out of them (according to the ranger a lot of the building was done by boy scouts), unfortunately they were all claimed by time we got to them. Another cool thing is this area is owned by the bureau of land management. Unlike most parks where you can't have fires and have to register for labeled campsites, the BLM is fine with fires and you just camp anywhere on the trail you feel like (although there are some obvious spots where people tend to cluster). So we did get to make use of some of the drift wood and had fires going Saturday and Sunday nights. An added bit of adventure is there are some bears in the area so we had to keep all the food in hard plastic bear boxes and place them a good distance from camp. That way even if the bears find the food all they can do is knock the boxes around. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any bears, fortunately we didn't have any bear encounters and the boxes didn't get moved at night.
The driving itself was a bit of an adventure, especially between the ends of the trail. Luckily only the other car took the dirt road with small creeks running through it. I'm pretty sure if a prius was bottoming out, the mustang would have just been stuck. It was also quite a shock to see the 101 become a 35 mph main street through small towns.
Jeremy was the offical photographer of the trip and all his pictures along with captions are up here.
I think the full set of pictures is worth checking out, but here's a smaller selection:
It was a cool adventure. We were next to the ocean the whole time and got fairly close to some seals and birds. Also there was a bunch of drift wood and people had built some amazing shelters out of them (according to the ranger a lot of the building was done by boy scouts), unfortunately they were all claimed by time we got to them. Another cool thing is this area is owned by the bureau of land management. Unlike most parks where you can't have fires and have to register for labeled campsites, the BLM is fine with fires and you just camp anywhere on the trail you feel like (although there are some obvious spots where people tend to cluster). So we did get to make use of some of the drift wood and had fires going Saturday and Sunday nights. An added bit of adventure is there are some bears in the area so we had to keep all the food in hard plastic bear boxes and place them a good distance from camp. That way even if the bears find the food all they can do is knock the boxes around. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any bears, fortunately we didn't have any bear encounters and the boxes didn't get moved at night.
The driving itself was a bit of an adventure, especially between the ends of the trail. Luckily only the other car took the dirt road with small creeks running through it. I'm pretty sure if a prius was bottoming out, the mustang would have just been stuck. It was also quite a shock to see the 101 become a 35 mph main street through small towns.
Jeremy was the offical photographer of the trip and all his pictures along with captions are up here.
I think the full set of pictures is worth checking out, but here's a smaller selection:
Naples
Two weekends ago I headed to Naples for Julie and Saeed's wedding (congratulations!). The wedding was very nice. It was great to see some of my MIT friends. Somehow I went the whole time without getting to the beach. But I did get to see Edison's Fort Myers home.
KC
Three weekends ago I headed to KC. It was great to see the family. Got in some biking and Wii fitness. Also got to be there for mother's day and my grandma's birthday (well at least close). Also got to meet my KC friends' many children.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire and the Supreme Court
First - I finally saw Slumdog Millionaire. Did anyone else feel like they were watching a Forrest Gump remake? I liked the film (but I also liked Forest Gump), but for most of the movie I really had this sense that I've seen this before and then it finally hit me.
Second - It felt to me like there were a lot of supreme court nominations recently (3 in the last 4 years). If you want actual information you could look here or you could keep reading my speculation based on no research. The last nomination prior to 2005 was in 1994. So if you are around my age then it's likely the first time you paid attention to nominations wasn't till 2005 and even if it wasn't, your experience is an 11 year stretch without any. Based on that experience you might expect nominations to be very rare.
But (based on guessing) no one gets on the supreme court before the age of 40 and most probably finish up by 80. So a justice keeps the job at most 40 years and if there are 9 of them you'd expect a nomination around every 4 years and probably more often since 40 years is the upper end. So the last 4 years have seen a fairly reasonable rate, it's the 11 years prior to that were odd and screwed up my sense of the supreme court justice turn over rate.
Thanks Steve for the correction.
Second - It felt to me like there were a lot of supreme court nominations recently (3 in the last 4 years). If you want actual information you could look here or you could keep reading my speculation based on no research. The last nomination prior to 2005 was in 1994. So if you are around my age then it's likely the first time you paid attention to nominations wasn't till 2005 and even if it wasn't, your experience is an 11 year stretch without any. Based on that experience you might expect nominations to be very rare.
But (based on guessing) no one gets on the supreme court before the age of 40 and most probably finish up by 80. So a justice keeps the job at most 40 years and if there are 9 of them you'd expect a nomination around every 4 years and probably more often since 40 years is the upper end. So the last 4 years have seen a fairly reasonable rate, it's the 11 years prior to that were odd and screwed up my sense of the supreme court justice turn over rate.
Thanks Steve for the correction.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wolframalpha
If you haven't seen wolframalpha yet, it's worth checking out. Some people are trying to play it up as a competitor with google. If that's how you view it you'll be very disappointed. If you take a look at their sample searches there's some cool stuff there. But what they don't seem to play up is that you now basically have free access to mathmatica (one line at a time).
So try stuff like
10*x^3+0.5*x^2+x+100=0
or simplify (x^2 + 4*x + 3)
or d(e^(x^x))/dx
or 4 * (boltzmann's constant) * (300 K) * (100 ohms). Yes, google calculator will do the last one, but it doesn't change the units to (nV^2)/Hz like wolframalpha does.
So try stuff like
10*x^3+0.5*x^2+x+100=0
or simplify (x^2 + 4*x + 3)
or d(e^(x^x))/dx
or 4 * (boltzmann's constant) * (300 K) * (100 ohms). Yes, google calculator will do the last one, but it doesn't change the units to (nV^2)/Hz like wolframalpha does.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Epistemology
I'm having a reasonably packed May, but I'll get to that in another post. But while waiting for my flight back to CA I finished up Epistemology by Richard Feldman. The book is, not too surprisingly, about Epistemology, aka Theory of Knowledge. Reading Anathem got me interesting in checking out certain areas in philosophy. In particular the parts discussing if pure mathematical concepts live in a universe of their own and then filter down to our own, and if so does our universe filter down to other universes. Also if I stayed in high school in Paris I would have taken a theory of knowledge class for the IB and I always kinda wondered what it was about.
Well Epistemology was nothing like the stuff in Anathem. On one hand I liked finding out what theory of knowledge is all about, on the other hand as someone who took mostly science and engineering classes in college it's really weird to see a subject that has been studied for thousands of years and yet has no definitive answers.
So quick(ish) summary. The traditional analysis of knowledge is that the requirements to know something are: 1. it is true 2. you believe it (not in a blind faith way, but a generally think it is true way) 3. you are justified in believing it 4. the justification for the belief does not essentially depend on any falsehood (the last one is just to deal with certain weird cases). There are a lot of ways to describe what it takes for a belief to be justified. The main one the author backs is you know what you think you see and what you think you remember and from those essential facts you can build up beliefs. Others involve things like you're justified if the belief fits into your whole system of beliefs or if you are able to track as something goes between true and false. But he shows why those others really have problems.
Then he goes into skepticism which is asking if there's much you can really be justified in believing. Gets into a lot of the how do you know you aren't a brain in a vat with a computer making you think things are happening to you. And almost all knowledge is built on induction, but just because something has always worked a certain way in the past do you really know it will do it the same way in the future. The main response is even if you aren't absolutely certain it will happen the same way you are justified in thinking it will. So if you distinguish knowledge from absolute certainty then it still works. There are a number of other skeptical arguments and not all of them have been dismissed by the traditional analysis of knowledge.
He talks about science and epistemology. One part is scientific studies show that humans very often get some basic logic and probability questions wrong which along similar lines to skepticism makes you ask if there's much that people are really justified in believing. The author's arguments against this seemed the weakest of any in the book. He also discusses if epistemology should take a more scientific approach. He argues it doesn't really need to which also comes off a bit weak (maybe I'm showing a bit of a bias).
I sort of expected the book to be a bit more concrete about how you evaluate when you know something and distinguish what knowledge is justified and what isn't. I guess it does exactly that, except more philosophically (not surprisingly) than I expected.
Not sure that I'd recommend the book unless you've been wondering what theory of knowledge is about for over 10 years or if your name is Angie.
Well Epistemology was nothing like the stuff in Anathem. On one hand I liked finding out what theory of knowledge is all about, on the other hand as someone who took mostly science and engineering classes in college it's really weird to see a subject that has been studied for thousands of years and yet has no definitive answers.
So quick(ish) summary. The traditional analysis of knowledge is that the requirements to know something are: 1. it is true 2. you believe it (not in a blind faith way, but a generally think it is true way) 3. you are justified in believing it 4. the justification for the belief does not essentially depend on any falsehood (the last one is just to deal with certain weird cases). There are a lot of ways to describe what it takes for a belief to be justified. The main one the author backs is you know what you think you see and what you think you remember and from those essential facts you can build up beliefs. Others involve things like you're justified if the belief fits into your whole system of beliefs or if you are able to track as something goes between true and false. But he shows why those others really have problems.
Then he goes into skepticism which is asking if there's much you can really be justified in believing. Gets into a lot of the how do you know you aren't a brain in a vat with a computer making you think things are happening to you. And almost all knowledge is built on induction, but just because something has always worked a certain way in the past do you really know it will do it the same way in the future. The main response is even if you aren't absolutely certain it will happen the same way you are justified in thinking it will. So if you distinguish knowledge from absolute certainty then it still works. There are a number of other skeptical arguments and not all of them have been dismissed by the traditional analysis of knowledge.
He talks about science and epistemology. One part is scientific studies show that humans very often get some basic logic and probability questions wrong which along similar lines to skepticism makes you ask if there's much that people are really justified in believing. The author's arguments against this seemed the weakest of any in the book. He also discusses if epistemology should take a more scientific approach. He argues it doesn't really need to which also comes off a bit weak (maybe I'm showing a bit of a bias).
I sort of expected the book to be a bit more concrete about how you evaluate when you know something and distinguish what knowledge is justified and what isn't. I guess it does exactly that, except more philosophically (not surprisingly) than I expected.
Not sure that I'd recommend the book unless you've been wondering what theory of knowledge is about for over 10 years or if your name is Angie.
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