For those who don't know, I have been in Solaris training this week. Solaris is a form of UNIX (kind of ruins the jokes when it is written) that we use a lot at work. Turns out that I already know 99% of what they are teaching. BLAH! I hate it when this happens. I am wasting a week of my life. I suppose it is worth it for the 1% of what I am actually learning, but in the mean time I am sitting here bored out of my mind. At least I finally got a good web browser (firefox) up and running so that I can do stuff like post on my blog and use gmail. I had fun trying to get firefox to work, so I suppose that is worth comething. Installing a program in UNIX is not like installing one in Windows. Sometimes it is complicated, sometimes it is super easy. Firefox would have been super easy, but I had to install a lot of patches to the system that firefox assumed were already installed.
I think I will always put boring technical stuff in the first paragraphs of my blogs to make sure that people really want to read the rest of the stuff I write.
Not really.
The one other ok thing that happened today is that they brought in Krispy Kreme. The box just happened to have two of the only flavor that I like, so I had two. Of course now I feel nasty. Normally I hate KK (one K short of KKK, hmmm...), but about twice a year I am OK with eating them. So where does the "krispy" part of the name come in? Usually when I've had them they have been soggy messes of sugar (hence "kreme"). The only ones that I have ever had that were "krispy" were ones that had been sitting on the shelf for weeks (no I didn't eat a couple week old KK). Anyway, here's to KK with chocolate frosting and valentine's day colored sprinkles (someone missed the boat).
In other exciting news, why is it that we have to be sinful humans? I am so tired of working hard to be good and treat others as they deserve to be treated, and yet I still always mess up. I was recently stupid enough to hurt several very dear people in my life, and now we have a fun mess with multiple devastated people; all caused by my irresponsible stupidity. Feelings can be repaired (and I am truly sorry), but our wonderful sinful nature still remains. Why couldn't all sin leave our life when we accept Christ? I know that we are forgiven (yea!), but I wish that we didn't still have to deal with sin stuff while we are down here. I want nothing more than to be able to lift up my brothers and sisters, but it is frustrating to be hampered by my own desires. I am sorry I don't try harder. I will try harder to be the man of Christ that I should be. Thank you everyone for your friendship and for being willing to stand by me through difficult times. Thank you for the chance to regain any trust that I have broken.
In other other news, I have tons of homework tonight. We are going out of town with the Winters this weekend, so everything needs to be taken care of ahead of time. It won't be bad, but I'm not really in a homework mood. Good thing I have 6 hours to change my mood. We are about to miss a major program milestone at work this Friday, so I have been pretty stressed out all week because I have not been able to devote enough time to work while I have been in training. I was asked to be the backup lead for another program at work last night, and I had to decline because of how busy I have been. That was disappointing, but I really just don't have time to take on additional work right now.
Speaking of homework; it looks like Amanda is the only one that is going to try for the free ice cream. Pity, we could have had a whole ice cream party; assuming Amanda or anyone else gets the problem right. We have not yet been graded on that particular homework, so I don't know what the right answer yet.
Next weekend will be fun because my parents are coming down (yes Mom, next weekend works). We have not seen them since Christmas, so it will be nice. The next time we will see them after this will probably be Rob's wedding in June. I hate being this busy.
Love you all.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Sunday, February 20, 2005
This post brought to you by Bacardi, the Simpsons, and the letter 2
Rev. Lovejoy: They went to your aid, whether they be christian, Jew, or misc. (looks at Apu)
Apu: Hindu, there are 700 million of us
Rev. : aww, that's super.
I had yet another exciting time doing 5 hours of homework today. Sadly, I did not accomplish much, although I did get all my work turned in. I spent the majority of the time ensuring that my homework questions were correct. While my Z class is turning out to be fun, it is still quite time consuming.
----------------------------------
Anyway, for those of you still reading, congratulations! You have proven yourself worthy. What you have proven yourself worthy of... I have no idea. I promise I will post something that is actually interesting soon. (haha, most of you that made it to this point are wondering what I am talking about, since you thought that what I already posted was interesting.)
"So Santa placed a call to secretary of state... "
sigh... I love the Simpsons.
"And tears are the sweetest sauce."
I am going to be in Intermediate Solaris training all next week, so I probably won't have time for my promised post, but we will see. Love you all!
Please do not give my god a peanut.
Apu: Hindu, there are 700 million of us
Rev. : aww, that's super.
I had yet another exciting time doing 5 hours of homework today. Sadly, I did not accomplish much, although I did get all my work turned in. I spent the majority of the time ensuring that my homework questions were correct. While my Z class is turning out to be fun, it is still quite time consuming.
Question 1 (two points). In a Star Trek episode, the Enterprise suffers damage and the power is out on the bridge. Mr. Spock says, "If Mr. Scott is still with us then auxiliary power will be on momentarily." In a moment auxiliary power comes on. Mr. Spock then says, "Mr. Scott is still with us."
T | T | T | T | T | T | In the first half of the argument, P=False, Q=True results in PàQ _
T | F | F | F | T | T | being True. In the second half of the argument, the same P and Q _
F | T | T | T | F | F | values result in QàP being False. Spock’s argument is _
F | F | T | F | F | T | arguably incorrect.
And let that be a lesson to everyone... cutting and pasting may not work when OLE is incorrectly implemented.
In other words, when P=mailbox, Q=radiation symbol and I have no clue what I am talking about.
Question 2 (two points). Given the following sets
B = {all the students in CS652}
C = {the students who graduate JMU}
Translate the following into a single English sentence using the pronunciation guide in the CS652 symbol table.
"a Î A, $x | x Î B Ù x Î C (it looks different than this in real life; in other words, this is useless. Stupid blog)
(this offends both Christians and prunes(RSQ))
Question 3 (four points). You've probably heard the story entitled The Lady and the Tiger. Here's a little logical puzzle to solve with your new logical powers. Of course, I have updated things to better correspond with my version of how things should be.
2) THIS ROOM IS EMPTY
3) SIGN 5 IS RIGHT OR SIGN 7 IS WRONG
4) SIGN 1 IS WRONG
5) SIGN 2 IS RIGHT OR SIGN 4 IS RIGHT
6) SIGN 3 IS WRONG
7) THE LADY IS NOT IN ROOM 1
8) THIS ROOM CONTAINS A TOAD AND ROOM 9 IS EMPTY
9) THIS ROOM CONTAINS A TOAD AND SIGN 6 IS WRONG
----------------------------------
Anyway, for those of you still reading, congratulations! You have proven yourself worthy. What you have proven yourself worthy of... I have no idea. I promise I will post something that is actually interesting soon. (haha, most of you that made it to this point are wondering what I am talking about, since you thought that what I already posted was interesting.)
"So Santa placed a call to secretary of state... "
sigh... I love the Simpsons.
"And tears are the sweetest sauce."
I am going to be in Intermediate Solaris training all next week, so I probably won't have time for my promised post, but we will see. Love you all!
Please do not give my god a peanut.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Really Big Shoe... Really Big!
"Yeah right, mop top, and I'm Ed Sullivan."
Every now and then I will just be sitting here and I will get a simpsons' quote stuck in my head. No one knows where they come from, but they are here, and they are a part of us FOREVER! (cue maniacal laughter).
Ya, so anyway, I've been pretty busy lately (still) so I haven't had much chance to post anything here.
I had a good performance evaluation on Tuesday, which was nice, but besides that not much out of the ordinary has happened. My boss said, "I promised you a promotion this time around didn't I? Well, basically you got screwed. I bet you're pissed". I said, "yes". (-=
She promised me that I would get the promotion in July, so we will see what happens. She did state that I was underpaid, and that I was long over due for a promotion, so that was nice at least.
Every now and then I will just be sitting here and I will get a simpsons' quote stuck in my head. No one knows where they come from, but they are here, and they are a part of us FOREVER! (cue maniacal laughter).
Ya, so anyway, I've been pretty busy lately (still) so I haven't had much chance to post anything here.
I had a good performance evaluation on Tuesday, which was nice, but besides that not much out of the ordinary has happened. My boss said, "I promised you a promotion this time around didn't I? Well, basically you got screwed. I bet you're pissed". I said, "yes". (-=
She promised me that I would get the promotion in July, so we will see what happens. She did state that I was underpaid, and that I was long over due for a promotion, so that was nice at least.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
In Case You Were Still Awake
Here is a step by step walk through of a linear formal proof that I wrote out for my class. Enjoy.
the first column is the label of the sequent (set of premises)
the second column is the line number
the third column is the formula
the forth column is the action we applied to the formula
Just for fun(not really) I will step through each line of of the linear proof
We are proving "(P OR Q) AND R is syntactically equivalent to (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) "
We first have to prove the following sequent: "(P OR Q) AND R --> (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) "
We start with three labeled assumptions:
1-(P OR Q) AND R,
4-P
7-Q
The first line is 1 (1) (P OR Q) AND R ass, assuming that the formula is true
The second line is 1 (2) R 1 AND-elim2, this takes the 1st line and performs the AND-elim2 rule on it to get R (see the bottom of page 128). AND-elim2 returns the right side of a conjunction. (the first column is always listing the labels that we are working with)
The third line is 1 (3) P OR Q AND-elim1, this takes the 1st line and performs the AND-elim1 rule on it to get P OR Q (see the bottom of page 128). AND-elim1 returns the left side of a conjunction.
The fourth line is 4 (4) P ass, assuming that P is true
The fifth line is 1,4 (5) P AND R 4,2 AND-int, this takes lines 2 and 4, and performs the AND-int rule on it to get P and R (see the top of 129). AND-int returns the conjunction of what follows from the union of two premises.
the sixth line is 1,4 (6) (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) 5 OR-int1, this takes line 5 and performs the OR-int1 rule on it to get (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) (see the middle of page 129). OR-int1 returns the disjunction of A and B, given A.
the seventh line is 7 (7) Q ass, assuming that Q is true
the eighth line is 1,7 (8) Q AND R 7,2 AND-int (same as line 5), this takes line seven and two and performs the AND-int rule on it to get Q AND R.
the ninth line is 1,7 (9) (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) 8 OR-int2, this takes line 8 and performs the OR-int2 rule on it to get (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) (refer to line 6). OR-int2 returns the disjunction of A and B, given B
the tenth line is 1 (10) (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) 3,6,9 OR-elim, this takes lines 3, 6, and 9, and performs the OR-elim rule on it to get (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) (refer to the top pg 129 and the bottom of page 137-138). OR-elim returns what follows from the premises LAMBDA, DELTA, and EPSILON when the disjunction of A and B is the result from the premises of LAMBDA, C follows from the premises DELTA and A, and C follows from EPSILON and B, are all given as input.
The purpose of line 10 is to show that (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) is a valid formula for the right hand side of the sequent. It has to build off the three assumptions we started with, but we have to get the three assumptions to a usable form first (lines 3,6, and 9).
the first column is the label of the sequent (set of premises)
the second column is the line number
the third column is the formula
the forth column is the action we applied to the formula
Just for fun(not really) I will step through each line of of the linear proof
We are proving "(P OR Q) AND R is syntactically equivalent to (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) "
We first have to prove the following sequent: "(P OR Q) AND R --> (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) "
We start with three labeled assumptions:
1-(P OR Q) AND R,
4-P
7-Q
The first line is 1 (1) (P OR Q) AND R ass, assuming that the formula is true
The second line is 1 (2) R 1 AND-elim2, this takes the 1st line and performs the AND-elim2 rule on it to get R (see the bottom of page 128). AND-elim2 returns the right side of a conjunction. (the first column is always listing the labels that we are working with)
The third line is 1 (3) P OR Q AND-elim1, this takes the 1st line and performs the AND-elim1 rule on it to get P OR Q (see the bottom of page 128). AND-elim1 returns the left side of a conjunction.
The fourth line is 4 (4) P ass, assuming that P is true
The fifth line is 1,4 (5) P AND R 4,2 AND-int, this takes lines 2 and 4, and performs the AND-int rule on it to get P and R (see the top of 129). AND-int returns the conjunction of what follows from the union of two premises.
the sixth line is 1,4 (6) (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) 5 OR-int1, this takes line 5 and performs the OR-int1 rule on it to get (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) (see the middle of page 129). OR-int1 returns the disjunction of A and B, given A.
the seventh line is 7 (7) Q ass, assuming that Q is true
the eighth line is 1,7 (8) Q AND R 7,2 AND-int (same as line 5), this takes line seven and two and performs the AND-int rule on it to get Q AND R.
the ninth line is 1,7 (9) (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) 8 OR-int2, this takes line 8 and performs the OR-int2 rule on it to get (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) (refer to line 6). OR-int2 returns the disjunction of A and B, given B
the tenth line is 1 (10) (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) 3,6,9 OR-elim, this takes lines 3, 6, and 9, and performs the OR-elim rule on it to get (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) (refer to the top pg 129 and the bottom of page 137-138). OR-elim returns what follows from the premises LAMBDA, DELTA, and EPSILON when the disjunction of A and B is the result from the premises of LAMBDA, C follows from the premises DELTA and A, and C follows from EPSILON and B, are all given as input.
The purpose of line 10 is to show that (P AND R) OR (Q AND R) is a valid formula for the right hand side of the sequent. It has to build off the three assumptions we started with, but we have to get the three assumptions to a usable form first (lines 3,6, and 9).
Warming Up
I am sitting here with my 200+ degree (no, not centigrade) coffee that is to hot to hold, and trying to get myself going to get the last part of my homework done for the week. It is discouraging to think that I am going to spend another two hours or so on this, and then I will have to start all over tomorrow. Oh well; I have my coffee and my wonderful wife, so everything will be ok. I am somewhat disappointed that I have not had more time to write on here. It has been a very busy week at work, and I have not had much of a chance between that and school work. I did get to have a very nice Saturday. It started off with a nice work out with Deb and Chris, and then I got to hang out with Josh for a bit. Then Deb and I went to D-land to hang out with Chris and another friend. After that we went and hung out with Josh and Laurel, which was very nice. Today has been church and homework.
I am planning on writing a piece on multi-cultural relativism soon. Originally it was going to be on multiple cultural levels, but I think that it is more important to address relativism. Depends on how you look at it I guess. I will probably end up writing both I suppose. The thing that is getting to me right now is Black History Month. I cannot think of anything that is going on in society right now that is more P.C., and yet, I cannot think of anything that is more racist. Are people really that blind?
Sigh, I'm stuck in procrastination mode, so I'm going to expound a little more on multiple cultural levels. I guess Dr. Reynolds made a comment about it in Deb's class last week, so we were discussing it during a drive home one night. The basic premise is that for X (where X is something that exists), there will always be a different perspective on X depending on what culture you are from (where culture is defined as any specific confined group of people). There are two different ways to look at this. You can either say that there are many different types(categories) of subjects to be discussed (for example: Slang, or a Pun), or you can say that all things are based around a singular definition. I hold to the later, while Deb believes that there are many different categories. The reason for my view is that there is always a certain level of abstraction you have to go through before you get to a given definition. I say that whether you are discussing slang or a pun, you are still debating the definition of the words that you are using.
Ultimately I decided that none of that mattered in our discussion, because you have to either be a part of the same cultural background as the person you are arguing with in order to fully understand the topic, or you have to have a thorough understanding of that background. Deb has a very strong background in linguistics and engineering, while mine would be more based around relationships and computer theory. Fortunately we have a lot of common ground due to the mathematical basis of linguistics, ("math is just another language") and the linguistical basis to computer science. However we do still have different enough thinking patterns that we run into issues often with communicating due to our different cultural backgrounds. For example; Deb tends to interpret questions literally, and I usually interpret the intent behind the question. While these are not cultural traits, cultures to tend to be formed around such traits.
Suppose I were to ask you, "What would happen if you cross a mountain climber with a mosquito?" One person might be apt to say, "I don't know... a hairy man with wings that flies around and bugs people?" While completely wrong in terms of the joke, it would be a perfectly reasonable answer to the question based on that person's particular culture. The joke is in fact a mathematical/scientific pun based on the words "cross, mountain climber and mosquito". The answer? "Nothing! You can't cross a scalar with a vector". The explanation: "cross" is short for "cross product", which is a mathematical term for fun multiplication of vectors (normal multiplication would be referred to as scalar multiplication, or dot products). The mountain climber is the "scalar", get it? The mosquito is the vector. You cannot combine scalar and vector mathematics in a cross product.
I am sure that my explanation is not exact, but it is close enough to make my point; even though I have a strong background in mathematics, I did not remotely get that joke for a very long time because I do not normally approach jokes looking for a mathematical explanation. This caused me to be in a different culture from the person telling the joke (Deb).
Now, what is it that separated me from Deb? The different definitions of the words in the joke(fragment, AAGH!). What would separate me from Deb if I were using slang? The different definitions of the words being used. If I were British, and Deb came up to me and told me that she was very made up, I would assume that she was happy, whereas as an American, I would think that she had on to much make-up. Even though two different categories of cultural levels are being used in my examples, they are still differentiated per culture by definition.
Ok. I am done now. I either made my point, or you are wondering what I am smoking, and where you can get some. My coffee is still too hot to drink. I either wrote really fast, or I shouldn't have put it in an insulated cup.
TTFN
I am planning on writing a piece on multi-cultural relativism soon. Originally it was going to be on multiple cultural levels, but I think that it is more important to address relativism. Depends on how you look at it I guess. I will probably end up writing both I suppose. The thing that is getting to me right now is Black History Month. I cannot think of anything that is going on in society right now that is more P.C., and yet, I cannot think of anything that is more racist. Are people really that blind?
Sigh, I'm stuck in procrastination mode, so I'm going to expound a little more on multiple cultural levels. I guess Dr. Reynolds made a comment about it in Deb's class last week, so we were discussing it during a drive home one night. The basic premise is that for X (where X is something that exists), there will always be a different perspective on X depending on what culture you are from (where culture is defined as any specific confined group of people). There are two different ways to look at this. You can either say that there are many different types(categories) of subjects to be discussed (for example: Slang, or a Pun), or you can say that all things are based around a singular definition. I hold to the later, while Deb believes that there are many different categories. The reason for my view is that there is always a certain level of abstraction you have to go through before you get to a given definition. I say that whether you are discussing slang or a pun, you are still debating the definition of the words that you are using.
Ultimately I decided that none of that mattered in our discussion, because you have to either be a part of the same cultural background as the person you are arguing with in order to fully understand the topic, or you have to have a thorough understanding of that background. Deb has a very strong background in linguistics and engineering, while mine would be more based around relationships and computer theory. Fortunately we have a lot of common ground due to the mathematical basis of linguistics, ("math is just another language") and the linguistical basis to computer science. However we do still have different enough thinking patterns that we run into issues often with communicating due to our different cultural backgrounds. For example; Deb tends to interpret questions literally, and I usually interpret the intent behind the question. While these are not cultural traits, cultures to tend to be formed around such traits.
Suppose I were to ask you, "What would happen if you cross a mountain climber with a mosquito?" One person might be apt to say, "I don't know... a hairy man with wings that flies around and bugs people?" While completely wrong in terms of the joke, it would be a perfectly reasonable answer to the question based on that person's particular culture. The joke is in fact a mathematical/scientific pun based on the words "cross, mountain climber and mosquito". The answer? "Nothing! You can't cross a scalar with a vector". The explanation: "cross" is short for "cross product", which is a mathematical term for fun multiplication of vectors (normal multiplication would be referred to as scalar multiplication, or dot products). The mountain climber is the "scalar", get it? The mosquito is the vector. You cannot combine scalar and vector mathematics in a cross product.
I am sure that my explanation is not exact, but it is close enough to make my point; even though I have a strong background in mathematics, I did not remotely get that joke for a very long time because I do not normally approach jokes looking for a mathematical explanation. This caused me to be in a different culture from the person telling the joke (Deb).
Now, what is it that separated me from Deb? The different definitions of the words in the joke(fragment, AAGH!). What would separate me from Deb if I were using slang? The different definitions of the words being used. If I were British, and Deb came up to me and told me that she was very made up, I would assume that she was happy, whereas as an American, I would think that she had on to much make-up. Even though two different categories of cultural levels are being used in my examples, they are still differentiated per culture by definition.
Ok. I am done now. I either made my point, or you are wondering what I am smoking, and where you can get some. My coffee is still too hot to drink. I either wrote really fast, or I shouldn't have put it in an insulated cup.
TTFN
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Bypassing Bipartisan Bureaucracy
Today I just found out that something that has been in the works for almost two years is finally coming to fruition. Please pray for Ben and me, as this could possibly result in a much better job situation for both of us. I can't share any details, as there are none as of yet, but basically there is an "elite" (not my word) group of sys admins being brought together to form a special task force. This will more than likely result in raises, promotions (for me at least, Ben is already overpaid, haha), and people being placed under us. This will be huge for both of our carreers.
One part that might not be good for our wives is that we will probably be doing a considerable amount more travel. That is exciting for me though. Hooray for frequent flyer miles! I am already getting to the point where I can stay in hotels for free, so this will mean being able to take whole vacations for only the cost of food.
One part that might not be good for our wives is that we will probably be doing a considerable amount more travel. That is exciting for me though. Hooray for frequent flyer miles! I am already getting to the point where I can stay in hotels for free, so this will mean being able to take whole vacations for only the cost of food.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Another Night Wasted On The Tele
Well, (Well, well, well)
I just spent 4 hours watching TV when I should have been studying. That was stupid. I did a little work, but just a little while I was watching. I did get some other research stuff done that I needed to do. I was looking for a cookbook and was having a bit of a trouble finding it online because I thought it had "cookbook" in the title. I went down to Barnes and Noble because I knew they had it there, and I discovered the reason I could not find it was because the name had "diet" in it instead of "cookbook". Sigh. I spent way to much time on that, and I didn't even buy it. So as I was saying, I really need to watch less television. It is hard though, as there are many shows that I really enjoy watching, and it is something that me and Deb can both relax and do at the same time. I don't know what I will end up doing; probably nothing.
The shows I love:
The Simpsons
Futurama
Family Guy
Stargate - SG1
Stargate - Atlantis
Star Trek: Enterprise
And my new favorite: Battlestar Galactica
They are just all so good! I am being good and cutting back on the Simpsons. Even though it is the best of the bunch, I have seen all the episodes multiple times at this point. Futurama will being following closely behind, as will Family Guy. Oh, I only watch new episodes of Stargate and Star Trek, as I have seen all the episodes of star gate (except one), and I have seen all the old episodes of Enterprise that I care to. Another show that should be on that list, but isn't, is Farscape. It is no longer being aired, and it costs $115 per season to buy it, so I don't think I'll be watching it any time soon. So ultimately I have about (4x40)+(3x20x7) minutes of TV to watch per week. I figure if I am rotting my brain I might as well be mathematical about it.
Enough on TV. I suppose my one redeeming quality at the moment is that I have all but given up computer games for the time being. How sad is it that games are the least important thing in my life right now. I will miss them, but what must be done must be done. I had just bought a new game too. I really need to figure out how to make time for my picture editing. I am about 3000 pictures behind right now. Quite daunting really.
Christina came over for a little bit tonight. It was good to see her, as it had been almost a month since we had last hung out. Deb, Christina and I all went down to the spa for a little bit. It was nice.
It is so nice to have this forum for mental dumping. It is very therapeutic. There are many times where I can communicate so much clearer when I am writing.
And now... To go Hang Out with the wife. Toodles.
I just spent 4 hours watching TV when I should have been studying. That was stupid. I did a little work, but just a little while I was watching. I did get some other research stuff done that I needed to do. I was looking for a cookbook and was having a bit of a trouble finding it online because I thought it had "cookbook" in the title. I went down to Barnes and Noble because I knew they had it there, and I discovered the reason I could not find it was because the name had "diet" in it instead of "cookbook". Sigh. I spent way to much time on that, and I didn't even buy it. So as I was saying, I really need to watch less television. It is hard though, as there are many shows that I really enjoy watching, and it is something that me and Deb can both relax and do at the same time. I don't know what I will end up doing; probably nothing.
The shows I love:
The Simpsons
Futurama
Family Guy
Stargate - SG1
Stargate - Atlantis
Star Trek: Enterprise
And my new favorite: Battlestar Galactica
They are just all so good! I am being good and cutting back on the Simpsons. Even though it is the best of the bunch, I have seen all the episodes multiple times at this point. Futurama will being following closely behind, as will Family Guy. Oh, I only watch new episodes of Stargate and Star Trek, as I have seen all the episodes of star gate (except one), and I have seen all the old episodes of Enterprise that I care to. Another show that should be on that list, but isn't, is Farscape. It is no longer being aired, and it costs $115 per season to buy it, so I don't think I'll be watching it any time soon. So ultimately I have about (4x40)+(3x20x7) minutes of TV to watch per week. I figure if I am rotting my brain I might as well be mathematical about it.
Enough on TV. I suppose my one redeeming quality at the moment is that I have all but given up computer games for the time being. How sad is it that games are the least important thing in my life right now. I will miss them, but what must be done must be done. I had just bought a new game too. I really need to figure out how to make time for my picture editing. I am about 3000 pictures behind right now. Quite daunting really.
Christina came over for a little bit tonight. It was good to see her, as it had been almost a month since we had last hung out. Deb, Christina and I all went down to the spa for a little bit. It was nice.
It is so nice to have this forum for mental dumping. It is very therapeutic. There are many times where I can communicate so much clearer when I am writing.
And now... To go Hang Out with the wife. Toodles.
Formal Proofs
So for the next section of homework that I am going to be working on, I have to read two chapters on Formal Proofs. I don't know how many of you have been blessed with this requirement in your past (very few of you I expect), as you would not normally need to unless you have taken a logic class, or if you were really unlucky, a geometry class that covered Formal Proofs. Anyway, what I am about to learn is even worse. Not only do we have to learn Formal Proofs, we have to learn how to express them using the Z formal language. To say the least, it is complicated. Fortunately (unfortunately?) I have taken both logic and the bad kind of geometry, so I am fairly familier with Formal Proofs. Fun example Themata Schema(from memory, probably wrong)
If P Then Q, Not Q -> Not P (where -> signifies a sequent)
----------------------------
If P Then Q Therefore If Not Q Then Not P
Looks easy ya? Well how about if you start getting into something past the basics, like:
Iff P ^ Q Then Q U P ^ Not Q, Not Q -> P
-------------------------------------------
Iff P ^ Q Then Q U P ^ Not Q Therefore If Not Q Then P
At least with the first example you can look at it quickly and see that it is a reasonable statement. By the time you get to the second example, there are so many symbols that you can quickly loose track of what you are proving. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, P and Q can stand for a set of equations, which means you potentially have to work through even more.
At this point I will let those of you who are still working on solving the second example know that I just made it up, and it is probably absolutely false. So no, it is not you. Its me. Really.
I really don't like this portion of the class. Fortunately in another month or so we will be moving to the real world applications of Z and Information Security. That will be fun. No data will be safe from me then! MUWAHAHAHA! Oh! I mean... Data, what data? shhhhhh! Don't tell any one.
If P Then Q, Not Q -> Not P (where -> signifies a sequent)
----------------------------
If P Then Q Therefore If Not Q Then Not P
Looks easy ya? Well how about if you start getting into something past the basics, like:
Iff P ^ Q Then Q U P ^ Not Q, Not Q -> P
-------------------------------------------
Iff P ^ Q Then Q U P ^ Not Q Therefore If Not Q Then P
At least with the first example you can look at it quickly and see that it is a reasonable statement. By the time you get to the second example, there are so many symbols that you can quickly loose track of what you are proving. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, P and Q can stand for a set of equations, which means you potentially have to work through even more.
At this point I will let those of you who are still working on solving the second example know that I just made it up, and it is probably absolutely false. So no, it is not you. Its me. Really.
I really don't like this portion of the class. Fortunately in another month or so we will be moving to the real world applications of Z and Information Security. That will be fun. No data will be safe from me then! MUWAHAHAHA! Oh! I mean... Data, what data? shhhhhh! Don't tell any one.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
getopts [:n:t:]
Hooray for Homework. I just spent 5 hours doing work, and did not complete even half of what I needed to do. It is definitely taking me a while to get used to this whole "hard work" thing. Biola's computer science degree did not even compare to this in difficulty. Actually, I don't think I have ever had a class that had this much work. The nice thing is that it is worthwhile work, but annoying thing is that I don't know if I have enough time to devote to this without having to give up my social life. *Sigh* Oh well, I guess it is what you have to do advance your career.
At least every one that is close to me right now is in the middle of some degree or another. Hooray for study dates!!!
At least every one that is close to me right now is in the middle of some degree or another. Hooray for study dates!!!
Friday, February 04, 2005
I got coffee (set to the tune of "I want candy")
Well,
I walked downstairs (by walk I mean I took the elevator) and got myself some coffee so all is well now. I haven't actually had any of it yet, but it is here, and it loves me, so I am happy.
I went to the Olive Garden last night with Josh, Laurel, and Dan P. It was nice to sit with friends and eat. Our waitress brought us out a free wine sample. It was the most interesting wine I have tasted to date. It had a very strong maple finish, almost as if you were eating maple syrup. It was very good, but too rich. I don't think I would have liked to have a full glass of it. I can't normally tell if a wine has a particular finish or overtone, so having this wine was very unexpected.
I can tell the difference between different coffees. It is sad how much of a coffee snob I have become actually. There is a huge difference between a coffee that is roasted correctly, and has a smooth taste, and one that is not, and is bitter (it tastes like burning).
I am going to go do real work now.
I walked downstairs (by walk I mean I took the elevator) and got myself some coffee so all is well now. I haven't actually had any of it yet, but it is here, and it loves me, so I am happy.
I went to the Olive Garden last night with Josh, Laurel, and Dan P. It was nice to sit with friends and eat. Our waitress brought us out a free wine sample. It was the most interesting wine I have tasted to date. It had a very strong maple finish, almost as if you were eating maple syrup. It was very good, but too rich. I don't think I would have liked to have a full glass of it. I can't normally tell if a wine has a particular finish or overtone, so having this wine was very unexpected.
I can tell the difference between different coffees. It is sad how much of a coffee snob I have become actually. There is a huge difference between a coffee that is roasted correctly, and has a smooth taste, and one that is not, and is bitter (it tastes like burning).
I am going to go do real work now.
I need coffee
So I woke up this morning about an hour early because my cat decided it was time to play chase the moving (insert body part here) under the blanket. I like my cats, but I get really frustrated when they interrupt my sleep. I value my sleep, and I work hard to make sure I get approx. seven hours every night. We used to sleep with the door closed so that the cats couldn't bother me (Deb doesn't mind), but then our bedroom door started squeaking whenever it was opened. Deb was in the habit of coming to bed late in that period of our life, so when ever she came to bed she would wake me up. I was to lazy to go out and buy WD-40, so I decided we would try sleeping with the door open. It has worked well in general (I only get mad at the cats now, not Deb), but every now and then I just get the urge to through the cats through a window.
I had a weird dream last night. It was one of those fun vivid ones that stick with you all day, and make you wonder if you are doing something wrong with your life. Actually, I had two, but I am only writing about one as the other is to disturbing to put into words. I was in my bosses' office for my annual review. She told me that I was doing a great job, but sorry you do not get a raise this year, nor the raise that you deserve. At that point I proceeded to chew her out for her incompetent management style. She then said, "sorry, I didn't realize you had been working here that long".
The disturbing part is that I have my review in 11 days, and I have a feeling that is close to what is going to be happening. I am getting reviewed by a boss who has only spoken to me personally twice this year, and a lead who has not given me any assignments. I have another lead, who does give me work, and who I work with on a regular basis, but for whatever reason he is not invited to the meeting. It is hard to get ahead in life when the person who sees your work does not have a chance to evaluate you. It certainly doesn't help that I started this job underpaid, and that my co-worker is making $25k more than me for the same job. When did technical merit stop being a valuable commodity? I know that my customer appreciates me, which helps me stick to the job, but when will my management get a clue?
Two funny things:
When I ran the spell check, it thought I should replace "Deb" with "Debby"
I can't spell reveiw correctly.
I had a weird dream last night. It was one of those fun vivid ones that stick with you all day, and make you wonder if you are doing something wrong with your life. Actually, I had two, but I am only writing about one as the other is to disturbing to put into words. I was in my bosses' office for my annual review. She told me that I was doing a great job, but sorry you do not get a raise this year, nor the raise that you deserve. At that point I proceeded to chew her out for her incompetent management style. She then said, "sorry, I didn't realize you had been working here that long".
The disturbing part is that I have my review in 11 days, and I have a feeling that is close to what is going to be happening. I am getting reviewed by a boss who has only spoken to me personally twice this year, and a lead who has not given me any assignments. I have another lead, who does give me work, and who I work with on a regular basis, but for whatever reason he is not invited to the meeting. It is hard to get ahead in life when the person who sees your work does not have a chance to evaluate you. It certainly doesn't help that I started this job underpaid, and that my co-worker is making $25k more than me for the same job. When did technical merit stop being a valuable commodity? I know that my customer appreciates me, which helps me stick to the job, but when will my management get a clue?
Two funny things:
When I ran the spell check, it thought I should replace "Deb" with "Debby"
I can't spell reveiw correctly.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
my.first.blog™
Well, I can't believe I am doing this, but here goes; my first blog.
I have been thinking about doing this for a while, but just hadn't gotten together the energy to really think about it before. If anyone is ever going to read this, then I suppose I will have to update it on a regular basis. That is quite a responsibility if you think about it. Well, at least the world will finally benefit from by genius.
For my first mental dump, allow me to expound on the wonders of the pop music industry, and its relation to the collapse of the western world (I do believe there are other contributing factors, but for the moment pretend that there are none). I was just listening to a new band the other day, and it reminded me how frustratingly hard it is these days to find any music with good solid lasting quality. It used to be that you could go online and download a selection of music till you found something that was worth going out to buy. When 99% of the stuff out there has ZERO replay value, it really causes you consider what you spend your money on. Now that the wonderful MPAA has started having a fit, I would no longer consider it a safe thing to be downloading large amounts of music, even if it is just for sampling. Granted, you can go on iTunes or MSN music and buy the individual songs you want to listen to, but that still leaves you out quite a bit of money if you are doing a serious search. In the past few years I have had to rely on what others have told me is good music. Fortunately I have surrounded myself with friends that all have good taste (except for one or two that like country, but even they differentiate between old and new county, with new country being worthless drivel).
To make a long story even longer (which is useful since I still haven't gotten around to my point): WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?!? Why are they must they capitulate (look it up) the current standard of pathetic talent? Mindless America plays whatever the radio stations tell them to play, so there is no reason for the record companies to put out any effort to find musicians that have worthwhile talent. Granted, there are still a few bands out there that have done some amazing work; Evanesence and Hoobastank come readily to mind. They both have very talented main vocalist, and the chord progressions that they use tend to be a little more thought out than your average pop singer's repetitive banter.
What does it take to produce a viable record? Sex appeal. What else can it be? It certainly isn't the awe-inspiring lyrics. A record with a truly talented artist would have the three following attributes: deep lyrics; mathematically complicated chords; skilled musicians, especially the lead vocal. Look at Craig's Brother, they meet all of the above requirements. I could listen (if that link doesn't work, go to http://www.amazon.com and search for Craig's Brother Homecoming, click on the third link down, and then scroll down to the song, "sorry") to them for days. The lead vocalist uses his voice as if it were just another instrument in the band, and blends perfectly with everything single note. Another amazing band is Good Charlotte (GC). GC has some of the best lyrics out there right now.
Ok, onto my real point; teenagers (or even younger) do not have solid inspiration to perform to a higher level. Speech patterns and word comprehension has gone down the drain in the past couple of decades. Where do teenagers get their role models for these two things? From the record industry, and their peers. Where do their peers get it? From the record industry. If you listen to any teenagers conversation (or even anyone else who has grown up recently), you cannot help but notice how simple they are. As C.S. Lewis mentions in "Surprised by Joy", it is to the world's benefit if we were to use more complicated words in every day conversation. Simplicity drags down intellect when used consistently in all conversation. This is completely typical in American culture at this time. Recently I was reading a book written by a bloke in England, and I was astonished at the number of words that he used in common speech that were not known to me. What has happened to our culture? The music industry is destroying any ability we have to think on our own, or to stand up for good quality. Look at the spate of special interest groups that are constantly dividing our governmental processes. Ninety-nine percent of the arguments out there are founded in ignorance, by people who listen to what they are told, and do not do research on their own. My current favorite is the drive to give illegal aliens drivers licenses. Who in their right mind can possibly think that is a good idea? For starters, THEY ARE HERE ILLEGALLY!!! "Oh, I know, I think it would be fun to give legal status to invalid foreign residents. Just think of all the money we will make from our increased constituency", one lawmaker was heard to say. The only thing that can stop this rapid decline is if the people of America stand up to our governmental figures, and demand that good and useful laws be created, instead of allowing the people who want to make money govern our country. However, this will never happen. Why? Because the music industry has destroyed our ability for independent thought.
Well, that has been on my mind for a while, and now you know. Remember, knowing is half the battle. Stand up for Democracy, and go out and buy good quality music. If you can't find some, start small with something classic like Mozart, or Beethoven, or Handel. Once you have done that, sit down and think about what it means to better yourself, and be glad that you have by listening to that music. Once your euphoria is over, go out and yell at your local senate rep, and tell them that you demand that they do their job and create laws that serve to benefit you, the TAX PAYER.
fin
I have been thinking about doing this for a while, but just hadn't gotten together the energy to really think about it before. If anyone is ever going to read this, then I suppose I will have to update it on a regular basis. That is quite a responsibility if you think about it. Well, at least the world will finally benefit from by genius.
For my first mental dump, allow me to expound on the wonders of the pop music industry, and its relation to the collapse of the western world (I do believe there are other contributing factors, but for the moment pretend that there are none). I was just listening to a new band the other day, and it reminded me how frustratingly hard it is these days to find any music with good solid lasting quality. It used to be that you could go online and download a selection of music till you found something that was worth going out to buy. When 99% of the stuff out there has ZERO replay value, it really causes you consider what you spend your money on. Now that the wonderful MPAA has started having a fit, I would no longer consider it a safe thing to be downloading large amounts of music, even if it is just for sampling. Granted, you can go on iTunes or MSN music and buy the individual songs you want to listen to, but that still leaves you out quite a bit of money if you are doing a serious search. In the past few years I have had to rely on what others have told me is good music. Fortunately I have surrounded myself with friends that all have good taste (except for one or two that like country, but even they differentiate between old and new county, with new country being worthless drivel).
To make a long story even longer (which is useful since I still haven't gotten around to my point): WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?!? Why are they must they capitulate (look it up) the current standard of pathetic talent? Mindless America plays whatever the radio stations tell them to play, so there is no reason for the record companies to put out any effort to find musicians that have worthwhile talent. Granted, there are still a few bands out there that have done some amazing work; Evanesence and Hoobastank come readily to mind. They both have very talented main vocalist, and the chord progressions that they use tend to be a little more thought out than your average pop singer's repetitive banter.
What does it take to produce a viable record? Sex appeal. What else can it be? It certainly isn't the awe-inspiring lyrics. A record with a truly talented artist would have the three following attributes: deep lyrics; mathematically complicated chords; skilled musicians, especially the lead vocal. Look at Craig's Brother, they meet all of the above requirements. I could listen (if that link doesn't work, go to http://www.amazon.com and search for Craig's Brother Homecoming, click on the third link down, and then scroll down to the song, "sorry") to them for days. The lead vocalist uses his voice as if it were just another instrument in the band, and blends perfectly with everything single note. Another amazing band is Good Charlotte (GC). GC has some of the best lyrics out there right now.
Ok, onto my real point; teenagers (or even younger) do not have solid inspiration to perform to a higher level. Speech patterns and word comprehension has gone down the drain in the past couple of decades. Where do teenagers get their role models for these two things? From the record industry, and their peers. Where do their peers get it? From the record industry. If you listen to any teenagers conversation (or even anyone else who has grown up recently), you cannot help but notice how simple they are. As C.S. Lewis mentions in "Surprised by Joy", it is to the world's benefit if we were to use more complicated words in every day conversation. Simplicity drags down intellect when used consistently in all conversation. This is completely typical in American culture at this time. Recently I was reading a book written by a bloke in England, and I was astonished at the number of words that he used in common speech that were not known to me. What has happened to our culture? The music industry is destroying any ability we have to think on our own, or to stand up for good quality. Look at the spate of special interest groups that are constantly dividing our governmental processes. Ninety-nine percent of the arguments out there are founded in ignorance, by people who listen to what they are told, and do not do research on their own. My current favorite is the drive to give illegal aliens drivers licenses. Who in their right mind can possibly think that is a good idea? For starters, THEY ARE HERE ILLEGALLY!!! "Oh, I know, I think it would be fun to give legal status to invalid foreign residents. Just think of all the money we will make from our increased constituency", one lawmaker was heard to say. The only thing that can stop this rapid decline is if the people of America stand up to our governmental figures, and demand that good and useful laws be created, instead of allowing the people who want to make money govern our country. However, this will never happen. Why? Because the music industry has destroyed our ability for independent thought.
Well, that has been on my mind for a while, and now you know. Remember, knowing is half the battle. Stand up for Democracy, and go out and buy good quality music. If you can't find some, start small with something classic like Mozart, or Beethoven, or Handel. Once you have done that, sit down and think about what it means to better yourself, and be glad that you have by listening to that music. Once your euphoria is over, go out and yell at your local senate rep, and tell them that you demand that they do their job and create laws that serve to benefit you, the TAX PAYER.
fin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)