Best quote ever:
"C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg." - Bjarne Stroustrup
(Stroustrup being the original designer and implementer of the C++ language)
Wednesday, October 16
Tuesday, October 15
While I know that I didn't do well on my C SCI 112 test, I am happy that I got a perfect score on my Assignment #1 in there. Also, I just finished Assignment #2, and while it's not perfect (there's an error or two that I've been unable to track down), it should definitely show that I'm on the "right track" and have the problem essentially solved. If I don't get full credit, I should lose only a very minor amount of points. So I'm doing well on that as well.
Been playing Metal Gear Solid 2. About 4 1/2 hours into it. Pretty fun. My biggest complaint is the game's eagerness to break the suspension of disbelief and include references to "game" things in the dialogue (such as the CO telling you to "use the Action button", or another character telling you to "utilize the First Person View". That stuff doesn't belong in the game dialogue). Like the first Metal Gear Solid, the storyline seems as though it will inevitably diverge from the path of pseudo-realism and attempts at plausibility, and into more comic book realms. I don't necessarily dislike those kinds of storylines, but when it comes to games about tactical espionage, politics, etc., the closer that it sticks with "realism", the happier I am.
I really, really, really want S.O.C.O.M.: U.S. Navy SEALs. Stacey, meanwhile, will throw a fit if I get any new game before Kingdom Hearts. I do want Kingdom Hearts, but I want to get online with S.O.C.O.M. even more. Deary dear....
When my brother finds out about the mech game for Xbox, he's gonna be wanting an Xbox.
P.S. Radio Massacre International, which is spacey e-music, is excellent. Looking very forward to them at ProgWest.
P.P.S. Saddam Hussein is looking to improve on his 99.96% showing in the last election. Since the other 00.04% have no doubt been hunted down and killed by now, Saddam's prospects of a solid 100% this election remain high.
Been playing Metal Gear Solid 2. About 4 1/2 hours into it. Pretty fun. My biggest complaint is the game's eagerness to break the suspension of disbelief and include references to "game" things in the dialogue (such as the CO telling you to "use the Action button", or another character telling you to "utilize the First Person View". That stuff doesn't belong in the game dialogue). Like the first Metal Gear Solid, the storyline seems as though it will inevitably diverge from the path of pseudo-realism and attempts at plausibility, and into more comic book realms. I don't necessarily dislike those kinds of storylines, but when it comes to games about tactical espionage, politics, etc., the closer that it sticks with "realism", the happier I am.
I really, really, really want S.O.C.O.M.: U.S. Navy SEALs. Stacey, meanwhile, will throw a fit if I get any new game before Kingdom Hearts. I do want Kingdom Hearts, but I want to get online with S.O.C.O.M. even more. Deary dear....
When my brother finds out about the mech game for Xbox, he's gonna be wanting an Xbox.
P.S. Radio Massacre International, which is spacey e-music, is excellent. Looking very forward to them at ProgWest.
P.P.S. Saddam Hussein is looking to improve on his 99.96% showing in the last election. Since the other 00.04% have no doubt been hunted down and killed by now, Saddam's prospects of a solid 100% this election remain high.
Yesterday was not too fun. I went to classes, and then I came home and worked on my C SCI 60 and 112 assignments. I also spent a loooong time on the phone with Stacey, helping her with a paper she's writing. I half-watched the Monday Night football game (49ers vs. Seahawks), which was a good game but I didn't really focus on it enough to get into it.
In better news, I noticed last night that my toe has regained pretty much 100% of its range of movement. A few days ago, my toe would hurt if I tried to curl it. It's stopped doing that. There's still a "strange" feeling to it, but at least the pain's gone and the movement's mostly there. So I can probably forego physical therapy. Hopefully it starts to "feel" even better with time. I'd like it to straighten out a bit more (my toe now curves inwards a little more... it's slight, but there's not much room between toes, so it kinda rubs up against my second toe), but that's probably asking too much. Oh well.
I've got to finish my 112 assignment today, but for right now, I'm playing some games.
In better news, I noticed last night that my toe has regained pretty much 100% of its range of movement. A few days ago, my toe would hurt if I tried to curl it. It's stopped doing that. There's still a "strange" feeling to it, but at least the pain's gone and the movement's mostly there. So I can probably forego physical therapy. Hopefully it starts to "feel" even better with time. I'd like it to straighten out a bit more (my toe now curves inwards a little more... it's slight, but there's not much room between toes, so it kinda rubs up against my second toe), but that's probably asking too much. Oh well.
I've got to finish my 112 assignment today, but for right now, I'm playing some games.
Sunday, October 13
Things to buy:
1. Ticket to ProgWest.
2. Dual hard drives for my server (for storing my music collection)
3. Satellite TV stuff
4. Half of the cost of the flat-panel monitor that I want for Christmas
Too much darn stuff to buy!
Kingdom Hearts is gonna have to wait for a bit, Stacey. :)
1. Ticket to ProgWest.
2. Dual hard drives for my server (for storing my music collection)
3. Satellite TV stuff
4. Half of the cost of the flat-panel monitor that I want for Christmas
Too much darn stuff to buy!
Kingdom Hearts is gonna have to wait for a bit, Stacey. :)
My PS2 game collection has increased by three (well, sorta).
I went to Software Etc. and bought a used copy of ICO for $19.99. I also got a used PSX memory card.
Later, Derek and Shelby came over (for like 15 minutes - F1 racing was coming on, and they had to go watch) and Derek brought his copies of Metal Gear Solid 2 and Dark Cloud for me to borrow. Excellent.
Shelby asked "which beanbag is it that Stacey says is hers and nobody else can sit in it?". I told her it was the gray one. She then grabbed that beanbag and sat down in it.
I also got my DirecTV equipment today. Satellite TV pending soon...
Unfortunately, Jacksonville's defense was nowhere to be found today. That, paired with a head shot taken by Brunell, led to a Jaguars loss. :(
I went to Software Etc. and bought a used copy of ICO for $19.99. I also got a used PSX memory card.
Later, Derek and Shelby came over (for like 15 minutes - F1 racing was coming on, and they had to go watch) and Derek brought his copies of Metal Gear Solid 2 and Dark Cloud for me to borrow. Excellent.
Shelby asked "which beanbag is it that Stacey says is hers and nobody else can sit in it?". I told her it was the gray one. She then grabbed that beanbag and sat down in it.
I also got my DirecTV equipment today. Satellite TV pending soon...
Unfortunately, Jacksonville's defense was nowhere to be found today. That, paired with a head shot taken by Brunell, led to a Jaguars loss. :(
Saturday, October 12
I got a PS2!
I got the package at Costco, which includes the system, an additional controller, a memory card, and two Greatest Hits games (Gran Turismo 3 and ATV Offroad Fury). I used my mom's $75 Costco "coupon", so in all it came out to just over $200 (which is what the system by itself would've cost elsewhere).
Gran Turismo 3 is a game I definitely wanted. I wasn't excited about ATV Offroad Fury, until I found out it was developed by Rainbow (same guys that did the Motocross Madness games).
Some comments to Greg (if you don't understand these, read all the comments for the October 11th post):
* I will probably drive to Porterville and watch the Jaguars game at my parents' house. I need to pick up my DirecTV stuff at my grandmother's house in Visalia, and get myself set up to have NFL action at my place. Tidbits on the upcoming Jaguar game: Starting Jags linebacker T.J. Slaughter has been re-instated after serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's "substance" policy (he tested positive for steroids - he wasn't careful enough in double-checking the supplements he was taking). He'll play against Tennessee. Tennessee currently sucks pretty badly, but they always create matchup problems against the Jaguars. This time around, though, the Jaguars defense is probably the best it's ever been, and I expect them to harrass Steve McNair quite a bit.
* Xbox is sweet. After playing my first couple of PS2 games, it's VERY obvious that the Xbox is a much more powerful and better looking console. It doesn't have the same kind of game library as the PS2 (which is why I just got my PS2), but what it has is great. NFL2K3 is awesome, naturally. :)
* The new Sam & Max had better rule. :) I was more or less pleased with the most recent Monkey Island game, though I liked the first three games even better.
I got the package at Costco, which includes the system, an additional controller, a memory card, and two Greatest Hits games (Gran Turismo 3 and ATV Offroad Fury). I used my mom's $75 Costco "coupon", so in all it came out to just over $200 (which is what the system by itself would've cost elsewhere).
Gran Turismo 3 is a game I definitely wanted. I wasn't excited about ATV Offroad Fury, until I found out it was developed by Rainbow (same guys that did the Motocross Madness games).
Some comments to Greg (if you don't understand these, read all the comments for the October 11th post):
* I will probably drive to Porterville and watch the Jaguars game at my parents' house. I need to pick up my DirecTV stuff at my grandmother's house in Visalia, and get myself set up to have NFL action at my place. Tidbits on the upcoming Jaguar game: Starting Jags linebacker T.J. Slaughter has been re-instated after serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's "substance" policy (he tested positive for steroids - he wasn't careful enough in double-checking the supplements he was taking). He'll play against Tennessee. Tennessee currently sucks pretty badly, but they always create matchup problems against the Jaguars. This time around, though, the Jaguars defense is probably the best it's ever been, and I expect them to harrass Steve McNair quite a bit.
* Xbox is sweet. After playing my first couple of PS2 games, it's VERY obvious that the Xbox is a much more powerful and better looking console. It doesn't have the same kind of game library as the PS2 (which is why I just got my PS2), but what it has is great. NFL2K3 is awesome, naturally. :)
* The new Sam & Max had better rule. :) I was more or less pleased with the most recent Monkey Island game, though I liked the first three games even better.
Friday, October 11
Here's a cool article: Older gamers now the norm.
Meanwhile, my mom obsesses over crappy FreeCell...
Meanwhile, my mom obsesses over crappy FreeCell...
Thursday, October 10
I love the NFL/United Way commercial with Jake Plummer taking kids around a zoo, and a Brooklyn-esque girl (reminds me of the girl in "Life With Mikey") challenges Plummer's claim of the cardinal being fearsome.
Girl: "What about eagles?"
Plummer: "Cardinals eat eagles!"
Girl: "What about falcons?"
Plummer: "They eat them too!"
Girl: "It doesn't look so tough!"
Girl: "What about eagles?"
Plummer: "Cardinals eat eagles!"
Girl: "What about falcons?"
Plummer: "They eat them too!"
Girl: "It doesn't look so tough!"
The following are my comments, sent to the Senate Committe on the Judiciary, on the topic of Digital Rights Management (DRM):
"The larger and more intrusive something is, the more cumbersome and unwieldy it is. This does not seem like the direction to go in when the thing being installed is ultimately destined to be defeated. No protection scheme is bulletproof, and the defeats of the scheme eventually are homogenized into a "crack" so simple that any user can use it. Consider how widespread PlayStation game piracy was, and that involved the physical soldering of a chip to the game system's motherboard. No one could have predicted that such a large percentage of the userbase would go to that length for piracy, yet the "hacks" became so simple over time that any 15-year-old could borrow Daddy's soldering iron and do it himself. And when the "hacks" involve only software, it eventually becomes as easy as double-clicking an .EXE file and *poof*, you're done.
Whether piracy is wrong or not is not the issue. The issue is that piracy will not be defeated. There are crackers who will tirelessly work night and day to defeat protection schemes until they're cracked. And once they're cracked, all that's left are the hassles that the system push on the "legit" user.
The issue now is that new business models need to be devised. Some business models don't even need to be touched - compressed video footage from someone's HandiCam, downloaded to a computer, isn't going to replace Friday night dates at the theater. Music's a little more touchy, but an association whose members operate as a money sponge (soaking up most of it, while allowing a little overflow to drip below to the artists) really needs to be brought to justice of their own before "pressing charges" (so to speak) on the public whose money they hoarde.
At this point, I don't understand how a Senate committee could take the current "old world" industries very seriously. Even a cursory glance at the track record of the RIAA (for example) reveals that these associations have far more to answer for on their own part, before they can be in any position to push their agenda onto the public.
The public has been able to copy VHS tapes for years. It's been able to copy audio cassettes for years. While these are no longer the cutting edge of media, they once were. And while copying them was always an easy possibility, it never met any of the doomsday prophesies that were offered then, and are being offered all over again now. History has a curious way of repeating itself. "
"The larger and more intrusive something is, the more cumbersome and unwieldy it is. This does not seem like the direction to go in when the thing being installed is ultimately destined to be defeated. No protection scheme is bulletproof, and the defeats of the scheme eventually are homogenized into a "crack" so simple that any user can use it. Consider how widespread PlayStation game piracy was, and that involved the physical soldering of a chip to the game system's motherboard. No one could have predicted that such a large percentage of the userbase would go to that length for piracy, yet the "hacks" became so simple over time that any 15-year-old could borrow Daddy's soldering iron and do it himself. And when the "hacks" involve only software, it eventually becomes as easy as double-clicking an .EXE file and *poof*, you're done.
Whether piracy is wrong or not is not the issue. The issue is that piracy will not be defeated. There are crackers who will tirelessly work night and day to defeat protection schemes until they're cracked. And once they're cracked, all that's left are the hassles that the system push on the "legit" user.
The issue now is that new business models need to be devised. Some business models don't even need to be touched - compressed video footage from someone's HandiCam, downloaded to a computer, isn't going to replace Friday night dates at the theater. Music's a little more touchy, but an association whose members operate as a money sponge (soaking up most of it, while allowing a little overflow to drip below to the artists) really needs to be brought to justice of their own before "pressing charges" (so to speak) on the public whose money they hoarde.
At this point, I don't understand how a Senate committee could take the current "old world" industries very seriously. Even a cursory glance at the track record of the RIAA (for example) reveals that these associations have far more to answer for on their own part, before they can be in any position to push their agenda onto the public.
The public has been able to copy VHS tapes for years. It's been able to copy audio cassettes for years. While these are no longer the cutting edge of media, they once were. And while copying them was always an easy possibility, it never met any of the doomsday prophesies that were offered then, and are being offered all over again now. History has a curious way of repeating itself. "
I've had a pretty good study session so far today. I just hope that it translates to good test performance. My instructor is so cryptic and vague that I have absolutely no clue what to expect, except that I know what "range" of material the exam will cover. And she said that what we write on one portion of the exam will then be used on the following problems, so I have a feeling that we're going to write some basic code and then proceed to optimize it in the problems that follow. This class is all about reducing the number of instructions it takes to perform a certain task. Where it gets hard is in the "pipelining" of the SPARC architecture, where one instruction is being copied into memory while another instruction is being executed, making for all sorts of weird possibilities when the program jumps to a non-consecutive line of code.
Today's listening: Orbital's The Altogether (CD1), Thievery Corporation's The Mirror Conspiracy (cool down-tempo electronic with strings and horns and touches of ethnic influences added in), and Monolake's Bicom Remoteable Cut EP (much more machine-like and less human than the Thievery Corporation album). Now starting: Dvorak's String Quartets #10 and #11.
Heh... I'm logged on to CSUF's "Triton" server (which runs SunOS Unix on the SPARC architecture, so I can write all my assembly on there), and I used the Unix command "users" to see who else is online. Practically everyone is using a class temporary account (such as "cs112a04", which designates the class - cs112). There's one person from C SCI 115, three from ECE 71, one from C SCI 40, and four from C SCI 41. There's only one person online using a permanent account (something that I need to go and get soon).
Today's listening: Orbital's The Altogether (CD1), Thievery Corporation's The Mirror Conspiracy (cool down-tempo electronic with strings and horns and touches of ethnic influences added in), and Monolake's Bicom Remoteable Cut EP (much more machine-like and less human than the Thievery Corporation album). Now starting: Dvorak's String Quartets #10 and #11.
Heh... I'm logged on to CSUF's "Triton" server (which runs SunOS Unix on the SPARC architecture, so I can write all my assembly on there), and I used the Unix command "users" to see who else is online. Practically everyone is using a class temporary account (such as "cs112a04", which designates the class - cs112). There's one person from C SCI 115, three from ECE 71, one from C SCI 40, and four from C SCI 41. There's only one person online using a permanent account (something that I need to go and get soon).
Assembly language exam tomorrow. Fun fun fun. Currently studying a tutorial on SPARC architecture assembly.... someone on the Fresno-CSCI list posted a link to it, and so I added it to the group's Links section. Pretty good tutorial... I should print out a hard copy and keep it in my CSCI 112 binder.
I got my summer temp work money yesterday! $133 for updating (and rebuilding in parts) a department's website over the summer. I now call this my "PlayStation 2 money", for it will help pay for a PS2 sometime after the 15th.
I installed and played NHL 2003 on my PC, and I must say that I'm mightily disappointed. The gameplay is very slow and jerky.... not at all fast or fluid like NHL 2002. I like that they "shrunk" the rink so that it's more like an NHL rink (even though I hate NHL regulation ice, and wish that the NHL would go to the large international-sized playing surface). I know I could use a better video card in my PC, but I think most of the slowness is just in the gameplay itself. I'll try the game on console, but I think Sega's NHL2K3 might be this year's hockey game to play. I kinda miss my old copy of NHL FaceOff '97 for the PlayStation... one of the first PSX games I bought.
I asked Derek if he wants to go to the Fresno State football game this weekend. He said he might be going to Santa Cruz for the weekend, but isn't sure, so he'll get back to me later tonight. Stacey's babysitting that night, but we get to go out Friday night. :)
I love having my wireless network. Ever since I got it, I've been roaming around my apartment with my laptop. I'll sit on my couch and watch the hockey game (LA Kings won their opener last night, 4-1 over the Phoenix Coyotes) and do some coding or Internet stuff. I'll go upstairs and be online. I can access MP3s that are on my desktop computer right now, but once I put those big hard drives into my server, I'll have my entire music collection online (part of Project: Integration).
Once this week is over, I think I'm going to get one of those Blockbuster cards that lets you rent however many games you want for a month. I'll need that. This exam assault has sucked. I hope my next exams are spread out a bit more.
OK, back to studying.....
test:
cmp %c_r, 5
bg done
add %c_r, 1, %c_r
mov %a_r, %o0
mov %b_r, %o1
call .mul
nop
move %o0, %a_r
ba test
nop
done:
I got my summer temp work money yesterday! $133 for updating (and rebuilding in parts) a department's website over the summer. I now call this my "PlayStation 2 money", for it will help pay for a PS2 sometime after the 15th.
I installed and played NHL 2003 on my PC, and I must say that I'm mightily disappointed. The gameplay is very slow and jerky.... not at all fast or fluid like NHL 2002. I like that they "shrunk" the rink so that it's more like an NHL rink (even though I hate NHL regulation ice, and wish that the NHL would go to the large international-sized playing surface). I know I could use a better video card in my PC, but I think most of the slowness is just in the gameplay itself. I'll try the game on console, but I think Sega's NHL2K3 might be this year's hockey game to play. I kinda miss my old copy of NHL FaceOff '97 for the PlayStation... one of the first PSX games I bought.
I asked Derek if he wants to go to the Fresno State football game this weekend. He said he might be going to Santa Cruz for the weekend, but isn't sure, so he'll get back to me later tonight. Stacey's babysitting that night, but we get to go out Friday night. :)
I love having my wireless network. Ever since I got it, I've been roaming around my apartment with my laptop. I'll sit on my couch and watch the hockey game (LA Kings won their opener last night, 4-1 over the Phoenix Coyotes) and do some coding or Internet stuff. I'll go upstairs and be online. I can access MP3s that are on my desktop computer right now, but once I put those big hard drives into my server, I'll have my entire music collection online (part of Project: Integration).
Once this week is over, I think I'm going to get one of those Blockbuster cards that lets you rent however many games you want for a month. I'll need that. This exam assault has sucked. I hope my next exams are spread out a bit more.
OK, back to studying.....
test:
cmp %c_r, 5
bg done
add %c_r, 1, %c_r
mov %a_r, %o0
mov %b_r, %o1
call .mul
nop
move %o0, %a_r
ba test
nop
done:
Wednesday, October 9
Since Stacey and Shelby are always complaining about having nothing to do online....
... here's a fun website: www.psychoexgirlfriend.com. Listen to some of the voice mails that this psycho broad left for her "boyfriend". It's great. She tries *every* trick in the book to try and get this guy back. Tries to make him jealous, tries to make him feel guilty, obsesses over some stupid cell phone thing (she cries about not being able to figure out her cell phone, and he promised to teach her... how stupid does she have to be?). Many of the voice-mails were left within minutes of each other, sometimes immediately after each other. It's twisted.
What can I say? I am fascinated by stupidity.
... here's a fun website: www.psychoexgirlfriend.com. Listen to some of the voice mails that this psycho broad left for her "boyfriend". It's great. She tries *every* trick in the book to try and get this guy back. Tries to make him jealous, tries to make him feel guilty, obsesses over some stupid cell phone thing (she cries about not being able to figure out her cell phone, and he promised to teach her... how stupid does she have to be?). Many of the voice-mails were left within minutes of each other, sometimes immediately after each other. It's twisted.
What can I say? I am fascinated by stupidity.
Tuesday, October 8
Today, I spent most of the day with Stacey - driving around, then hanging out at my place, then at hers. I haven't done much productive. Time to start studying for my 112 test.
NHL 2003 released on PC. I downloaded and burned it, but haven't played yet.
Nothing much to talk about. It was a good day, but nothing much interesting to write about.
I want a PS2. I will get one soon.
NHL 2003 released on PC. I downloaded and burned it, but haven't played yet.
Nothing much to talk about. It was a good day, but nothing much interesting to write about.
I want a PS2. I will get one soon.
Monday, October 7
Tomorrow's C SCI 112 lab was cancelled, due to our test being this week (Friday). A small reprieve. I have a C SCI 1 assignment due on Friday, but other than that, I don't have any other assignments to do this week (though I'll probably get C SCI 60 homework for the weekend, and I need to write my concert report for music by next Monday).
Sunday, October 6
This weekend was one of rest and recuperation. After last week's trio of tests, I was beat. I still have my hardest exam (of the first round of midterms) on Friday. My music exam tomorrow shouldn't be too tough. As for Friday's C SCI 112 (assembly) exam, well, got some serious studying to do. Might want to organize a couple of people to study for it. At least I can focus on it all week, as I won't have anything else due this week.
Recapping the weekend:
(1) Friday - Fresno State Bulldogs vs. Colorado State Rams football game. Fresno wins, 32-30. Stacey and I went with my parents (the season ticket holders).
(2) Saturday - Fresno Fair. Food, interesting things to see, and Michelle Branch concert.
(3) Sunday - Drive to Porterville to watch the day of NFL action. Jacksonville scores a big win over Philly, 28-25.
The weather got warm again today. It was up to 88° today, and it's supposed to get to 91° tomorrow. CRAPPY. But, after another 88° day on Tuesday, we'll see 85°, 84°, and then a sharp drop to the lower 70's (where we dang well better stay). Some overcast would be nice at some point.
A laptop conneted to a personal wireless network is a wonderful thing. Everyone ought to have one.
Recapping the weekend:
(1) Friday - Fresno State Bulldogs vs. Colorado State Rams football game. Fresno wins, 32-30. Stacey and I went with my parents (the season ticket holders).
(2) Saturday - Fresno Fair. Food, interesting things to see, and Michelle Branch concert.
(3) Sunday - Drive to Porterville to watch the day of NFL action. Jacksonville scores a big win over Philly, 28-25.
The weather got warm again today. It was up to 88° today, and it's supposed to get to 91° tomorrow. CRAPPY. But, after another 88° day on Tuesday, we'll see 85°, 84°, and then a sharp drop to the lower 70's (where we dang well better stay). Some overcast would be nice at some point.
A laptop conneted to a personal wireless network is a wonderful thing. Everyone ought to have one.
Not only did the Jaguars win 28-25 today, but it wasn't even that close. It was 28-10 and the game was over at that point.
I drove down to Porterville, all by myself, to watch the games at my parents house.... all by myself. My parents are still in Vegas. The drive was worth it, because Jacksonville kicked.... even though the running game had a hard time getting going.
Music test tomorrow on jazz. Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Glenn Miller (bleh), John Coltrane, Miles Davis......
I drove down to Porterville, all by myself, to watch the games at my parents house.... all by myself. My parents are still in Vegas. The drive was worth it, because Jacksonville kicked.... even though the running game had a hard time getting going.
Music test tomorrow on jazz. Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Glenn Miller (bleh), John Coltrane, Miles Davis......
Finished installing my wireless network yesterday. My wireless router is now handling all my routing duties, rather than my FreeBSD box. Is this because I thought the hardware router would be better? No, it's because I couldn't figure out how to make the router act as only a wireless access point. I must say, it is easier to administrate the SMC Barricade than it is FreeBSD ipnat (though I got pretty handy at typing "vi /etc/ipnat.rules" and "ipnat -CF -f /etc/ipnat.rules").
So, anyway, Stacey and I went to the fair today. The food was good. Don't ask me how I managed to avoid eating the barbecue ribs, though. Just never had time to sit down and eat them. Pizza and nachos and snowcones are edible on the move. Anyway, the Michelle Branch concert was fun. Granted, pop music isn't my style, but I prefer Branch's style of music over the whiz-bang of so-called "bubblegum pop". At least it's honest, and not manufactured. So I was able to enjoy myself. I'm still far more looking forward to hearing TOOL play, naturally, but this was enjoyable. Stacey and I took some pictures - they'll be on each of our sites eventually.
Driving down to Porterville tomorrow to watch the football games tomorrow. A nice way to cap off a fun weekend. I needed a good weekend too, because the exam studying starts again on Monday (my C SCI 112 assembly language exam is on Friday, and it's going to be TOUGH. I have SO much studying to do for it).
So, anyway, Stacey and I went to the fair today. The food was good. Don't ask me how I managed to avoid eating the barbecue ribs, though. Just never had time to sit down and eat them. Pizza and nachos and snowcones are edible on the move. Anyway, the Michelle Branch concert was fun. Granted, pop music isn't my style, but I prefer Branch's style of music over the whiz-bang of so-called "bubblegum pop". At least it's honest, and not manufactured. So I was able to enjoy myself. I'm still far more looking forward to hearing TOOL play, naturally, but this was enjoyable. Stacey and I took some pictures - they'll be on each of our sites eventually.
Driving down to Porterville tomorrow to watch the football games tomorrow. A nice way to cap off a fun weekend. I needed a good weekend too, because the exam studying starts again on Monday (my C SCI 112 assembly language exam is on Friday, and it's going to be TOUGH. I have SO much studying to do for it).
Saturday, October 5
Why does Blogger's post editing page only display correctly in Internet Explorer?
Anyway, let's recap:
(1) 3 exams down. 1 more on Monday, and another on Friday.
(2) TOOL coming to Fresno. Ticket ordered and paid for.
(3) ProgWest happening in LA in November. Need to get my ticket.
(4) Michelle Branch tomorrow at the fair.
As for today, I went through more than I needed to with regards to a UPS package that has been attempted for delivery to my apartment twice, only for me to not be there each time (unfortunately, due to whatever the shipper specified, I was *not* allowed to sign a card and authorize them to leave it at my door). I called this morning, and was told the package was supposed to be held at the station for me to pick up. I go there in the afternoon, and it turns out that the package had been sent out on a truck for delivery. Yay. Oh, and backtracking a moment, the UPS station was way the heck on the other side of town, in an area that I'm not familiar with and don't plan on becoming intimite with, and the offramp off of Highway 99 was closed. Yeah, it was one of those days.
It got better after I got back home. Stacey stayed at my place and worked on her homework, while I went on this little escapade. Not terribly long after I got home, the delivery truck made its way to my door. Yay, my package (FINALLY) is in my hands. What is it? Why, it's my wireless networking hardware. Yippee skippy.
After that, my parents showed up, and Stacey and I went with them to the Fresno State vs. Colorado State football game. Fresno won, 32-30, against the top 25 ranked Colorado St. Rams. After losing three games to top-25 teams (one of which they lost on an officiating call, another of which they just barely choked away), it was nice to WIN one. Of course, had they nabbed a "W" on even one of those first three games, they'd probably be due for their own top-25 ranking. Oh well, it just can't be like last season.
Tomorrow, Stacey and I hit the fair. Hopefully, it'll be entertaining. Meanwhile, I need to start studying for my music exam, and my assembly language test (I have a ton of catching up to do in there).
Anyway, let's recap:
(1) 3 exams down. 1 more on Monday, and another on Friday.
(2) TOOL coming to Fresno. Ticket ordered and paid for.
(3) ProgWest happening in LA in November. Need to get my ticket.
(4) Michelle Branch tomorrow at the fair.
As for today, I went through more than I needed to with regards to a UPS package that has been attempted for delivery to my apartment twice, only for me to not be there each time (unfortunately, due to whatever the shipper specified, I was *not* allowed to sign a card and authorize them to leave it at my door). I called this morning, and was told the package was supposed to be held at the station for me to pick up. I go there in the afternoon, and it turns out that the package had been sent out on a truck for delivery. Yay. Oh, and backtracking a moment, the UPS station was way the heck on the other side of town, in an area that I'm not familiar with and don't plan on becoming intimite with, and the offramp off of Highway 99 was closed. Yeah, it was one of those days.
It got better after I got back home. Stacey stayed at my place and worked on her homework, while I went on this little escapade. Not terribly long after I got home, the delivery truck made its way to my door. Yay, my package (FINALLY) is in my hands. What is it? Why, it's my wireless networking hardware. Yippee skippy.
After that, my parents showed up, and Stacey and I went with them to the Fresno State vs. Colorado State football game. Fresno won, 32-30, against the top 25 ranked Colorado St. Rams. After losing three games to top-25 teams (one of which they lost on an officiating call, another of which they just barely choked away), it was nice to WIN one. Of course, had they nabbed a "W" on even one of those first three games, they'd probably be due for their own top-25 ranking. Oh well, it just can't be like last season.
Tomorrow, Stacey and I hit the fair. Hopefully, it'll be entertaining. Meanwhile, I need to start studying for my music exam, and my assembly language test (I have a ton of catching up to do in there).
Friday, October 4
C SCI 60 test is over. Some of it was hard. I hope I did well.
I was at Stacey's yesterday, and I saw a commercial for TOOL coming to play at Selland Arena here in Fresno. Tickets went on sale this morning at 10:00am. I booted up my laptop and ordered mine while in class. I got tickets in the front-and-center section on the floor. Should be great.
I showed some people in my C SCI 112 class (before class, before I had to go buy my tickets) the lab that I finished yesterday. They were impressed at my solution. We're still not sure if it's "allowed" or not, though we think she'd have to accept it because what I did was not explicitly disallowed. I can't help it if I'm brilliant and good at researching my work...
On my way to class, I saw a paper posted on the wall, asking "Can You Solve This?". The problem went as follows:
"Given 12 gems, each of which are identical in outward appearence, but one of which is counterfeit and lighter in weight, use a balancing scale to determine which gem is the counterfeit. You may use the scale no more than 3 times."
It took me about 2 minutes to solve this problem. I don't know if that means that I'm smart, or if it was just a brain-dead problem. The paper asked for people to e-mail their solutions to a couple of the math professors. So, I wrote down their e-mail addresses, typed up my solution before class, and e-mailed them.
[Update: I saw a problem just like this on the Internet, which was solved by grade schoolers. So obviously it's not that hard.]
I was at Stacey's yesterday, and I saw a commercial for TOOL coming to play at Selland Arena here in Fresno. Tickets went on sale this morning at 10:00am. I booted up my laptop and ordered mine while in class. I got tickets in the front-and-center section on the floor. Should be great.
I showed some people in my C SCI 112 class (before class, before I had to go buy my tickets) the lab that I finished yesterday. They were impressed at my solution. We're still not sure if it's "allowed" or not, though we think she'd have to accept it because what I did was not explicitly disallowed. I can't help it if I'm brilliant and good at researching my work...
On my way to class, I saw a paper posted on the wall, asking "Can You Solve This?". The problem went as follows:
"Given 12 gems, each of which are identical in outward appearence, but one of which is counterfeit and lighter in weight, use a balancing scale to determine which gem is the counterfeit. You may use the scale no more than 3 times."
It took me about 2 minutes to solve this problem. I don't know if that means that I'm smart, or if it was just a brain-dead problem. The paper asked for people to e-mail their solutions to a couple of the math professors. So, I wrote down their e-mail addresses, typed up my solution before class, and e-mailed them.
[Update: I saw a problem just like this on the Internet, which was solved by grade schoolers. So obviously it's not that hard.]
Thursday, October 3
Not surprisingly, Stacey is attached to her WinXP. We'll break that Microsoft dependancy soon enough...
Quick shout-out to Greg Buchold, who tried to message me when I was with Stacey this afternoon/night (for some reason, Trillian did not go into idle mode - I had three messages from people that I had not talked to in a long time). Greg was a friend back in P-town... yet another brilliant mind trapped in an otherwise mentally deficient mini-tropolis. He said he's attending UC Santa Cruz, and is double majoring in quantum physics and pimping. (OK, I made those majors up).
I don't think my C SCI 60 exam will be too tough, but you never know. I think I'm going to skip C SCI 1 tomorrow (that class is the definition of "skippable" - I've skipped it a few times already and I know I pounded the crap out of that exam), and use the extra time to study for the test.
After this, I have to study for my music exam on Monday, and for my C SCI 112 (assembly language, ugh!) exam on Friday. THAT one is going to be terrible. Honestly, C SCI 112 is a class I just want to pass (I know, I know Stacey, I've said that before... but unlike last time, Dr. Seki has a reputation for being a *real* tough grader. Dr. Yeung graded very softly for us in C SCI 41). I've neglected assembly language for the last couple of weeks, because I was so focused on my C++ assignments and exam. It's hard to learn two languages at once! You just kinda learn them in stages. So, anyway, it's assembly language study time.
I want a better laptop. Maybe I should save up some money and try to get my parents to pay for half of one for Christmas or something. My laptop has become so inseparable from me that I could use one with some extra power. I'd love one of the sleek new Apple laptops (now that Mac OS is built on top of BSD Unix), but they're *too* expensive. Whatever I get, it has to be STURDY. My Thinkpad is a workhorse. I need something I can sling into my backpack's laptop slot and carry around on my back. I wouldn't want to carry Stacey's laptop that way... it's too delicate. I need a manly laptop. :)
If you feel like supporting a good cause for the day, click here, and a can of soup will be donated by Campbell's for the hungry, on your behalf.
Quick shout-out to Greg Buchold, who tried to message me when I was with Stacey this afternoon/night (for some reason, Trillian did not go into idle mode - I had three messages from people that I had not talked to in a long time). Greg was a friend back in P-town... yet another brilliant mind trapped in an otherwise mentally deficient mini-tropolis. He said he's attending UC Santa Cruz, and is double majoring in quantum physics and pimping. (OK, I made those majors up).
I don't think my C SCI 60 exam will be too tough, but you never know. I think I'm going to skip C SCI 1 tomorrow (that class is the definition of "skippable" - I've skipped it a few times already and I know I pounded the crap out of that exam), and use the extra time to study for the test.
After this, I have to study for my music exam on Monday, and for my C SCI 112 (assembly language, ugh!) exam on Friday. THAT one is going to be terrible. Honestly, C SCI 112 is a class I just want to pass (I know, I know Stacey, I've said that before... but unlike last time, Dr. Seki has a reputation for being a *real* tough grader. Dr. Yeung graded very softly for us in C SCI 41). I've neglected assembly language for the last couple of weeks, because I was so focused on my C++ assignments and exam. It's hard to learn two languages at once! You just kinda learn them in stages. So, anyway, it's assembly language study time.
I want a better laptop. Maybe I should save up some money and try to get my parents to pay for half of one for Christmas or something. My laptop has become so inseparable from me that I could use one with some extra power. I'd love one of the sleek new Apple laptops (now that Mac OS is built on top of BSD Unix), but they're *too* expensive. Whatever I get, it has to be STURDY. My Thinkpad is a workhorse. I need something I can sling into my backpack's laptop slot and carry around on my back. I wouldn't want to carry Stacey's laptop that way... it's too delicate. I need a manly laptop. :)
If you feel like supporting a good cause for the day, click here, and a can of soup will be donated by Campbell's for the hungry, on your behalf.
OK, now that things have calmed down a bit (even with an impending test in C SCI 60 tomorrow)........
My C SCI 115 test was difficult (surprise!). I wish I would have studied my actual Knight's Tour code more, and the pseudocode from the book less, because sure enough, we had to actually code it (despite a couple of my classmates insisting we'd be writing it in pseudocode - I thought I had heard differently, and turns out I was right). I think I did well on the Knapsack problems, which were the very last things I studied for. We'll see how the grading goes...
I finished my C SCI 112 lab this morning/early afternoon. It ended up being a whole whopping *one* line of code. At least, that's how I coded it. It's so simple that I wonder if maybe I "cheated". I found out that the "eval" function has the ability to easily change number bases. I wonder if maybe we weren't supposed to know that or not. But then again, I don't know how I would do it otherwise. And we're just supposed to write a macro that simplifies the process of changing a number from decimal to hexadecimal, so maybe it wasn't supposed to be a difficult problem. We're given very little direction in these matters... we're pretty much left to fend for ourselves. It's really like a teacher throwing you a math book and a French book and saying, "Here. Learn math and French. You've got one semester."
Tuesday evening, I went to Round Table Pizza to get myself some pizza. (I didn't have much time to leave the house, so one big pizza would provide dinner, a late night snack, and the next day's lunch before my exam). While waiting, I sat down at an arcade game called Arctic Thunder. It's a snowmobile racing game. What's cool is that the handlebars and bench seat shake to simulate the rough ride and acceleration. But what's REALLY trippy is that the game machine has these fans (I'm guessing they're fans) built in, and they kick in when you're moving and blow cold air on you! It's kinda cool, because the moving air and bumping ride give you a decent sense of motion. I bet the game would be more fun during hot summer months than it is in winter. It reminds me of an old PC Games column, jokingly talking about the future of force-feedback, and it included fans and water sprayers for simulating wind/movement and moisture. Funny how reality's catching up to satire.
Stacey's laptop and Windows XP continue to be at odds with each other. I'm wondering if she wouldn't be better off with Red Hat Linux. Maybe if one of the all-in-one instant messengers works well (I'll try Imici very soon, Frank). KaZaA can be installed using Wine, I've read. Hmm. I'll bounce the idea off her, after I've used Linux a bit more, unless I'm able to resolve the XP issues on the laptop.
My C SCI 115 test was difficult (surprise!). I wish I would have studied my actual Knight's Tour code more, and the pseudocode from the book less, because sure enough, we had to actually code it (despite a couple of my classmates insisting we'd be writing it in pseudocode - I thought I had heard differently, and turns out I was right). I think I did well on the Knapsack problems, which were the very last things I studied for. We'll see how the grading goes...
I finished my C SCI 112 lab this morning/early afternoon. It ended up being a whole whopping *one* line of code. At least, that's how I coded it. It's so simple that I wonder if maybe I "cheated". I found out that the "eval" function has the ability to easily change number bases. I wonder if maybe we weren't supposed to know that or not. But then again, I don't know how I would do it otherwise. And we're just supposed to write a macro that simplifies the process of changing a number from decimal to hexadecimal, so maybe it wasn't supposed to be a difficult problem. We're given very little direction in these matters... we're pretty much left to fend for ourselves. It's really like a teacher throwing you a math book and a French book and saying, "Here. Learn math and French. You've got one semester."
Tuesday evening, I went to Round Table Pizza to get myself some pizza. (I didn't have much time to leave the house, so one big pizza would provide dinner, a late night snack, and the next day's lunch before my exam). While waiting, I sat down at an arcade game called Arctic Thunder. It's a snowmobile racing game. What's cool is that the handlebars and bench seat shake to simulate the rough ride and acceleration. But what's REALLY trippy is that the game machine has these fans (I'm guessing they're fans) built in, and they kick in when you're moving and blow cold air on you! It's kinda cool, because the moving air and bumping ride give you a decent sense of motion. I bet the game would be more fun during hot summer months than it is in winter. It reminds me of an old PC Games column, jokingly talking about the future of force-feedback, and it included fans and water sprayers for simulating wind/movement and moisture. Funny how reality's catching up to satire.
Stacey's laptop and Windows XP continue to be at odds with each other. I'm wondering if she wouldn't be better off with Red Hat Linux. Maybe if one of the all-in-one instant messengers works well (I'll try Imici very soon, Frank). KaZaA can be installed using Wine, I've read. Hmm. I'll bounce the idea off her, after I've used Linux a bit more, unless I'm able to resolve the XP issues on the laptop.
Wednesday, October 2
"Be our guest
Be our guest
Put the rumors all to rest
Bring in all your top inspectors
and watch Saddam pass the test!
Come inside!
Look around
There's no nerve gas to be found!
The only thing we're making
Is some cookie dough for baaakingggg..."
-- A fake Saddam Hussein and the candle guy from Beauty and the Beast, singing on Conan O'Brien last night.
Be our guest
Put the rumors all to rest
Bring in all your top inspectors
and watch Saddam pass the test!
Come inside!
Look around
There's no nerve gas to be found!
The only thing we're making
Is some cookie dough for baaakingggg..."
-- A fake Saddam Hussein and the candle guy from Beauty and the Beast, singing on Conan O'Brien last night.
The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is ridiculous.
If anyone wonders why I download so many MP3s with no apparent regard for artist royalties, consider this:
At a recent hearing to U.S. Senators, one member of the Backstreet Boys (Kevin Richardson) stated that the members of their band have NEVER received a royalties check. NEVER. Millions of albums sold, and not one penny gets to the artists. Surprised? It happens all the time.
Don Henley (of the Eagles) brought royalty statements to the hearing, despite being threatened of lawsuits by the label (gee, think someone's not wanting information like this disclosed?). Henley didn't budge, and lo and behold, the royalty statements clearly show that the label withheld more money than was allowed by the contract for the band's live reunion album, Hell Freezes Over. The contract also deducted over $80,000 for free promos for Europe, despite the fact that the contract specifically states NO freebie deductions for that market.
It gets better. Leslie Chambers, the wife of one of the Chambers Brothers (remember them? "Time has come today..... TIME!") states that their label has lied to them about royalties. The Chambers Brothers, according to Leslie, have not received a royalty check for 30 years (gee, about the time that the industry became commercialized). The label claimed that there were no European distributions on their albums. After scoping out eBay for Chambers Brothers stuff, imagine how Leslie felt when she found European distributions of her husband's work! And not bootlegs either, but from foreign affiliates of their label, Columbia Records! Howzabout that?
These artists are making NOTHING off of album sales. $0.00. Imagine a business model where you paid a few pennies to download a song, and got to do so at high speeds, without the hassles of bad rips, slow downloads, and other weird stuff. A few pennies is nothing, but it could add up for these artists fast. But who does that leave out? Why, the precious members of the RIAA.
The RIAA lives by a line from Blazing Saddles: "We've got to protect our phony baloney jobs, gentlemen!". Harrumph!
If anyone wonders why I download so many MP3s with no apparent regard for artist royalties, consider this:
At a recent hearing to U.S. Senators, one member of the Backstreet Boys (Kevin Richardson) stated that the members of their band have NEVER received a royalties check. NEVER. Millions of albums sold, and not one penny gets to the artists. Surprised? It happens all the time.
Don Henley (of the Eagles) brought royalty statements to the hearing, despite being threatened of lawsuits by the label (gee, think someone's not wanting information like this disclosed?). Henley didn't budge, and lo and behold, the royalty statements clearly show that the label withheld more money than was allowed by the contract for the band's live reunion album, Hell Freezes Over. The contract also deducted over $80,000 for free promos for Europe, despite the fact that the contract specifically states NO freebie deductions for that market.
It gets better. Leslie Chambers, the wife of one of the Chambers Brothers (remember them? "Time has come today..... TIME!") states that their label has lied to them about royalties. The Chambers Brothers, according to Leslie, have not received a royalty check for 30 years (gee, about the time that the industry became commercialized). The label claimed that there were no European distributions on their albums. After scoping out eBay for Chambers Brothers stuff, imagine how Leslie felt when she found European distributions of her husband's work! And not bootlegs either, but from foreign affiliates of their label, Columbia Records! Howzabout that?
These artists are making NOTHING off of album sales. $0.00. Imagine a business model where you paid a few pennies to download a song, and got to do so at high speeds, without the hassles of bad rips, slow downloads, and other weird stuff. A few pennies is nothing, but it could add up for these artists fast. But who does that leave out? Why, the precious members of the RIAA.
The RIAA lives by a line from Blazing Saddles: "We've got to protect our phony baloney jobs, gentlemen!". Harrumph!
One exam down (the easy one). One more (the very hard one) to go.
I finished my C SCI 1 exam in 20 minutes, and I'll be disappointed if I don't get 100%. It was pretty much a joke.
C SCI 115 will be a different story. I'm still cramming, trying to memorize all this code and pseudocode and crap. Wish me luck.
I finished my C SCI 1 exam in 20 minutes, and I'll be disappointed if I don't get 100%. It was pretty much a joke.
C SCI 115 will be a different story. I'm still cramming, trying to memorize all this code and pseudocode and crap. Wish me luck.
Tuesday, October 1
Another crappy day of studying. Well, at least when I've been able to focus on studying. Which isn't as often as it should be. I've gotta stay up tonight learning some more things. Man, the C SCI 115 test is going to be obnoxious. Why can't I ever go into a test with some degree of confidence?
Well, I got a call from my mom today, telling me that they'll have an extra ticket to the Fresno State vs. Colorado State football game on Friday, so I called Stacey and asked if she wanted to go. She said yes, so we're watchin' football Friday, and then Michelle Branch on Saturday. Should be fun. Football will be the best, though. :)
Enough studying! I just want a few days where I can play some games.
I installed Red Hat Linux 8.0 onto my laptop. Unlike Mandrake, Red Hat 8.0 has actually saved my network configuration and remembers it when I boot up. It's got potential as a desktop OS. I need to get a program that serves a similar purpose as Trillian. I also need to configure Samba so that it can network with my Windows machines. I need to be able to share my class notes on all my machines.
I ordered my wireless networking gear today. Can't wait for that stuff to come. Next on my list: big hard drives for my server.
Well, I got a call from my mom today, telling me that they'll have an extra ticket to the Fresno State vs. Colorado State football game on Friday, so I called Stacey and asked if she wanted to go. She said yes, so we're watchin' football Friday, and then Michelle Branch on Saturday. Should be fun. Football will be the best, though. :)
Enough studying! I just want a few days where I can play some games.
I installed Red Hat Linux 8.0 onto my laptop. Unlike Mandrake, Red Hat 8.0 has actually saved my network configuration and remembers it when I boot up. It's got potential as a desktop OS. I need to get a program that serves a similar purpose as Trillian. I also need to configure Samba so that it can network with my Windows machines. I need to be able to share my class notes on all my machines.
I ordered my wireless networking gear today. Can't wait for that stuff to come. Next on my list: big hard drives for my server.
Monday, September 30
Sunday, September 29
Tonight's study session was essential. I coded the two algorithms that I needed to (though using plenty of outside resources to accomplish that). Of course, the goal wasn't to code them, but to learn them to the point where I can write up the code on an exam. Naturally, coding them once is the major 1st step. I already have one memorized, and I can get the other one down with a little more memorization.
Currently listening to the Finnish psych/neo-Krautrock band Circle (album: Taantumus). I've been interested in this band on an academic level, but the music never really clicked before. It's starting to click now. It's very repetitive, very entrancing, very noisy cacophonic blend that will annoy those in the wrong mindset and hypnotize those in the right one.
SO much more to do in the next two days. One step at a time...
Currently listening to the Finnish psych/neo-Krautrock band Circle (album: Taantumus). I've been interested in this band on an academic level, but the music never really clicked before. It's starting to click now. It's very repetitive, very entrancing, very noisy cacophonic blend that will annoy those in the wrong mindset and hypnotize those in the right one.
SO much more to do in the next two days. One step at a time...
JAGUARS WIN, 28-3!
(The real Jaguars this time, not my NFL2K3 team).
I read an interesting story on Slashdot about DirecTV hacking, and I saw a comment that made me think. It read:
"Economics is how to allocate scare resources amoung various competing consumers. Technology enables us to achieve an almost utopian state with some products, 0% scarcity. These companies are trying to apply old-world economics to new-world goods and servicies by creating an artificial scarcity."
It's a very interesting point. With a technology like satellite, there is no scarcity of the resource. The only thing that keeps prices what they are is artificial measures and controls applied to "lock" this technology.
Anyway, I went to Porterville today to watch the football games. It was fun watching the Jags pound on the hapless Jets. I took some of my books too, but I didn't really spend much time with them. I'm staying up tonight to try and code a couple of these algorithms... if I can do that, it will cut my workload leading into Wednesday's tests by a good measure.
I'm a little burned out right now, and it's not really a good time to be burned out. I have to get through these tests, and then two more midterms next week. After that, I will probably go "splat" for a week. It's just a never-ending workload, which seems to self-replicate much more rapidly than any other semester of work.
My toe is feeling mostly good, except if I bump it. Like the doctor indicated, it will be tender for a little while longer.
My handicap parking pass expires at the end of this week. Bummer. I rather enjoyed the choice parking. Maybe I should hurt myself again....
This Saturday, I'm taking Stacey to see Michelle Branch at the Fresno Fair. I need to go to a pop/rock or jazz concert for my music class, and she likes Michelle Branch, and the tickets were pretty cheap, so it seemed like a good move on all fronts. Should be fun, even if I'm not really a fan of the style of music. I can think of far worse ways to spend an evening.
That's it for now. I'm tired, but the night is still young.
(The real Jaguars this time, not my NFL2K3 team).
I read an interesting story on Slashdot about DirecTV hacking, and I saw a comment that made me think. It read:
"Economics is how to allocate scare resources amoung various competing consumers. Technology enables us to achieve an almost utopian state with some products, 0% scarcity. These companies are trying to apply old-world economics to new-world goods and servicies by creating an artificial scarcity."
It's a very interesting point. With a technology like satellite, there is no scarcity of the resource. The only thing that keeps prices what they are is artificial measures and controls applied to "lock" this technology.
Anyway, I went to Porterville today to watch the football games. It was fun watching the Jags pound on the hapless Jets. I took some of my books too, but I didn't really spend much time with them. I'm staying up tonight to try and code a couple of these algorithms... if I can do that, it will cut my workload leading into Wednesday's tests by a good measure.
I'm a little burned out right now, and it's not really a good time to be burned out. I have to get through these tests, and then two more midterms next week. After that, I will probably go "splat" for a week. It's just a never-ending workload, which seems to self-replicate much more rapidly than any other semester of work.
My toe is feeling mostly good, except if I bump it. Like the doctor indicated, it will be tender for a little while longer.
My handicap parking pass expires at the end of this week. Bummer. I rather enjoyed the choice parking. Maybe I should hurt myself again....
This Saturday, I'm taking Stacey to see Michelle Branch at the Fresno Fair. I need to go to a pop/rock or jazz concert for my music class, and she likes Michelle Branch, and the tickets were pretty cheap, so it seemed like a good move on all fronts. Should be fun, even if I'm not really a fan of the style of music. I can think of far worse ways to spend an evening.
That's it for now. I'm tired, but the night is still young.
Saturday, September 28
Today was a lazy day. I wasn't in any mood to start my studying, although I actually did get half of my C SCI 60 homework done. I got a workout in too, which was good. So it wasn't ALL lazy.
I slept in until past noon. I had been up late for the past few nights (particularly Thursday night's late-night programming session), and I needed the rest. I watched the Fresno State football game (close win on the road vs. Rice), which, again, is 100 times better on a big flat screen. I'm glad they didn't lose this one. I hate seeing teams that run an OPTION offense win games. How lame.
Some brilliant soul on GameFAQs's NFL2K3 board is trying to convince me that Kurt Warner currently sucks because of his "thumb injury", and that he and Mike Martz are keeping it a secret from the world. Riiiight. Warner's thumb had an offseason to heal. If it ain't healed now, it's never going to be. Apparently it's an arthritic condition, but it's something he's had since the Arena league. So it's basically just an excuse when things are bad. Or, if it's not, can you say "Bozworth"? Either way, the jig is up.
I went to Target, and bought a cordless phone (with caller ID) for my upstairs bedroom. I also got a headset for the phone. And, I got a cool clock radio for my bathroom. Nothing like NPR classical radio in the mornings.
Speaking of classical, I'm currently listening to Dvorak's String Quartets #10 and #11. Pretty good. String quartets are great when you're in a tired mood. They're almost surreal to listen to in the mornings when you've just woken up, and your mind isn't moving very fast yet.
I'm going to Porterville tomorrow, to watch the Jaguars game (they *better* beat the Jets!). I'm taking my programming books with me. Gotta study for midterms (THREE of them on Wednesday). Time to figure out the Towers of Hanoi...
I slept in until past noon. I had been up late for the past few nights (particularly Thursday night's late-night programming session), and I needed the rest. I watched the Fresno State football game (close win on the road vs. Rice), which, again, is 100 times better on a big flat screen. I'm glad they didn't lose this one. I hate seeing teams that run an OPTION offense win games. How lame.
Some brilliant soul on GameFAQs's NFL2K3 board is trying to convince me that Kurt Warner currently sucks because of his "thumb injury", and that he and Mike Martz are keeping it a secret from the world. Riiiight. Warner's thumb had an offseason to heal. If it ain't healed now, it's never going to be. Apparently it's an arthritic condition, but it's something he's had since the Arena league. So it's basically just an excuse when things are bad. Or, if it's not, can you say "Bozworth"? Either way, the jig is up.
I went to Target, and bought a cordless phone (with caller ID) for my upstairs bedroom. I also got a headset for the phone. And, I got a cool clock radio for my bathroom. Nothing like NPR classical radio in the mornings.
Speaking of classical, I'm currently listening to Dvorak's String Quartets #10 and #11. Pretty good. String quartets are great when you're in a tired mood. They're almost surreal to listen to in the mornings when you've just woken up, and your mind isn't moving very fast yet.
I'm going to Porterville tomorrow, to watch the Jaguars game (they *better* beat the Jets!). I'm taking my programming books with me. Gotta study for midterms (THREE of them on Wednesday). Time to figure out the Towers of Hanoi...
Last night, I stayed up until 1:30am, completing all of my assignment programs.
I must be becoming a programmer. Every "milestone" deadline that I set for myself, I ended up missing. I actually had 0 programs fully functioning at the end of Thursday night. So then I wanted to have 2 done Friday morning. I finished one, and finished another one in the afternoon. Then, I spent a LOT of time on the 3rd program (these first three were all in C++). I got it done, and done well, but it was a fight. After that, I did my assembly language lab. I didn't do a good job on this one - the code was not optimized, and I don't know if it was correctly functional either. But, it wasn't worth that many points, so it was the lowest priority. The first three programs (a real "assignment" in C SCI 115) were the big ones, and I nailed those (I think).
So, this afternoon, I was done with programming. I got a haircut after I got out of class. Later this afternoon, Stacey came over. We went to Blackbeard's to play miniature golf. Well, let's just say the outcome of the game wasn't in my favor. I got way behind on the first 9 holes, and though I made up a lot of ground on the second 9, it wasn't enough. Then, we played some arcade games (I rule at air hockey ;) ). We drove the go-karts too. Stacey had flip-flops on, so she couldn't drive. Thus, she rode as a passenger in my car. Now, most of the people we were racing against were early-to-mid teens. By myself, I'm heavier than most of the tandems, and with another person, our car was definitely more weighed down than everyone else's. There were a couple where only one person was in a car (and they were paper-thin teen girls too, so they weighed nothing at all). Naturally, those single-occupant cars "won" the race. Stacey and I finished third, behind those two, though. My driving was crisp and skillful. I had a REAL hard time fitting my long legs into the car, though! I hit the brake on accident a few times, because my leg was just cramped in there.
Anyway, we went to dinner after that, and sat outside to eat. It was fun. We came back to my place and added some stuff to her website. All in all, a pretty good day.
I know I'm missing some things, but I'm not all that coherent at this hour. Oh, I installed a new Linux distribution - Mandrake 9.0 - on my laptop. More on that later.
I must be becoming a programmer. Every "milestone" deadline that I set for myself, I ended up missing. I actually had 0 programs fully functioning at the end of Thursday night. So then I wanted to have 2 done Friday morning. I finished one, and finished another one in the afternoon. Then, I spent a LOT of time on the 3rd program (these first three were all in C++). I got it done, and done well, but it was a fight. After that, I did my assembly language lab. I didn't do a good job on this one - the code was not optimized, and I don't know if it was correctly functional either. But, it wasn't worth that many points, so it was the lowest priority. The first three programs (a real "assignment" in C SCI 115) were the big ones, and I nailed those (I think).
So, this afternoon, I was done with programming. I got a haircut after I got out of class. Later this afternoon, Stacey came over. We went to Blackbeard's to play miniature golf. Well, let's just say the outcome of the game wasn't in my favor. I got way behind on the first 9 holes, and though I made up a lot of ground on the second 9, it wasn't enough. Then, we played some arcade games (I rule at air hockey ;) ). We drove the go-karts too. Stacey had flip-flops on, so she couldn't drive. Thus, she rode as a passenger in my car. Now, most of the people we were racing against were early-to-mid teens. By myself, I'm heavier than most of the tandems, and with another person, our car was definitely more weighed down than everyone else's. There were a couple where only one person was in a car (and they were paper-thin teen girls too, so they weighed nothing at all). Naturally, those single-occupant cars "won" the race. Stacey and I finished third, behind those two, though. My driving was crisp and skillful. I had a REAL hard time fitting my long legs into the car, though! I hit the brake on accident a few times, because my leg was just cramped in there.
Anyway, we went to dinner after that, and sat outside to eat. It was fun. We came back to my place and added some stuff to her website. All in all, a pretty good day.
I know I'm missing some things, but I'm not all that coherent at this hour. Oh, I installed a new Linux distribution - Mandrake 9.0 - on my laptop. More on that later.
Wednesday, September 25
I got my MP3 player in the mail today! I checked Amazon.com a couple of times today... once, it said to expect delivery tomorrow, and once it said to expect delivery on the 30th! (Given that I paid for two-day shipping, I was going to demand a refund in the latter case). However, true to the "two-day shipping" name, it arrived today.
After letting the batteries charge for 6 hours, I'm now loading it up with albums. By my math, this little handheld device (smaller than a Discman) will hold approximately 250 albums at a time. That's at an album size of 80MB, which is a rough average for the bitrates that my stuff is encoded at (usually 192kb, which to my ears is more or less indiscernable from CD audio). I currently have 50 albums on there, and haven't yet taken up a full 5GB (out of the drive's 20GB capacity), so we're more or less on target for the 250 album ballpark. How sweet is that? 250 albums on one device is enough to satisfy even me (ask Stacey sometime about my "backpack o' CDs" travel habit). I can't hook this up to my car stereo (unless I get a short-range radio device, which works the way hands-free cell phone devices do), which is a distinct possibility at some point.
Right now, I'm listening to Latin Jazz: The Essential Album, a 2CD compilation of, well, "essential" Latin jazz cuts. Kind of interesting at points.
I'm going to be up for a while tonight, working on my programming assignments (due Friday). I'd like to get 2 out of 4 programs done tonight, and knock off the other 2 at my convienence tomorrow (I have the day off).
[Update: My linked list classes are working! Woo!]
After letting the batteries charge for 6 hours, I'm now loading it up with albums. By my math, this little handheld device (smaller than a Discman) will hold approximately 250 albums at a time. That's at an album size of 80MB, which is a rough average for the bitrates that my stuff is encoded at (usually 192kb, which to my ears is more or less indiscernable from CD audio). I currently have 50 albums on there, and haven't yet taken up a full 5GB (out of the drive's 20GB capacity), so we're more or less on target for the 250 album ballpark. How sweet is that? 250 albums on one device is enough to satisfy even me (ask Stacey sometime about my "backpack o' CDs" travel habit). I can't hook this up to my car stereo (unless I get a short-range radio device, which works the way hands-free cell phone devices do), which is a distinct possibility at some point.
Right now, I'm listening to Latin Jazz: The Essential Album, a 2CD compilation of, well, "essential" Latin jazz cuts. Kind of interesting at points.
I'm going to be up for a while tonight, working on my programming assignments (due Friday). I'd like to get 2 out of 4 programs done tonight, and knock off the other 2 at my convienence tomorrow (I have the day off).
[Update: My linked list classes are working! Woo!]
Let me say it again: IT people are idiots.
In specific, CSUF's IT people are idiots.
There are many reasons why I say this. We can start with the lab in the Computer Science department: a room of computers of which only 50% are currently functional. If we had the network security clearence to work on the machines, and the tools & software that the IT guys have, my 112 lab class could probably bring that total up to 75% in a two-hour lab session. That's one reason that I do my lab work from home.
The reason I write this now, however, is that I got another e-mail in my never-ending struggle with my CSUF e-mail account.
For those of you just tuning in, let's recap:
1. My @csufresno.edu account can send and receive mail to/from anyone perfectly through the web-based interface.
2. My account can receive mail from anyone perfectly through the POP protocol.
3. My account can send mail to other @csufresno.edu addresses through POP.
4. My account can not send mail to non-csufresno.edu recipients through POP.
The error provided by the server reads: "551: Delivery not allowed to non-local recipient".
Let's dissect this error message.
551 is just a code number for the error. We can ignore that.
"Delivery not allowed"... sounds like sending this e-mail would be breaking a "rule". The rule isn't something my e-mail client sets, so that kinda narrows it down.
"non-local recipient". Hmm. It sends mail to csufresno.edu fine. It can't send to anything else. Let's see... "csufresno.edu" = local, non-csufresno = non-local.
This seems very cut and dry. The POP server is not allowing outbound e-mail to non-csufresno addresses.
Three chimpanzees could examine this evidence and come to the above conclusion.
Apparently, the CSUF help desk needs to start employing chimpanzees.
I sent one e-mail to the help desk, detailing the problem. After a few weeks, I got a reply, telling me to "check my settings" in my e-mail client. Nevermind that I *told* them in the e-mail what my settings were (they were correct), and nevermind that I tried this experiment on THREE different e-mail clients (Eudora, Outlook Express, and Netscape's mailer).
I replied, pointing out that my settings WERE correct.
A few weeks later, I get an e-mail from them, asking if I still need assistance on this problem. I reply, saying "Yes".
It has now been a few weeks since then, and I got an e-mail from them today, telling me to call them when I get a chance so that we can "go over my settings".
I am currently trying to figure out my next move. Possibilities:
1. Make the phone call, and jump through their hoops until they come to the realization that they are, in fact, idiots. (Barring that, upon completing the hoop jumping, I could simply take a moment to explain it to them).
2. Reply via e-mail, re-stating the evidence and explaining to them in no uncertain terms that they are, in fact, idiots. (Perhaps including a link to this)
3. Ask to have my work order forwarded to the chimpanzee department of the IT staff.
Stay tuned as more develops.
In specific, CSUF's IT people are idiots.
There are many reasons why I say this. We can start with the lab in the Computer Science department: a room of computers of which only 50% are currently functional. If we had the network security clearence to work on the machines, and the tools & software that the IT guys have, my 112 lab class could probably bring that total up to 75% in a two-hour lab session. That's one reason that I do my lab work from home.
The reason I write this now, however, is that I got another e-mail in my never-ending struggle with my CSUF e-mail account.
For those of you just tuning in, let's recap:
1. My @csufresno.edu account can send and receive mail to/from anyone perfectly through the web-based interface.
2. My account can receive mail from anyone perfectly through the POP protocol.
3. My account can send mail to other @csufresno.edu addresses through POP.
4. My account can not send mail to non-csufresno.edu recipients through POP.
The error provided by the server reads: "551: Delivery not allowed to non-local recipient".
Let's dissect this error message.
551 is just a code number for the error. We can ignore that.
"Delivery not allowed"... sounds like sending this e-mail would be breaking a "rule". The rule isn't something my e-mail client sets, so that kinda narrows it down.
"non-local recipient". Hmm. It sends mail to csufresno.edu fine. It can't send to anything else. Let's see... "csufresno.edu" = local, non-csufresno = non-local.
This seems very cut and dry. The POP server is not allowing outbound e-mail to non-csufresno addresses.
Three chimpanzees could examine this evidence and come to the above conclusion.
Apparently, the CSUF help desk needs to start employing chimpanzees.
I sent one e-mail to the help desk, detailing the problem. After a few weeks, I got a reply, telling me to "check my settings" in my e-mail client. Nevermind that I *told* them in the e-mail what my settings were (they were correct), and nevermind that I tried this experiment on THREE different e-mail clients (Eudora, Outlook Express, and Netscape's mailer).
I replied, pointing out that my settings WERE correct.
A few weeks later, I get an e-mail from them, asking if I still need assistance on this problem. I reply, saying "Yes".
It has now been a few weeks since then, and I got an e-mail from them today, telling me to call them when I get a chance so that we can "go over my settings".
I am currently trying to figure out my next move. Possibilities:
1. Make the phone call, and jump through their hoops until they come to the realization that they are, in fact, idiots. (Barring that, upon completing the hoop jumping, I could simply take a moment to explain it to them).
2. Reply via e-mail, re-stating the evidence and explaining to them in no uncertain terms that they are, in fact, idiots. (Perhaps including a link to this)
3. Ask to have my work order forwarded to the chimpanzee department of the IT staff.
Stay tuned as more develops.
Tuesday, September 24
I've been playing NFL2K3! I led my Jaguars to a 13-3 regular season record - good for 1st in the AFC, and a first round bye in the playoffs.
I took care of the Steelers in the divisional championship game. Jerome Bettis was their only real offensive threat.
Miami gave me a scare in the AFC Championship game. On their first play from scrimmage, Miami handed the ball to Ricky Williams, and he ran 74 yards for a touchdown. On their very next possession, Williams broke another 50+ yard TD run. Williams was knocked out of the game late in the 1st half. Fred Taylor, meanwhile, responded with over 180 yards and 3 TDs, as we won 28-24.
Then it was the Rams in the Super Bowl. There's no NFC team I would rather beat than St. Louis. Kurt Warner was, of course, all too willing to accomodate me. The Rams won the toss, and had only two real possessions in the first half. The first possession was a 3 and out. I then ran a ball-control offense that milked the rest of the quarter off the clock as I pounded Fred Taylor through their pourous defense. A pass to Kyle Brady scored the touchdown, 7-0. The Rams went 3-and-out on the next possession. I then drove down to scoring range again, but failed on a 4th down. St. Louis took over deep in their territory, but the half ended before they could get across midfield.
I took the 2nd half kickoff, drove to just short of midfield, but was forced to punt. The Rams offense then started moving. They drove to my 7 yard line, and had 4th-and-inches. The Rams lined up in a 5-wide formation, and completed a 1 yard flat pass to (I think) Proehl. D'oh. Now they're 1st and goal on my 6. A short pass, and then an incompletion leads to 3rd and goal on my 4. They line up 3-wide, Warner drops back, and he underthrows Torry Holt - but he hit my defensive back, Fernando Bryant, right in the numbers. Interception, touchback, my ball on the 20. Way to blow a scoring opportunity in a one-score game, Warner.
Naturally, I drive 80 yards, mostly with Fred Taylor, topping off the drive with a 3 yard Freddie T. touchdown run. Warner & Co. get the ball back with the clock ticking. After completing a few passes to get a drive going, Warner drops back, throws to the left, and BAM, Fernando Bryant jumps in front of the pass, and takes it about 20 yards the other way. Another big fat "choke in the clutch" interception by Kurt Warner, who was obviously modeled very accurately in this game. I drive until time runs out - completed a deep one to Patrick Johnson, who got tackled on the 4 yard line before time expired. Super Bowl win for me, 14-0.
Time for some MVPs:
Season MVP: Jimmy Smith. Boy, it was hard to choose between the league's top-rated passer (Brunell), the halfback who was 8 yards short of the rushing title (Fred Taylor, just coming up short behind Curtis Martin), and Smith, the league's leading WR.
Defensive MVP: Donovin Darius. My leading tackler, Darius also hauled in 2 INTs and a fumble recovery.
Playoff MVP: Fred Taylor. In 3 games, Taylor ran for 401 yards. His 5.6 yards per carry and 7 touchdowns were the sole reason for my victories. In fact, Taylor ran for more yards than Brunell threw in the playoffs.
Super Bowl MVP: Fernando Bryant. The only interceptions that my defense came up with in the playoffs were Bryant's picks of Kurt Warner in the Super Bowl. Bryant was also tied for my 2nd leading tackler (equal with Darius, one behind Wali Rainer).
That's it for now. Time to go workout.
I took care of the Steelers in the divisional championship game. Jerome Bettis was their only real offensive threat.
Miami gave me a scare in the AFC Championship game. On their first play from scrimmage, Miami handed the ball to Ricky Williams, and he ran 74 yards for a touchdown. On their very next possession, Williams broke another 50+ yard TD run. Williams was knocked out of the game late in the 1st half. Fred Taylor, meanwhile, responded with over 180 yards and 3 TDs, as we won 28-24.
Then it was the Rams in the Super Bowl. There's no NFC team I would rather beat than St. Louis. Kurt Warner was, of course, all too willing to accomodate me. The Rams won the toss, and had only two real possessions in the first half. The first possession was a 3 and out. I then ran a ball-control offense that milked the rest of the quarter off the clock as I pounded Fred Taylor through their pourous defense. A pass to Kyle Brady scored the touchdown, 7-0. The Rams went 3-and-out on the next possession. I then drove down to scoring range again, but failed on a 4th down. St. Louis took over deep in their territory, but the half ended before they could get across midfield.
I took the 2nd half kickoff, drove to just short of midfield, but was forced to punt. The Rams offense then started moving. They drove to my 7 yard line, and had 4th-and-inches. The Rams lined up in a 5-wide formation, and completed a 1 yard flat pass to (I think) Proehl. D'oh. Now they're 1st and goal on my 6. A short pass, and then an incompletion leads to 3rd and goal on my 4. They line up 3-wide, Warner drops back, and he underthrows Torry Holt - but he hit my defensive back, Fernando Bryant, right in the numbers. Interception, touchback, my ball on the 20. Way to blow a scoring opportunity in a one-score game, Warner.
Naturally, I drive 80 yards, mostly with Fred Taylor, topping off the drive with a 3 yard Freddie T. touchdown run. Warner & Co. get the ball back with the clock ticking. After completing a few passes to get a drive going, Warner drops back, throws to the left, and BAM, Fernando Bryant jumps in front of the pass, and takes it about 20 yards the other way. Another big fat "choke in the clutch" interception by Kurt Warner, who was obviously modeled very accurately in this game. I drive until time runs out - completed a deep one to Patrick Johnson, who got tackled on the 4 yard line before time expired. Super Bowl win for me, 14-0.
Time for some MVPs:
Season MVP: Jimmy Smith. Boy, it was hard to choose between the league's top-rated passer (Brunell), the halfback who was 8 yards short of the rushing title (Fred Taylor, just coming up short behind Curtis Martin), and Smith, the league's leading WR.
Defensive MVP: Donovin Darius. My leading tackler, Darius also hauled in 2 INTs and a fumble recovery.
Playoff MVP: Fred Taylor. In 3 games, Taylor ran for 401 yards. His 5.6 yards per carry and 7 touchdowns were the sole reason for my victories. In fact, Taylor ran for more yards than Brunell threw in the playoffs.
Super Bowl MVP: Fernando Bryant. The only interceptions that my defense came up with in the playoffs were Bryant's picks of Kurt Warner in the Super Bowl. Bryant was also tied for my 2nd leading tackler (equal with Darius, one behind Wali Rainer).
That's it for now. Time to go workout.
Monday, September 23
My C SCI 1 instructor was late again. Thank goodness I have my laptop to amuse me.
I got a 20/20 on my C SCI 1 quiz. Not that there was really any doubt. This class is boringly easy (so far, at least).
If you want to see what my MP3 player will be like, look here. It's basically a USB 20GB hard drive that also plays MP3s. As far as playback goes, some reviews say it skips when jogging, while others insist it doesn't. All reviews, however, claim that walking does not cause it to skip at all, and that's what I'm concerned about (it's hard for a non-solid state player to not skip during jogging). Since I'm not a jogger, mine won't be subjected to that kind of abuse. Instead, it'll sit on the front panel of an elliptical trainer....
Also interesting is the fact that the device can be used to record things. This could open up some interesting concert bootlegging possibilities. It's hard to explain a DAT deck to security, but show 'em headphones and press "Play" on this device, and you've made your case. At least for now, until recording/playback combo devices become the norm.
I got a 20/20 on my C SCI 1 quiz. Not that there was really any doubt. This class is boringly easy (so far, at least).
If you want to see what my MP3 player will be like, look here. It's basically a USB 20GB hard drive that also plays MP3s. As far as playback goes, some reviews say it skips when jogging, while others insist it doesn't. All reviews, however, claim that walking does not cause it to skip at all, and that's what I'm concerned about (it's hard for a non-solid state player to not skip during jogging). Since I'm not a jogger, mine won't be subjected to that kind of abuse. Instead, it'll sit on the front panel of an elliptical trainer....
Also interesting is the fact that the device can be used to record things. This could open up some interesting concert bootlegging possibilities. It's hard to explain a DAT deck to security, but show 'em headphones and press "Play" on this device, and you've made your case. At least for now, until recording/playback combo devices become the norm.
Sunday, September 22
The theme of the last few days: fatigue.
I have been TIRED. It's way too early to be school semester rundown. I just hit a spell of fatigue, I guess. I was so tired last night. I went to bed before 11:00. And even today, I'm tired and lethargic. I had planned on staying up late last night to finish my C SCI 112 assignment (due tomorrow - Monday), but I'll do that tonight instead.
The only thing I really remember doing on Friday was checking the Costco here in Clovis for TVs. They didn't have what I want. Then I got a call from Stacey, telling me that she didn't have to babysit that night. So, she came over and hung out. We picked up Bobby Salazar's, played Day of the Tentacle, and watched TV. It was fun.
On Saturday, I got up at 7:00am, got showered and dressed, picked up Stacey, and we went and watched my brother's tennis tournament. After that, we shopped for my TV until finally finding one that I wanted (and that would fit in my entertainment center). We got it home, and then everybody (myself, Stacey, my parents and brother) all sat down and watched the first part of the Fresno State/Oregon State game. It was ugly to start, and it got REAL ugly later. Everyone left after a while, leaving me all alone. Then Derek came over for about an hour. We played a couple quick games, and then he left.
Today, I went to breakfast with my parents (who were in town for the 2nd half of Logan's tournament). After that, I checked out CompUSA to see what kind of MP3 players they had. I then went home, and ordered one from Amazon.com instead. I got the Archos Jukebox Recorder 20GB player. I really, really thought about getting the Apple iPod instead. I really wanted to. But Apple, once again, has priced themselves out of competition. Archos's 20GB player was $225. Apple's 5GB player was $299, and their 20GB player was $499. If their 20GB player had been $299, I would have gone for it. But for 5GB? No way. Apple's player is the best, hands down, but not for that price.
Football on TV (football's so much cooler on a big, flat, sharp screen). Gotta finish enjoying the day of football before dealing with my programming assignment.
I have been TIRED. It's way too early to be school semester rundown. I just hit a spell of fatigue, I guess. I was so tired last night. I went to bed before 11:00. And even today, I'm tired and lethargic. I had planned on staying up late last night to finish my C SCI 112 assignment (due tomorrow - Monday), but I'll do that tonight instead.
The only thing I really remember doing on Friday was checking the Costco here in Clovis for TVs. They didn't have what I want. Then I got a call from Stacey, telling me that she didn't have to babysit that night. So, she came over and hung out. We picked up Bobby Salazar's, played Day of the Tentacle, and watched TV. It was fun.
On Saturday, I got up at 7:00am, got showered and dressed, picked up Stacey, and we went and watched my brother's tennis tournament. After that, we shopped for my TV until finally finding one that I wanted (and that would fit in my entertainment center). We got it home, and then everybody (myself, Stacey, my parents and brother) all sat down and watched the first part of the Fresno State/Oregon State game. It was ugly to start, and it got REAL ugly later. Everyone left after a while, leaving me all alone. Then Derek came over for about an hour. We played a couple quick games, and then he left.
Today, I went to breakfast with my parents (who were in town for the 2nd half of Logan's tournament). After that, I checked out CompUSA to see what kind of MP3 players they had. I then went home, and ordered one from Amazon.com instead. I got the Archos Jukebox Recorder 20GB player. I really, really thought about getting the Apple iPod instead. I really wanted to. But Apple, once again, has priced themselves out of competition. Archos's 20GB player was $225. Apple's 5GB player was $299, and their 20GB player was $499. If their 20GB player had been $299, I would have gone for it. But for 5GB? No way. Apple's player is the best, hands down, but not for that price.
Football on TV (football's so much cooler on a big, flat, sharp screen). Gotta finish enjoying the day of football before dealing with my programming assignment.
Thursday, September 19
This afternoon, I was over at Stacey's house. She was working on Linguistics homework, and I was camped out in front of my laptop, writing SPARC assembly language code. She asked what sort of program I was doing. It was just a program to calculate the value of a certain polynomial. She didn't understand why I would be doing something like that. It wasn't something I could explain in few enough words to do so in a brief conversation, so I didn't.
Well, here's a brief explanation. We typically work on very small programs to learn new concepts/algorithms/instructions because the point of the exercise is to learn that one specific thing. We could write them into larger, more "useful" programs, but the point isn't to write a big program. If we did that, we would learn a lot less in each class, because we would spend a lot of time on all the extraneous coding for the program - stuff we *do* know how to do, but requires a lot of coding grunt-work.
Eventually, in later classes, we'll use all these things we learned and will put them together in bigger programs. Right now, the idea is to learn all of the "building blocks".
Ironically, the largest program that I've ever written was actually in my very 1st C/C++ programming class, back at Porterville College. We had learned the *very* basics (arithmetic operations, loop structures, etc), and put them together in a final project. The things that I have done since then have been a LOT harder and more useful in the long run, but we haven't implemented them into larger programs.
Anyway, I have plans to start some programming projects on the side in the not-too-distant future. After I learn a bit more...
Well, here's a brief explanation. We typically work on very small programs to learn new concepts/algorithms/instructions because the point of the exercise is to learn that one specific thing. We could write them into larger, more "useful" programs, but the point isn't to write a big program. If we did that, we would learn a lot less in each class, because we would spend a lot of time on all the extraneous coding for the program - stuff we *do* know how to do, but requires a lot of coding grunt-work.
Eventually, in later classes, we'll use all these things we learned and will put them together in bigger programs. Right now, the idea is to learn all of the "building blocks".
Ironically, the largest program that I've ever written was actually in my very 1st C/C++ programming class, back at Porterville College. We had learned the *very* basics (arithmetic operations, loop structures, etc), and put them together in a final project. The things that I have done since then have been a LOT harder and more useful in the long run, but we haven't implemented them into larger programs.
Anyway, I have plans to start some programming projects on the side in the not-too-distant future. After I learn a bit more...
TINY TIM CAN WALK!
Watch out, suckers, for I am a mob-ile leth-ile project-ile.
Or, more accurately, I am able to limp around now on two feet. The orthopedic doctor cleared me to walk. The bone will not be fully healed for another 4 weeks, though, so I have to keep it from getting bumped, stepped on (Stacey, Shelby, that means you two), and other such things that might cause the healing bones to whack out of alignment. I have a bump on the bottom of my toe (not really a visible bump, but one I can feel) which is hardened swelling, which kinda makes walking uncomfortable and borderline painful. But I got some new wide shoes, and insoles, so I can tough it out.
The trumpets blare, celebrating my return to bipedalism.
UPDATE: 1:33pm - Wow, what a difference half a day makes. After walking on it, and even working out on an elliptical trainer at Bally Fitness, the swelling on the bottom of my toe has softened and mostly receded. The difference between this morning and now is like night and day. The toe is still tender, as it will be for the next few weeks. But I'm feeling 110% better now than I was the same time a day ago.
Watch out, suckers, for I am a mob-ile leth-ile project-ile.
Or, more accurately, I am able to limp around now on two feet. The orthopedic doctor cleared me to walk. The bone will not be fully healed for another 4 weeks, though, so I have to keep it from getting bumped, stepped on (Stacey, Shelby, that means you two), and other such things that might cause the healing bones to whack out of alignment. I have a bump on the bottom of my toe (not really a visible bump, but one I can feel) which is hardened swelling, which kinda makes walking uncomfortable and borderline painful. But I got some new wide shoes, and insoles, so I can tough it out.
The trumpets blare, celebrating my return to bipedalism.
UPDATE: 1:33pm - Wow, what a difference half a day makes. After walking on it, and even working out on an elliptical trainer at Bally Fitness, the swelling on the bottom of my toe has softened and mostly receded. The difference between this morning and now is like night and day. The toe is still tender, as it will be for the next few weeks. But I'm feeling 110% better now than I was the same time a day ago.
Wednesday, September 18
If you haven't, read yesterday's entry before today's. Read the entries for both days from bottom-to-top, to catch the drama as it unfolded.
Sold my Soloflex! Today was indeed the last day that the ad was to be run. I only had one other real "call" on it, and the guy never showed to look at it. All other calls were from people that had no clue what a Soloflex was. They were usually looking for something like a treadmill. Whatever. Anyway, this guy was obviously interested when we talked on the phone. He spent less than 2 minutes inspecting it, and declared he wanted it. He had the cash, so we were good to go. We disassembled the sucker and got it into his car.
Now I have money to buy my new TV! w00t!
Sold my Soloflex! Today was indeed the last day that the ad was to be run. I only had one other real "call" on it, and the guy never showed to look at it. All other calls were from people that had no clue what a Soloflex was. They were usually looking for something like a treadmill. Whatever. Anyway, this guy was obviously interested when we talked on the phone. He spent less than 2 minutes inspecting it, and declared he wanted it. He had the cash, so we were good to go. We disassembled the sucker and got it into his car.
Now I have money to buy my new TV! w00t!
The LA Kings win the NHL 2002 Stanley Cup!
I won the Cup in a 4-game sweep over the Washington Capitals. The last two games were no real challenge. Their 1st line center, Jeff Halpern, was on a cold streak in the last two games, and it was obvious how key he is to that first line. They couldn't generate any real scoring opportunities.
Now, onto some awards:
Playoff MVP: Bryan Smolinski. My 2nd line center scored more goals in the 21-game playoff run than he did in the 58-game "medium" length regular season. He scored many of our key goals, including that Game 7 winner against Colorado (which was basically the goal that won the championship for me). While Jason Allison was my leading scorer (and the player that the game gave the Conn Smyth trophy to), I felt Smolinski was *the* best player on the team in the playoffs.
Regular Season MVP: Adam Deadmarsh. This award was a lot harder to give out. Ziggy Palffy and Jason Allison were higher scorers, but Deadmarsh was more of a force, both on defense and in forechecking. He disrupted on defense and created opportunities on offense. Things were a lot harder anytime he was on a cold streak.
Top Defenseman: Mattias Norstrom. It was hard to choose between him and Mathieu Schneider. Norstrom is a real force on defense, while Schneider is a much better shot (even though Norstrom has more shooting power, Schneider scores more goals).
Best Midseason Acquisition: Karlis Skrastins. Of course, I only made one roster move during the season (a straight-across trade: Philippe Boucher for Skrastins). But Skrastins was a real boon for me. I like having one physical defenseman and one shooting defenseman on each line. By adding Skrastins, I bumped Visnovsky down to 3rd line, giving Schneider a power defenseman partner on the 2nd line. (My 1st line is a little different, as Norstrom is both the shooter and the power player, and Aaron Miller is just decent at both).
That Game 7 against Colorado reminded me why I am getting in the gaming business. The kind of experience that provides cannot be duplicated by TV, movies, or music. Those are all "passive" forms of entertainment - you're not a participant controlling the action. They can't draw you in on the same level. Ever played a 58-game regular season, and fifteen playoff games, for it to all come down to a single game - tied at 0-0 at the end of regulation, and you have an arm tied behind your back (i.e. your best players all on cold streaks)? Script writers would kill to be able to create that kind of tension. Eventually, when we make better, more involved, and more intelligent games, more people will understand the power of interactive entertainment. But in the meantime, those of us in the action (and who are willing to forgive the shortcomings of the media) will enjoy experiences like these. Video games are way more than just mindless blast-em-up action.
I won the Cup in a 4-game sweep over the Washington Capitals. The last two games were no real challenge. Their 1st line center, Jeff Halpern, was on a cold streak in the last two games, and it was obvious how key he is to that first line. They couldn't generate any real scoring opportunities.
Now, onto some awards:
Playoff MVP: Bryan Smolinski. My 2nd line center scored more goals in the 21-game playoff run than he did in the 58-game "medium" length regular season. He scored many of our key goals, including that Game 7 winner against Colorado (which was basically the goal that won the championship for me). While Jason Allison was my leading scorer (and the player that the game gave the Conn Smyth trophy to), I felt Smolinski was *the* best player on the team in the playoffs.
Regular Season MVP: Adam Deadmarsh. This award was a lot harder to give out. Ziggy Palffy and Jason Allison were higher scorers, but Deadmarsh was more of a force, both on defense and in forechecking. He disrupted on defense and created opportunities on offense. Things were a lot harder anytime he was on a cold streak.
Top Defenseman: Mattias Norstrom. It was hard to choose between him and Mathieu Schneider. Norstrom is a real force on defense, while Schneider is a much better shot (even though Norstrom has more shooting power, Schneider scores more goals).
Best Midseason Acquisition: Karlis Skrastins. Of course, I only made one roster move during the season (a straight-across trade: Philippe Boucher for Skrastins). But Skrastins was a real boon for me. I like having one physical defenseman and one shooting defenseman on each line. By adding Skrastins, I bumped Visnovsky down to 3rd line, giving Schneider a power defenseman partner on the 2nd line. (My 1st line is a little different, as Norstrom is both the shooter and the power player, and Aaron Miller is just decent at both).
That Game 7 against Colorado reminded me why I am getting in the gaming business. The kind of experience that provides cannot be duplicated by TV, movies, or music. Those are all "passive" forms of entertainment - you're not a participant controlling the action. They can't draw you in on the same level. Ever played a 58-game regular season, and fifteen playoff games, for it to all come down to a single game - tied at 0-0 at the end of regulation, and you have an arm tied behind your back (i.e. your best players all on cold streaks)? Script writers would kill to be able to create that kind of tension. Eventually, when we make better, more involved, and more intelligent games, more people will understand the power of interactive entertainment. But in the meantime, those of us in the action (and who are willing to forgive the shortcomings of the media) will enjoy experiences like these. Video games are way more than just mindless blast-em-up action.
My NHL 2002 Kings are currently up on Washington, two games to none. Deadmarsh and Palffy are still on cold streaks - will you guys get on your game already? Washington hasn't been an easy opponent, but they definitely aren't putting up the fight that Colorado did.
After this NHL 2002 season, I'll probably stop playing until next year's hockey games are released. NHL2K3 for Xbox is supposed to be sweet, and there's always NHL 2003 for either Xbox or PC. The games release in November.
I haven't been playing NFL2K3 since this weekend. When Xbox Live comes out in November, me and Derek will play it online. In the meantime, Derek plans on getting the game for the PS2, which is already online playable. We shall dominate the Internet football fields. :)
I think I have a buyer for my Soloflex. He's coming to my apartment at "5:00 sharp" to look at it, and he's coming in a vehicle capable of transporting it. Today was like the last day that my classified ad runs, so I hope this sale happens.
I went into the CSUF health center today to have X-rays of my toe taken. I go in tomorrow to have the orthopedic doctor look at them. Hopefully I get some GOOD news.
Wish me luck.
After this NHL 2002 season, I'll probably stop playing until next year's hockey games are released. NHL2K3 for Xbox is supposed to be sweet, and there's always NHL 2003 for either Xbox or PC. The games release in November.
I haven't been playing NFL2K3 since this weekend. When Xbox Live comes out in November, me and Derek will play it online. In the meantime, Derek plans on getting the game for the PS2, which is already online playable. We shall dominate the Internet football fields. :)
I think I have a buyer for my Soloflex. He's coming to my apartment at "5:00 sharp" to look at it, and he's coming in a vehicle capable of transporting it. Today was like the last day that my classified ad runs, so I hope this sale happens.
I went into the CSUF health center today to have X-rays of my toe taken. I go in tomorrow to have the orthopedic doctor look at them. Hopefully I get some GOOD news.
Wish me luck.
Tuesday, September 17
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?
If you haven't already, read the log entry before this one (starts with the words "Still not walking."). ...... done? Now, continue:
UNBELIEVABLE! After 3 periods of hockey, my cold-as-ice NHL 2002 LA Kings were in a 0-0 dead heat with the Avalanche. Felix Potvin was on his game. For this game, I lowered my team's offensive aggressiveness, because if Sakic, Forsberg, or Hejduk (or, normally, Tanguay, for that matter) got a breakaway, it would be a sure goal... and my offensive firepower was too weak to hang in the game.
Potvin actually blocked TWO Tanguay breakaways (only one of them was a real quality "breakaway", but still, blocking that was a miracle). Also a miracle in overtime was Joe Sakic missing an open net on a backhand shot. It wasn't an easy shot, but the net was wiiiide open.
There are very few times where I have been as on edge in a game as I was in this one. 50-some regular season games, plus two playoff serieses, all coming down to this Game 7 against a team with a HUGE advantage over me (they have an advantage when we're dead even, let alone when my stars are all on cold streaks).
I dinked. I dunked. I played ultra-conservative defense. I wasn't going to let ANYONE get through. Every possession by the Avs first line was a heart-stopping affair. Hejduk/Forsberg/Sakic were passing the puck around like madmen, trying to create opportunities. Meanwhile, I am desperately trying to both keep all the action in front of me, and jump into those passing lanes. My heart shut down every time a Colorado player took a shot on net.
After scrapping through 3 periods of hockey, I was hurting. I had about 3 decent scoring opportunities in regulation. Finally, about 8 minutes into the overtime period, Bryan Smolinski whips around in the slot to the right, winds up, takes a slapshot for the far side of the net, and BAM, it goes in! The scene on the ice was something like this!
In all, Potvin blocked all 15 shots that went his way. Colorado's Patrick Roy blocked 24 of the 25 I fired off at him. Deadmarsh and Palffy were completely ineffective as shooters, mostly ineffective as passers/puck handlers, and were only mildly effective on defense. Allison had to be everywhere at once when the 1st line was on the ice. My poor defensemen Norstrom and Miller have to be the real MVPs of the game, as they essentially shut down Colorado's top trio. The second liners fared less good, as Alex Tanguay had some opportunities to score - that's where Potvin (finally) came through.
Everything had to go my way to win. The defense had to shut out the Avs. The offense had to find a way to score with my top scorers all cold. Potvin had to block everything, when he was normally letting 1-2 go in for every 10 shots (this time, 15 shots and 0 goals). Absolutely amazing.
It's not over yet. I have to take on the Washington Capitals (who upset the league-best Philadelphia Flyers in 5 games!) for the Stanley Cup. But wow, this was amazing. Question now is, should I stick with the backed-off defensive gameplan, and try and win with less scoring opportunities of my own? Who knows. At any rate, this 1st game will still be tough, as Deadmarsh and Palffy are still cold (Ronning is back to normal, so I at least have a complete 2nd line).
If you haven't already, read the log entry before this one (starts with the words "Still not walking."). ...... done? Now, continue:
UNBELIEVABLE! After 3 periods of hockey, my cold-as-ice NHL 2002 LA Kings were in a 0-0 dead heat with the Avalanche. Felix Potvin was on his game. For this game, I lowered my team's offensive aggressiveness, because if Sakic, Forsberg, or Hejduk (or, normally, Tanguay, for that matter) got a breakaway, it would be a sure goal... and my offensive firepower was too weak to hang in the game.
Potvin actually blocked TWO Tanguay breakaways (only one of them was a real quality "breakaway", but still, blocking that was a miracle). Also a miracle in overtime was Joe Sakic missing an open net on a backhand shot. It wasn't an easy shot, but the net was wiiiide open.
There are very few times where I have been as on edge in a game as I was in this one. 50-some regular season games, plus two playoff serieses, all coming down to this Game 7 against a team with a HUGE advantage over me (they have an advantage when we're dead even, let alone when my stars are all on cold streaks).
I dinked. I dunked. I played ultra-conservative defense. I wasn't going to let ANYONE get through. Every possession by the Avs first line was a heart-stopping affair. Hejduk/Forsberg/Sakic were passing the puck around like madmen, trying to create opportunities. Meanwhile, I am desperately trying to both keep all the action in front of me, and jump into those passing lanes. My heart shut down every time a Colorado player took a shot on net.
After scrapping through 3 periods of hockey, I was hurting. I had about 3 decent scoring opportunities in regulation. Finally, about 8 minutes into the overtime period, Bryan Smolinski whips around in the slot to the right, winds up, takes a slapshot for the far side of the net, and BAM, it goes in! The scene on the ice was something like this!
In all, Potvin blocked all 15 shots that went his way. Colorado's Patrick Roy blocked 24 of the 25 I fired off at him. Deadmarsh and Palffy were completely ineffective as shooters, mostly ineffective as passers/puck handlers, and were only mildly effective on defense. Allison had to be everywhere at once when the 1st line was on the ice. My poor defensemen Norstrom and Miller have to be the real MVPs of the game, as they essentially shut down Colorado's top trio. The second liners fared less good, as Alex Tanguay had some opportunities to score - that's where Potvin (finally) came through.
Everything had to go my way to win. The defense had to shut out the Avs. The offense had to find a way to score with my top scorers all cold. Potvin had to block everything, when he was normally letting 1-2 go in for every 10 shots (this time, 15 shots and 0 goals). Absolutely amazing.
It's not over yet. I have to take on the Washington Capitals (who upset the league-best Philadelphia Flyers in 5 games!) for the Stanley Cup. But wow, this was amazing. Question now is, should I stick with the backed-off defensive gameplan, and try and win with less scoring opportunities of my own? Who knows. At any rate, this 1st game will still be tough, as Deadmarsh and Palffy are still cold (Ronning is back to normal, so I at least have a complete 2nd line).
Still not walking. Toe just doesn't feel "right" yet. It's a bit frustrating. I'm hoping that, come Thursday's X-Ray appointment, the doctor will tell me that the bone is completely healed and that the discomfort is just a lingering feeling that will go away. I'd have no problem toughing it out at that point. The thing is, I don't want to tough it out NOW, because I don't know if it's a sign that the toe isn't completely healed yet, or if it's just lingering swelling or something (the toe's not *swollen* swollen, but perhaps still a little bit).
The parking lot on my side of the apartment complex was completely resurfaced today, meaning I had to park waaaay on the other side last night, and roll myself to and from the car in my wheelchair since. No fun, but at least it's done now.
Spent most of the day with Stacey. Her Civic was issued a recall, so we took that over to the dealership, and went to the mall while it was being repaired. She enjoyed the newly opened Abercrombie & Fitch, and Hollister & Co. I enjoyed pizza and the sports shop. Looking forward to EBGames (that's Electronic Boutique's games store) opening up. Hopefully it will be even better than FuncoLand.
Stacey's present for me finally arrived in the mail - an LA Kings "away" jersey. I think I'll take it somewhere to have it customized - probably turn it into an Adam Deadmarsh jersey (the one player that I *really* look up to... he's the sort of grinder, physical forward that I want to be if/when I start playing in the adult leagues here). I'm very happy with it. I have football jerseys (a home and an away Mark Brunell jersey, and a home Brian Urlacher), but the only hockey jersey I have is the old-style Kings away jersey from when I was a kid. The new-style ones are cool. Thanks, Stace. :)
Speaking of the Kings, my NHL 2002 Kings are in a war with the Avalanche. Games 5 and 6 both went into overtime, with my Kings taking game 5, and the Avs nabbing game 6 (a game that my squad dominated and should have won). Now, I'm in a game 7, with (get this): Deadmarsh, Palffy, and Ronning all on cold streaks. I've been scoring goals by having Allison pass to one of the wings, and beating Roy to the corner. Now, I doubt either 1st-line wing will be up to the task. It's now pretty much all on my centers (Allison and Smolinski) and my defensemen. I have no clue how I will win this game. It would be an outright miracle if I did. I have to play PERFECT defense, and that's hard when Sakic, Forsberg, and Hejduk simply do not go down when checked.
Wish me luck. :)
Gotta finish my C SCI 60 homework, which is boring as ever.
The parking lot on my side of the apartment complex was completely resurfaced today, meaning I had to park waaaay on the other side last night, and roll myself to and from the car in my wheelchair since. No fun, but at least it's done now.
Spent most of the day with Stacey. Her Civic was issued a recall, so we took that over to the dealership, and went to the mall while it was being repaired. She enjoyed the newly opened Abercrombie & Fitch, and Hollister & Co. I enjoyed pizza and the sports shop. Looking forward to EBGames (that's Electronic Boutique's games store) opening up. Hopefully it will be even better than FuncoLand.
Stacey's present for me finally arrived in the mail - an LA Kings "away" jersey. I think I'll take it somewhere to have it customized - probably turn it into an Adam Deadmarsh jersey (the one player that I *really* look up to... he's the sort of grinder, physical forward that I want to be if/when I start playing in the adult leagues here). I'm very happy with it. I have football jerseys (a home and an away Mark Brunell jersey, and a home Brian Urlacher), but the only hockey jersey I have is the old-style Kings away jersey from when I was a kid. The new-style ones are cool. Thanks, Stace. :)
Speaking of the Kings, my NHL 2002 Kings are in a war with the Avalanche. Games 5 and 6 both went into overtime, with my Kings taking game 5, and the Avs nabbing game 6 (a game that my squad dominated and should have won). Now, I'm in a game 7, with (get this): Deadmarsh, Palffy, and Ronning all on cold streaks. I've been scoring goals by having Allison pass to one of the wings, and beating Roy to the corner. Now, I doubt either 1st-line wing will be up to the task. It's now pretty much all on my centers (Allison and Smolinski) and my defensemen. I have no clue how I will win this game. It would be an outright miracle if I did. I have to play PERFECT defense, and that's hard when Sakic, Forsberg, and Hejduk simply do not go down when checked.
Wish me luck. :)
Gotta finish my C SCI 60 homework, which is boring as ever.
Monday, September 16
C SCI 1 homework and quiz completed. Yawn.
Need to finish my C SCI 60 homework tomorrow. Yawn.
Felix "The (Dead) Cat" Potvin is keeping the Avalanche alive against me in NHL 2002. His goalie abilities are weaker then Terry Friesen (the Fresno Falcons goalie, who my girlfriend dispises).
Got quite a bit to do in C SCI 112 and 115 in the next few weeks. The workload is starting to hit.
I am still not walking fully. I've taken steps on my foot - some of which were OK, others of which caused discomfort. It's not there yet. So close, yet so far.
Need to finish my C SCI 60 homework tomorrow. Yawn.
Felix "The (Dead) Cat" Potvin is keeping the Avalanche alive against me in NHL 2002. His goalie abilities are weaker then Terry Friesen (the Fresno Falcons goalie, who my girlfriend dispises).
Got quite a bit to do in C SCI 112 and 115 in the next few weeks. The workload is starting to hit.
I am still not walking fully. I've taken steps on my foot - some of which were OK, others of which caused discomfort. It's not there yet. So close, yet so far.
You know, if instructors are given choice parking - much closer to classes than student parking is - then the least they could do is show up on time. As students, we're expected to be on time daily, and we have to fend for ourselves in the jungle of parking here on campus (where the cars easily outnumber the parking spaces). Instructors that can't show up on time ought to be banished to the student lots. If they're gonna be late anyway, might as well make them go through our daily hassle.
Surprise, surprise, C SCI 60's homework due date has been pushed back to Wednesday. The instructor uploaded it but forgot to update the links on the class website. This was posted online last night.
Went to my parents house yesterday, to watch the Jaguars slap the Kansas City Chiefs around a bit. Also played NFL2K3 against my brother, and mopped the floor with him: 60-6. To his credit, he used a team that was rated close to mine (his Texans were ranked 31st, my Jags 29th), instead of using a much more highly rated squad. My manually-controlled cover skills are starting to approach my old NFL2K1 abilities, as I was often swarming around the ball, knocking down passes on my own. The way my pass coverage works is that I call a number of zone coverages. I use a player - typically the MLB - whose zone assignment is the center of the field. I maintain this zone until I know there is no real threat coming into my zone. Then, I vacate my zone and make a play on a receiver. It's hard for opponents to throw away from me, because my delayed pursuit gives them little time to react - if they wait until I pick my coverage, they'll have a pass-rush in their face. Plus, sometimes I just drop back into a deeper center zone, and try to make a play on the ball after it's been thrown. I'm happy my pass coverage is starting to come around. I wasn't making any plays when I first got the game.
Surprise, surprise, C SCI 60's homework due date has been pushed back to Wednesday. The instructor uploaded it but forgot to update the links on the class website. This was posted online last night.
Went to my parents house yesterday, to watch the Jaguars slap the Kansas City Chiefs around a bit. Also played NFL2K3 against my brother, and mopped the floor with him: 60-6. To his credit, he used a team that was rated close to mine (his Texans were ranked 31st, my Jags 29th), instead of using a much more highly rated squad. My manually-controlled cover skills are starting to approach my old NFL2K1 abilities, as I was often swarming around the ball, knocking down passes on my own. The way my pass coverage works is that I call a number of zone coverages. I use a player - typically the MLB - whose zone assignment is the center of the field. I maintain this zone until I know there is no real threat coming into my zone. Then, I vacate my zone and make a play on a receiver. It's hard for opponents to throw away from me, because my delayed pursuit gives them little time to react - if they wait until I pick my coverage, they'll have a pass-rush in their face. Plus, sometimes I just drop back into a deeper center zone, and try to make a play on the ball after it's been thrown. I'm happy my pass coverage is starting to come around. I wasn't making any plays when I first got the game.
Saturday, September 14
Listened to Can's Can Box (Live 1971-1977) again. This thing is sweet. Live Can really makes "jam" bands like Phish seem like amateurs.
Speaking of bands, one band whose fanbase puzzles me is the Dave Matthews Band. I suppose it has to do with the fact that they straddle the border between a "musician's band" and a "pop band". They seem to be one of those bands, like Pink Floyd or Rush, whose fanbase places them on a pedestal because they have some actual musical/instrumental talent, thus seperating them from the scores of "popular" bands. That doesn't bother me. What bothers me are how these bands are worshipped as being "the best musicians ever" by fans whose only frame of reference is what they hear on the radio alongside DMB. Yeah, compared to Staind, they're downright virtuosos. But there are so many out there with far greater instrumental talents.
I'm desperately trying to find an old Zappa quote, but I'll have to paraphrase it: Radio, especially American radio, plays such a narrow range of music that it's impossible for listeners to discover what their musical tastes actually are. In a seperate quote, Zappa states: "It's impossible to have a hit record in America unless you pay off." If you listen to radio, read this Salon.com article and come to the understanding that what you hear on the radio isn't there because of quality, but because radio stations are paid to play certain artists/songs. Who chooses those songs? The labels that do the paying. What do they choose? They choose what's marketable.
Most people have no idea how narrow the range of music that they've been exposed to really is. I can't help but laugh at the people that claim to like "a little of everything" - a typical response of a radio listener whose "everything" is paper-thin.
I don't dislike "commercial" bands. I like quite a few bands that are lucky enough to be placed on the radio and made "stars". But I recognize the fact that they weren't put there for their talent (and, indeed, one need not listen to radio long to stumble upon many artists with zero talent). They were put on there to make money. College radio is a little more "open", but still not great. Internet radio can be excellent (gotta seperate the good shows from the crap), but you need broadband to get a quality audio stream, and you don't have a cable modem in your car.
The hard part about "discovering" beyond the radio norm is that you typically have to know what you're looking for in order to find it. The chicken/egg paradox comes into play. If I ever come up with an answer for a good starting point, I'll let you know.
Speaking of bands, one band whose fanbase puzzles me is the Dave Matthews Band. I suppose it has to do with the fact that they straddle the border between a "musician's band" and a "pop band". They seem to be one of those bands, like Pink Floyd or Rush, whose fanbase places them on a pedestal because they have some actual musical/instrumental talent, thus seperating them from the scores of "popular" bands. That doesn't bother me. What bothers me are how these bands are worshipped as being "the best musicians ever" by fans whose only frame of reference is what they hear on the radio alongside DMB. Yeah, compared to Staind, they're downright virtuosos. But there are so many out there with far greater instrumental talents.
I'm desperately trying to find an old Zappa quote, but I'll have to paraphrase it: Radio, especially American radio, plays such a narrow range of music that it's impossible for listeners to discover what their musical tastes actually are. In a seperate quote, Zappa states: "It's impossible to have a hit record in America unless you pay off." If you listen to radio, read this Salon.com article and come to the understanding that what you hear on the radio isn't there because of quality, but because radio stations are paid to play certain artists/songs. Who chooses those songs? The labels that do the paying. What do they choose? They choose what's marketable.
Most people have no idea how narrow the range of music that they've been exposed to really is. I can't help but laugh at the people that claim to like "a little of everything" - a typical response of a radio listener whose "everything" is paper-thin.
I don't dislike "commercial" bands. I like quite a few bands that are lucky enough to be placed on the radio and made "stars". But I recognize the fact that they weren't put there for their talent (and, indeed, one need not listen to radio long to stumble upon many artists with zero talent). They were put on there to make money. College radio is a little more "open", but still not great. Internet radio can be excellent (gotta seperate the good shows from the crap), but you need broadband to get a quality audio stream, and you don't have a cable modem in your car.
The hard part about "discovering" beyond the radio norm is that you typically have to know what you're looking for in order to find it. The chicken/egg paradox comes into play. If I ever come up with an answer for a good starting point, I'll let you know.
Derek came over for a few hours today. In all, it was a clean gaming sweep for me: I won 3 RalliSport Challenge races out of 4, both Halo deathmatches, both Ring King best-of-5 matches (though he took one of the the distance, but got pounded in that 5th fight for a 1st round K.O.), and one Tecmo Bowl showdown (which now contains the rule, "No using San Francisco, New York, or Chicago, but especially San Francisco" (SF has one pass play that is impossible to stop)).
Stacey came over for about an hour to watch some RalliSport madness, before she had to go off to babysit (for the second time today).
Despite claiming that the homework would be posted by noon on Friday, my professor has STILL not posted the homework for C SCI 60 on the class website (it's 7:08pm Saturday now). Frankly, I think he has no call in expecting it to be completed on Monday. We'll see what happens then. If it's not posted by the time I wake up tomorrow, I'm not bothering with it.
It turns out that we can now remotely login to CSU Fresno's "Triton" servers remotely, using SSH. This wasn't possible before, as I remember. So now I can do all of my C SCI 112 work from home, without physically having to be on campus (and without having to buy a SPARC workstation). VERY nice. I've been working on getting UNIX shell accounts on servers running on SPARC architecture, and I do currently have one, but "Triton" is local and fast, and since it's the server that everyone is expected to work on, I shouldn't experience any "quirks" from different hardware, etc.
I own five books on data structures/algorithms (though two books are identical except for the programming language), and I really, really, really want a 6th. But the 6th one would be no run-of-the-mill book. Rather it's the Bible on algorithms: "Introduction to Algorithms, Second Edition". Interestingly enough, it's no "intro" to anything - it's supposedly a very complete and advanced text.
I also want Knuth's "The Art of Computer Programming, Volumes 1-3 Boxed Set", which runs like $150. More realistically, I want "The C++ Standard Library", which is like $60 and a great reference on the C++ Standard Template Library.
My C SCI 1 homework is basically done. And, as mentioned above, my C SCI 60 homework remains unposted. That's it for the weekend's homework. Got some more reading to do here and there, though. But for now, it's NHL time.
Stacey came over for about an hour to watch some RalliSport madness, before she had to go off to babysit (for the second time today).
Despite claiming that the homework would be posted by noon on Friday, my professor has STILL not posted the homework for C SCI 60 on the class website (it's 7:08pm Saturday now). Frankly, I think he has no call in expecting it to be completed on Monday. We'll see what happens then. If it's not posted by the time I wake up tomorrow, I'm not bothering with it.
It turns out that we can now remotely login to CSU Fresno's "Triton" servers remotely, using SSH. This wasn't possible before, as I remember. So now I can do all of my C SCI 112 work from home, without physically having to be on campus (and without having to buy a SPARC workstation). VERY nice. I've been working on getting UNIX shell accounts on servers running on SPARC architecture, and I do currently have one, but "Triton" is local and fast, and since it's the server that everyone is expected to work on, I shouldn't experience any "quirks" from different hardware, etc.
I own five books on data structures/algorithms (though two books are identical except for the programming language), and I really, really, really want a 6th. But the 6th one would be no run-of-the-mill book. Rather it's the Bible on algorithms: "Introduction to Algorithms, Second Edition". Interestingly enough, it's no "intro" to anything - it's supposedly a very complete and advanced text.
I also want Knuth's "The Art of Computer Programming, Volumes 1-3 Boxed Set", which runs like $150. More realistically, I want "The C++ Standard Library", which is like $60 and a great reference on the C++ Standard Template Library.
My C SCI 1 homework is basically done. And, as mentioned above, my C SCI 60 homework remains unposted. That's it for the weekend's homework. Got some more reading to do here and there, though. But for now, it's NHL time.
Stacey came over for the day and we celebrated our 6th month together. She gave me the most heart-melting letter. Unfortunately, the gift she ordered for me has yet to arrive from overseas, so she wasn't able to give it to me yet. I gave her my gifts, though, after wheeling myself around the mall this late morning/early afternoon to finish buying for her. She was visibly pleased with them, so I was happy (gifts with thought put into them tend to go a long way).
We got Day of the Tentacle running on my XP machine using ScummVM. It runs fine, although there are a few graphical glitches. I think I'm going to try the Dreamcast port of ScummVM... that's gotta be interesting.
I'm thinking my weekend timetable for walking is premature. Tomorrow is Saturday, and I know right now that I won't be walking tomorrow. So perhaps the recovery will be closer to 2 weeks. I suppose I can manage another week of wheelchairs and crutches. I can walk on the side of my foot a bit, which makes navigating my apartment and stuff a bit easier. But even that, I need to cool it on.
My mighty digital avatar LA Kings managed to beat Dallas in 6 games, and have a 1-0 lead on Phoenix in the Cup quarterfinals. The real challenge likely awaits after Phoenix: Colorado (who will undoubtably beat Edmonton and advance).
I have some reading on quantified logic to do. I find the quantified and propositional logic being taught in C SCI 1 and 60 to be tremendously boring.
We got Day of the Tentacle running on my XP machine using ScummVM. It runs fine, although there are a few graphical glitches. I think I'm going to try the Dreamcast port of ScummVM... that's gotta be interesting.
I'm thinking my weekend timetable for walking is premature. Tomorrow is Saturday, and I know right now that I won't be walking tomorrow. So perhaps the recovery will be closer to 2 weeks. I suppose I can manage another week of wheelchairs and crutches. I can walk on the side of my foot a bit, which makes navigating my apartment and stuff a bit easier. But even that, I need to cool it on.
My mighty digital avatar LA Kings managed to beat Dallas in 6 games, and have a 1-0 lead on Phoenix in the Cup quarterfinals. The real challenge likely awaits after Phoenix: Colorado (who will undoubtably beat Edmonton and advance).
I have some reading on quantified logic to do. I find the quantified and propositional logic being taught in C SCI 1 and 60 to be tremendously boring.
Friday, September 13
I am experimenting with various ways of taking notes in class on my laptop. The advantages are legibility and organization. The disadvantages are the inability to easily draw diagrams, my tendency to rely more on mental notes than written notes, and my tendency to exhibit general inattentiveness in certain classes. Mental notes (or, more often, learning by osmosis) are valuable, but I need to keep some more concrete notes. I use Notepad, which uses a fixed-size font, allowing me to "draw" diagrams with ASCII characters as I see fit. I could use a "scratchboard" program that lets me draw rough diagrams with a paint-style program, but there's no way I can be as precise with a TrackPoint input knob as I can with a pencil and paper. So, my options are:
(a) All paper notes - ugly handwriting, less-than-organized papers, etc.
(b) All electronic notes - Difficult to handle non-text notes
(c) A combination of the two
The hard part with (c) is managing the two (i.e. which paper goes with which electronic notes). I need to devise some sort of labeling scheme. I currently date all of my electronic files (ie. 091302.txt for 09/13/02 notes, stored in a folder bearing the class designation - i.e. C SCI 112). I suppose I could label my papers the same way, so that I can always track down the electronic note to coincide with a paper note (though not easily in the other direction).
In NFL2K3 news, I destroyed the Browns, 40-13, and the Titans lost, so I hold 1st place in the AFC South all by my lonesome. In NHL 2002 news, I completed the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference, and am now up 3-2 in a series of 7 against the Dallas Stars.
(a) All paper notes - ugly handwriting, less-than-organized papers, etc.
(b) All electronic notes - Difficult to handle non-text notes
(c) A combination of the two
The hard part with (c) is managing the two (i.e. which paper goes with which electronic notes). I need to devise some sort of labeling scheme. I currently date all of my electronic files (ie. 091302.txt for 09/13/02 notes, stored in a folder bearing the class designation - i.e. C SCI 112). I suppose I could label my papers the same way, so that I can always track down the electronic note to coincide with a paper note (though not easily in the other direction).
In NFL2K3 news, I destroyed the Browns, 40-13, and the Titans lost, so I hold 1st place in the AFC South all by my lonesome. In NHL 2002 news, I completed the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference, and am now up 3-2 in a series of 7 against the Dallas Stars.
Thursday, September 12
Yesterday was the 6 month "anniversary" for Stacey and I. Unfortunately, due to classes and schoolwork, we were not able to see each other yesterday. We'll be celebrating together on Friday after classes. Stacey, I'm incredibly lucky to have you, and though we'll hold off on presents while yours ships to you, I have a letter for you. Love you, Stace. See you soon.
Favorite current commercial: "Zane? What kind of name is Zane? What happened to names like Bill, or Dick, or Chuck? Or Hank.... Hank the Tank. Hank...."
Favorite current commercial: "Zane? What kind of name is Zane? What happened to names like Bill, or Dick, or Chuck? Or Hank.... Hank the Tank. Hank...."
Edged out the Cowboys, 17-10, in a game that should never have been that close. I threw 3 INTs, two in the endzone on what should have been TD-scoring drives. The third was on a pass that could've gone the length of the field for a TD, but I underthrew it and the beaten DB was able to haul it in. A last-second drive before halftime got me back in the game (brought the score to 10-7 Cowboys), and my defense managed to hold them scoreless in the 2nd half - this after Emmitt Smith ran roughshod over me in the 1st half.
Wednesday, September 11
I've posted a lot about my NFL2K3 season (7-3, one game behind the Titans in the division), but I've also been playing through a season of NHL 2002 on my PC. Currently, my LA Kings are 31-16-5-1, 1st place in the Western Conference (2nd in the overall league, behind Philadelphia, who is out to such a large lead that there's no catching them). My team was hanging at .500 in November and December (game months), but went about 7-3 in both January and February, and am currently 9-1-1 in March (with 2 games left). I'm playing the game on the hardest difficulty setting, though I've bumped down the opposing goalie slider a tad (I was tired of games where my team would have 40 shots - including plenty of quality shots - and 0 goals, while my opponents would be held to 9 shots and get 1 or 2 goals from those... I still have to outshoot my opponent by about 3:1 to win, but at least it's a winnable and not-entirely-unfair challenge).
I've got Adam Deadmarsh and Ziggy Palffy flipped to the opposite of their natural wing positions (Deadmarsh at RW, Ziggy at left). Since Deadmarsh is right-handed and Palffy is left-handed, this creates good one-timer opportunities for the far corner of the net. However, I'm having a lot of problems with them (especially Deadmarsh) shooting wide on breakaway approaches to the net. I may try switching them back to their natural spots and seeing how that goes....
I've got Adam Deadmarsh and Ziggy Palffy flipped to the opposite of their natural wing positions (Deadmarsh at RW, Ziggy at left). Since Deadmarsh is right-handed and Palffy is left-handed, this creates good one-timer opportunities for the far corner of the net. However, I'm having a lot of problems with them (especially Deadmarsh) shooting wide on breakaway approaches to the net. I may try switching them back to their natural spots and seeing how that goes....
Installing the latest bleeding-edge beta of Mozilla onto my laptop.
I very much appreciate the fact that the program asks during install if I want a system tray utility or not, and is UNCHECKED by default. No Windows program that installs a systray utility should leave this part out.
Mozilla now imports IE bookmarks correctly, thank goodness.
I very much appreciate the fact that the program asks during install if I want a system tray utility or not, and is UNCHECKED by default. No Windows program that installs a systray utility should leave this part out.
Mozilla now imports IE bookmarks correctly, thank goodness.
Penny Arcade's opening line in today's post nailed it: "This is not the site to go to if you want to be sad all day."
Dear Derek (in case you're reading): A new FF Tactics-style game has released on PlayStation 2, called Dynasty Tactics. It's developed by Koei. You *will* buy.
Dear Derek (in case you're reading): A new FF Tactics-style game has released on PlayStation 2, called Dynasty Tactics. It's developed by Koei. You *will* buy.
Tuesday, September 10
Does anyone else want to skip the September 11th anniversary overkill? Some entities, especially certain TV networks (read: ABC) are going overboard.
It's not enough that ABC is dedicating the WHOLE day to the 9/11 anniversary tomorrow, but their 9/11 programming is already in full-swing today. It's good to memorialize, but this is as commercialized as memorials come. Anyway, I will certainly not be watching ABC tomorrow.
New version of Trillian out. But if you run Trillian, you already know that.
New version of Mozilla, too, though this one is a couple of weeks old (didn't notice it until now).
It's not enough that ABC is dedicating the WHOLE day to the 9/11 anniversary tomorrow, but their 9/11 programming is already in full-swing today. It's good to memorialize, but this is as commercialized as memorials come. Anyway, I will certainly not be watching ABC tomorrow.
New version of Trillian out. But if you run Trillian, you already know that.
New version of Mozilla, too, though this one is a couple of weeks old (didn't notice it until now).
Monday, September 9
Dismantled the Texans in Week 11 of my NFL2K3 season, 36-7. Over 300 yards and 3 TDs for Mark Brunell, and over 120 yards for Fred Taylor and Stacey Mack combined (Mack came in for a series after Taylor injured his hand... Taylor returned after the half to carry the load). Pass defense is still very suspect, despite hauling in 3 interceptions off of David Carr (bet Dallas wishes they could've done that in real life on Sunday). James Allen also had far too much success running against my defense, though I did sit in zone coverage D's most of the game.
My LucasArts "Adventure Collection" is backordered, and the order is supposed to be filled "within two weeks" (this from a message sent last Wednesday). I want it now! Also, "Monkey Island Madness" goes for over $20 on eBay! Argh. I'm going to have to cough up more than I want to to get it. But dang, I want it.
Ever played "Dynomite"? It's a game from Pop Cap games, and can be found either on MSN Gaming Zone or here on Pop Cap's website (this link goes directly to the game). On MSN, you can download a copy of the game that you can play offline. I downloaded it (as well as a couple of other Pop Cap puzzle games - Bejeweled and Alchemy) onto my laptop, and entertained myself in C SCI 60 this morning with it. Also played a little Civilization, though I righteously suck at it so far. I remember playing Civ (this is the original, mind you) on Kyle Melching's computer back in junior high. Gotta love those DOS/Windows 3.1 days. Well, not really. The games were good, but that's it.
Does anyone else miss BeOS?
My LucasArts "Adventure Collection" is backordered, and the order is supposed to be filled "within two weeks" (this from a message sent last Wednesday). I want it now! Also, "Monkey Island Madness" goes for over $20 on eBay! Argh. I'm going to have to cough up more than I want to to get it. But dang, I want it.
Ever played "Dynomite"? It's a game from Pop Cap games, and can be found either on MSN Gaming Zone or here on Pop Cap's website (this link goes directly to the game). On MSN, you can download a copy of the game that you can play offline. I downloaded it (as well as a couple of other Pop Cap puzzle games - Bejeweled and Alchemy) onto my laptop, and entertained myself in C SCI 60 this morning with it. Also played a little Civilization, though I righteously suck at it so far. I remember playing Civ (this is the original, mind you) on Kyle Melching's computer back in junior high. Gotta love those DOS/Windows 3.1 days. Well, not really. The games were good, but that's it.
Does anyone else miss BeOS?
Well, I'm managing to wheel myself around campus and get to my classes. I skipped my music class, which is entirely skippable this week, except for Wednesday's discussion on the term paper. That class is so far from the rest of my classes that I will need to get a ride over there and back. I can't possibly wheelchair myself over there... not if I want to get there before class ends.
I'm over at Stacey's place, doing some coding on my laptop while she works on some artsy, schoolteacher-ish project. Definitely a bit of a culture clash. And yet, she's the one with the more powerful laptop. :(
Got an assignment in 115 to get done in two weeks. I'm using some of the linked list templates from my textbook, but they use some aspects of C++ that I don't fully understand yet, so I'll need to hit the C++ language texts tonight.
My toe has basically stopped hurting, as long as nothing touches it. The tip of the toe is still purple, although a lighter shade than before. It needs to hurry up and heal, so I can walk on it!
I'm over at Stacey's place, doing some coding on my laptop while she works on some artsy, schoolteacher-ish project. Definitely a bit of a culture clash. And yet, she's the one with the more powerful laptop. :(
Got an assignment in 115 to get done in two weeks. I'm using some of the linked list templates from my textbook, but they use some aspects of C++ that I don't fully understand yet, so I'll need to hit the C++ language texts tonight.
My toe has basically stopped hurting, as long as nothing touches it. The tip of the toe is still purple, although a lighter shade than before. It needs to hurry up and heal, so I can walk on it!
Sunday, September 8
Lost an overtime heartbreaker to the New York Giants in my NFL2K3 season, 23-20. I'm frustrated that the game doesn't zoom out on pass plays when the computer is on offense... makes it awful hard to pass cover. This was a real dumb change by Visual Concepts, and I'm really hoping that it's not like this for online play, because that could really damage the game for me.
Last week, I broke the big toe on my right foot. On the same day, I also went through hell with a dead car battery. (As one might surmise, the latter led to the former). After multiple visits to car places, and multiple visits to the university health center, my car is back up and running, and my toe is taped up and (allegedly) in the process of healing. I am staying mobile using crutches and a wheelchair. It's no fun, but I am supposed to be able to start walking again after about a week after injury (so, later this week). We'll see.
Anyway, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fresno State Bulldog football teams both lost games that they should have won. The former lost due to a couple of key mental mistakes, the latter due to blatently pro-Oregon calls by the officials (so blatent that ESPN announcer Warren Moon, who has no vested interest in Fresno State, was shocked). In better news, the NFL expansion franchise Houston Texans (led by former Fresno State quarterback David Carr) won their opener against an improved Dallas Cowboys franchise.
Last night, I went to a wedding with Stacey. The wedding was of one of Stacey's oldest friends. It was enjoyable. I was on crutches at the service, and in the wheelchair at the reception. The highlight of the evening was when I wheeled myself out onto the floor for the tossing of the garter, stood up on my one good leg, and plucked the garter out of the air with my left hand. There was no bobbling, no unsteady hand. It was a solid, firm catch with my non-dominant hand. All were impressed, as I sat back down into my chair with wheels, and rolled myself back towards Stacey and the dinner table. Stace just shook her head and snapped a picture of me, holding my prize.
I've helped Stacey build her website. I'll put it in my links section as soon as I finish putting that section together. Her site has pictures from the wedding.
Anyway, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fresno State Bulldog football teams both lost games that they should have won. The former lost due to a couple of key mental mistakes, the latter due to blatently pro-Oregon calls by the officials (so blatent that ESPN announcer Warren Moon, who has no vested interest in Fresno State, was shocked). In better news, the NFL expansion franchise Houston Texans (led by former Fresno State quarterback David Carr) won their opener against an improved Dallas Cowboys franchise.
Last night, I went to a wedding with Stacey. The wedding was of one of Stacey's oldest friends. It was enjoyable. I was on crutches at the service, and in the wheelchair at the reception. The highlight of the evening was when I wheeled myself out onto the floor for the tossing of the garter, stood up on my one good leg, and plucked the garter out of the air with my left hand. There was no bobbling, no unsteady hand. It was a solid, firm catch with my non-dominant hand. All were impressed, as I sat back down into my chair with wheels, and rolled myself back towards Stacey and the dinner table. Stace just shook her head and snapped a picture of me, holding my prize.
I've helped Stacey build her website. I'll put it in my links section as soon as I finish putting that section together. Her site has pictures from the wedding.
Monday, September 2
Now 3-2 in my NFL2K3 season. Defeated the Eagles pretty handily, and then I lost a close one to the Titans. My run defense is strong, but my pass defense is el crappo. Basically, I need to start blitzing more to cover up the holes in my secondary.... but I don't have a single legitimate pass-rushing linebacker. I've had more luck blitzing with my strong safety, Donovin Darius (who is probably the best player on my defense).
Installed a wireless network at my girlfriend's house. It was the first time I'd done any wireless networking, except for accessing the university's network. It was pretty straightforward - much easier than setting up my FreeBSD router box. It was kind of a surprise to see this router (as well as the Linksys wired router that I installed at my friend's apartment) start working pretty much automatically after installed. I had to set up re-directs and port forwarding for about a million things on my FreeBSD box! Of course, I still like the box better than the consumer-level routers.
My girlfriend's laptop is better than mine. There is no justice. :(
Installed a wireless network at my girlfriend's house. It was the first time I'd done any wireless networking, except for accessing the university's network. It was pretty straightforward - much easier than setting up my FreeBSD router box. It was kind of a surprise to see this router (as well as the Linksys wired router that I installed at my friend's apartment) start working pretty much automatically after installed. I had to set up re-directs and port forwarding for about a million things on my FreeBSD box! Of course, I still like the box better than the consumer-level routers.
My girlfriend's laptop is better than mine. There is no justice. :(
Forgot to mention: I ordered the LucasArts "Adventure Collection" (which replaced the old LucasArts Archives Volume 1) yesterday. It includes three adventure games that I've been wanting to play: Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max Hit the Road, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Of the three, I have a warez'd copy of Sam and Max, with CD speech, but it's a little flakey and I wanted a real copy. I have "abandonwarez" copies of the other two as well, but they're either the 3.5" floppy versions or CD rips (either way, read: no speech). The "Adventure Collection" is different from "Archives Volume 1" in that it no longer includes the Star Wars screen saver, the Rebel Assault demo, or the sampler CD of other various demos. In their place, it includes a cool LucasArts CD case, which to me is more valuable than the stuff it replaces. I did think twice about the $29.95 price tag (I'd prefer it in the $20 even range), but I went ahead and got it. Add my new copy of Full Throttle to the mix, and there's plenty of adventure game fun to be had. Still need to get the CD versions of the first two Monkey Island games....
Sunday, September 1
Currently 2-1 in my first NFL2K3 season. Just lost a close one to the Jets, 13-10. The heartbreaking moment came on my final drive in the 4th quarter. On 4th-and-6, at about midfield (starting to approach field-goal range), I threw an out to Jimmy Smith. He made the catch, and his momentum carried him out of bounds about one inch short of the 1st down - turning the ball over on downs. Vinny and the Jets promptly strode onto the field and kneeled the ball down.
Talked on the phone with my dad today, who recommended that I try one of those elliptical trainers (since I have access to them now at Bally Fitness). Wow, those things are impressive. I've been using a stationary bike for almost all of my aerobic exercise, but now I'll definitely be incorporating elliptical machines as a major part of my daily aerobic routine. The total caloric burn over 30 minutes was greater than that achieved on the bike, and with less overall stress on my body. Like my dad said, "you don't feel like you're burning calories, but you are". I definitely don't feel the sort of fatigue (especially leg fatigue) that I do after the bike. Sweet.
The pain has subsided a little bit. I hate when my allergies get like this.
Bought a couple of beanbags for my living room. Some of the controllers on my game systems don't have long enough cables to reach the couch, so Derek and Stacey had been sitting on the floor when they've been playing. Beanbags should help, and I just need more things for people to sit on anyway.
Since I'm using my Bally Fitness membership for my working out, I'm going to sell my Soloflex. That should finance my new TV. :)
I had an idea for a game to develop during the rest of my collegiate career, to have in my portfolio for when it comes time to woo developers for jobs. I've come up with the overall theme, some character names, and some general ideas for locations. I'm going to start mapping out a path through the game, and write some dialogue. I'd like to start developing the game after this semester. I'm sure I can enlist some programmers and artists to create a development team. Time to start looking into some of the technical aspects of developing a game like this. If/when development starts, I'll create a webpage for it on my home site.
Bought a couple of beanbags for my living room. Some of the controllers on my game systems don't have long enough cables to reach the couch, so Derek and Stacey had been sitting on the floor when they've been playing. Beanbags should help, and I just need more things for people to sit on anyway.
Since I'm using my Bally Fitness membership for my working out, I'm going to sell my Soloflex. That should finance my new TV. :)
I had an idea for a game to develop during the rest of my collegiate career, to have in my portfolio for when it comes time to woo developers for jobs. I've come up with the overall theme, some character names, and some general ideas for locations. I'm going to start mapping out a path through the game, and write some dialogue. I'd like to start developing the game after this semester. I'm sure I can enlist some programmers and artists to create a development team. Time to start looking into some of the technical aspects of developing a game like this. If/when development starts, I'll create a webpage for it on my home site.
Saturday, August 31
Activity on the Fresno State Computer Science mailing list that I created and moderate has picked up. I continue to aggressively advertise it on-campus with a number of cool flyers with "take one" tags.
Bought a copy of Full Throttle from FuncoLand. Used to have a copy, but I gave it to my sister after I beat it. Would like to play it again, and since my girlfriend likes playing these sorts of games, I picked up a new copy. Also got a new (well, used) NES controller, whose buttons aren't nearly in as bad of shape as one of my old ones. Stacey was complaining about my old Nintendo controllers, so this should please her.
My best friend, Derek, came over this evening to barbeque steaks and play games. We should've left the meat out to thaw earlier, as we ended up eating late. But oh well, lesson learned. Enjoyed a game of NFL2K3 (he gave me a little competition) and some RalliSport Challenge (I gave him a little more competition than he did me in NFL). Also broke out the ol' Super NES and played through a bit of Super Mario World... this one'll continue later. Pretty fun. It's definitely nice to have him around again. Can't wait for Xbox Live to launch, as NFL2K3 action will be fast and furious.
Bought a copy of Full Throttle from FuncoLand. Used to have a copy, but I gave it to my sister after I beat it. Would like to play it again, and since my girlfriend likes playing these sorts of games, I picked up a new copy. Also got a new (well, used) NES controller, whose buttons aren't nearly in as bad of shape as one of my old ones. Stacey was complaining about my old Nintendo controllers, so this should please her.
My best friend, Derek, came over this evening to barbeque steaks and play games. We should've left the meat out to thaw earlier, as we ended up eating late. But oh well, lesson learned. Enjoyed a game of NFL2K3 (he gave me a little competition) and some RalliSport Challenge (I gave him a little more competition than he did me in NFL). Also broke out the ol' Super NES and played through a bit of Super Mario World... this one'll continue later. Pretty fun. It's definitely nice to have him around again. Can't wait for Xbox Live to launch, as NFL2K3 action will be fast and furious.
I pulled out my sister's old work computer (a classic Pentium 133MHz), and am pulling out something even older - my old DOS 5.0 and 6.22 disks. I want to be able to play old DOS games, and the best way to do that is with true-blue DOS support.
Meanwhile, I am formatting my P3-550 and will be installing a very clean Win98 onto it, as well as dual-booting with a Linux (probably Red Hat 7.3). I want to make the machine be able to play somewhat recent games, as well as give me a machine to fool around with Linux desktop stuff.
The P3 will be on my wireless network (coming soon), but I won't be spending money to put the DOS box on there.
Trying to track down some copies of old LucasArts adventure games. Some of these things are still expensive on eBay (grr).
Meanwhile, I am formatting my P3-550 and will be installing a very clean Win98 onto it, as well as dual-booting with a Linux (probably Red Hat 7.3). I want to make the machine be able to play somewhat recent games, as well as give me a machine to fool around with Linux desktop stuff.
The P3 will be on my wireless network (coming soon), but I won't be spending money to put the DOS box on there.
Trying to track down some copies of old LucasArts adventure games. Some of these things are still expensive on eBay (grr).
Friday, August 30
Both my C SCI 1 and C SCI 60 classes are covering Boolean logic. It's more boring than baseball. What's the truth table of the statement: "I have a beer but no beer nuts"? "[have] beer" is the "A" statement and "[have] beer nuts" is the "B" statement, sooo, if "A" is true and not("B") is true (i.e. "B" is false), then the statement is true. YAWN.
Ahh, Thursday. My one "off" day during the week. (I almost have Tuesdays off, but I have my C SCI 112 lab in the morning). Spent the morning at my girlfriend's house, while she worked on a puppet for her puppetry class (an elementary school teacher thing... definitely a stark contrast with my studies).
Went to the Fresno State football game tonight. Watched Fresno eek out a 16-14 victory over the not-very-impressive San Diego State Aztecs. Granted, Fresno played without their #1 QB and without their star #1 WR (who projects to be a 1st round pick in the NFL draft, if he maintains his level of play from last season). Still, it's San Diego State.
My little brother was trumpeting his NFL2K3 skills, as he's been practicing on his GameCube version of the game. Took him on after the game. I'll be damned if the little bugger didn't pull out some good defense on me. I didn't pass deep very effectively - got picked off twice in the 1st half. His offense didn't match the D, though. His passing game was OK - moderately effective but also caught a couple of lucky breaks against my dumb DBs (Fernando Bryant made the biggest bonehead move in man coverage that led directly to a Terry Glenn TD). Running game was non-existant... tried to get a few carries in but was stuffed for a loss each time. He put up 14 points in the first half, leading 14-10 at the break, but didn't score again for the rest of the game, while I drove to a 30-14 win. When he committed to stopping the pass, I ran with Fred Taylor. When he committed to stopping the run, I lobbed the ball over his D. Much different from the 1st half, where I tried to get into my old Mark Brunell run-and-gun groove. I would pick up big chunks of yardage, but would get intercepted. I went ball-control, and ended up with over 13:00 T.O.P., out of a 20:00 game.
Even still, a lesson learned: his DBs will clamp down on out routes. His DBs are rated a lot higher than mine, and it shows in this game. No excuses allowed, though, as I picked the Jags on my own free will.
Went to the Fresno State football game tonight. Watched Fresno eek out a 16-14 victory over the not-very-impressive San Diego State Aztecs. Granted, Fresno played without their #1 QB and without their star #1 WR (who projects to be a 1st round pick in the NFL draft, if he maintains his level of play from last season). Still, it's San Diego State.
My little brother was trumpeting his NFL2K3 skills, as he's been practicing on his GameCube version of the game. Took him on after the game. I'll be damned if the little bugger didn't pull out some good defense on me. I didn't pass deep very effectively - got picked off twice in the 1st half. His offense didn't match the D, though. His passing game was OK - moderately effective but also caught a couple of lucky breaks against my dumb DBs (Fernando Bryant made the biggest bonehead move in man coverage that led directly to a Terry Glenn TD). Running game was non-existant... tried to get a few carries in but was stuffed for a loss each time. He put up 14 points in the first half, leading 14-10 at the break, but didn't score again for the rest of the game, while I drove to a 30-14 win. When he committed to stopping the pass, I ran with Fred Taylor. When he committed to stopping the run, I lobbed the ball over his D. Much different from the 1st half, where I tried to get into my old Mark Brunell run-and-gun groove. I would pick up big chunks of yardage, but would get intercepted. I went ball-control, and ended up with over 13:00 T.O.P., out of a 20:00 game.
Even still, a lesson learned: his DBs will clamp down on out routes. His DBs are rated a lot higher than mine, and it shows in this game. No excuses allowed, though, as I picked the Jags on my own free will.
Wednesday, August 28
Tuesday, August 27
Had my first C SCI 112 lab today, and breezed right through it. It was encouraging to do so well while other students were clearly struggling. I'm glad that the relentless struggle that was C SCI 41 was not for naught.
Listened to John Coltrane's A Love Supreme all day today, except for when I worked out, which was accompanied by Mahavishnu Orchestra's Inner Mounting Flame. Due to my History of Rock and Jazz class, I have reason to listen to all of those jazz CDs that I've bought and have neglected. I'm still struggling to get a distinct "feel" for A Love Supreme... trying to find what separates it from my generic general concept of "jazz". Just as every good rock band is distinct from the generic "rock band" model in some way, good jazz artists must have a similar distinction (at least, that's the logic I'm operating under). It's my job to find it.
Listened to John Coltrane's A Love Supreme all day today, except for when I worked out, which was accompanied by Mahavishnu Orchestra's Inner Mounting Flame. Due to my History of Rock and Jazz class, I have reason to listen to all of those jazz CDs that I've bought and have neglected. I'm still struggling to get a distinct "feel" for A Love Supreme... trying to find what separates it from my generic general concept of "jazz". Just as every good rock band is distinct from the generic "rock band" model in some way, good jazz artists must have a similar distinction (at least, that's the logic I'm operating under). It's my job to find it.
Monday, August 26
Oh yeah, got my Bally Fitness membership. Took advantage of a college student deal listed on their website. It allows me to cancel anytime after four months, which is great, because their other memberships lock you into a 36-month contract. I don't plan on quitting, but I may not live convienently next to a Bally club for 36 months.
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