Globe-eyed nacreous ryunkin
Posted 31 Mar, 2005 at 14:31 by wendy in /Books | Permanent link
I've been reading "To Say Nothing of the Dog" by Connie Willis, and this particular phrase has been stuck in my head all day. It's some sort of fish. I could probably use Google and find out something about it...hang on . . . A ryunkin is a type of koi (Japanese gold fish). Nacreous means mother-of-pearl coloured, or iridescent. Globe-eyed should be self explanatory. Yay google.
Does anyone else get cool sounding words or phrases stuck in their heads?
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Will it work?
Posted 30 Mar, 2005 at 12:50 by wendy in /Science | Permanent link
So I've spent the past several months trying to get an MR pulse sequence working. I understand the theory behind it, and at this point I think I'm even beginning to understand why things aren't working quite as well as they, in theory, should. I've just received a sequence in the mail from another group who has got it working. At least it works on their scanner. I'm going to test it in about an hour...then I'll know if I've just been wasting my time for these past several months, or if we have some hardware problems that are causing things not to work. I'm holding my breath...and trying to figure out which I'd prefer. Of course it would be great if their sequence works...then I can move ahead with my project and put these frustrations behind me. On the other hand, if it doesn't work...I'll feel a little better about myself...maybe.
Someone remind me why I want a degree again?
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Comfort food
Posted 29 Mar, 2005 at 13:46 by wendy in /FoodDrink | Permanent link
So after the fondue experiment I found myself with some leftover Gruyere in my fridge, which reminded me of the first meal I learned how to cook. It's just a variation on a regular cheese omelet, but very yummy.
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RIP Paul Hester
Posted 29 Mar, 2005 at 09:51 by matt in /Music | Permanent link
It's only March, but it's been a bad year so far for celebrity suicides: first Hunter Thompson, now Paul Hester.
The latter might not be a terribly familiar name, but you probably know his work: he was the drummer and occasional songwriter and vocalist for Crowded House. He tended to get about one song in per album -- this was a point of contention for a while, I'd heard, and might have led to the band's breaking up -- but they provided an interesting set of grace notes: a different take on what Crowded House could be.
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Wanted: short stories
Posted 24 Mar, 2005 at 09:19 by matt in /Books | Permanent link
I'm feeling like there's not enough short fiction in my life at present. What collections of short stories would folks commend to my attention?
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Mmmmm....Fondue
Posted 23 Mar, 2005 at 11:09 by wendy in /FoodDrink | Permanent link
So after several years of wanting to try making my own fondue, but being somewhat apprehensive because I wasn't exactly sure what to put in it (my friend in Switzerland seems to just go to her local cheese shop and ask for a 'Fondue mix' and they give her a big bag of grated cheese), I finally did some looking around on the internet and found a recipe which seemed to have the right list of ingredients and instructions that sounded like what I remember seeing people do. Of course I modified it somewhat...I'm incapable of just following a recipe:
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Backup DNA
Posted 23 Mar, 2005 at 10:54 by wendy in /Science | Permanent link
I found this on BoingBoing this morning, scientists have discovered that some plants appear to have "backup DNA", the mutated part of the DNA they received from their parents had been overwritten by DNA from their grandparents, apparently stored somewhere as RNA. Link
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What should happen?
Posted 23 Mar, 2005 at 08:15 by blue in /World | Permanent link
Terri Schiavo.Her name has been in the media throughout the US, Canada and even the world.
Many people in Canada claim that such a battle could not occur here, where the religious right does not have as much power as it does in the states.
Many people claim that the majority of Americans support the justice ruling to remove the tube. Even though the President does not.
What do you claim?
There is a random sampling of people who read this and live in both the US and Canada.
Should Terri be kept alive artificially? Is she truely even still alive?
Should she be starved to death by removing the tube? What would she want?
What would you want?
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Infinite Cats
Posted 22 Mar, 2005 at 11:06 by blue in /Arts | Permanent link
Since people seem to appriciate cat-based art, I thought I'd add another contribution to this ever growning segment of modern art.
The Infinite Cat project is really quite something to see. If you have a cat, you might even want to take part.
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Giant Steps - A Film By Michal Levy
Posted 21 Mar, 2005 at 14:28 by blue in /Music | Permanent link
Who knew I could appricate John Coltrane? Maybe now you can too.
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I wish I was from Mars...
Posted 21 Mar, 2005 at 13:36 by wendy in /Chatter | Permanent link
How to talk to your kids about almost anything. Oftentimes McSweeney's is somewhat odd...but this one was fun.Comments (2 comments so far)
Egg radio
Posted 16 Mar, 2005 at 15:11 by matt in /Music | Permanent link
One of the truly great things about broadband internet is that with it, every man, woman, and child can become an internationally renowned disc jockey.
I've just discovered Egg Radio. It's pretty great; to give you some idea, the last three songs have been Letters to Cleo covering Cruel to be Kind, the Talking Heads with Psycho Killer, and the Beastie Boys doing Oasis' Wonderwall, apparently recorded live in some crappy little club by a microphone surgically embedded in someone's armpit. Nice little station IDs, too.
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Improve Your Reading Speed
Posted 16 Mar, 2005 at 08:25 by blue in /Chatter | Permanent link
So here is a little something interesting.
They claim they can improve your reading speed. And, having taken their demo, it did work for me... though whether it worked because I wanted it to work or not, who knows.
Even so, it was certainly interesting. Give it a try yourself and see what you think.
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Upside down and backwards
Posted 15 Mar, 2005 at 08:34 by blue in /Chatter | Permanent link
So, you've all heard of 3l33t5p33k... that horror of horrors that is slowly making its way across the internet.
Let me introduce you to the next wave. I call it backtalk. It is the trick of typing upside down and backwards. The link takes you to a website that will convert text for you on.
The premise is simple enough... a lower case e looks a bit like an a upside down and vice versa. A p becomes a d.
As an interesting side note... it allows for some very creative pallindromic poetry such as:
deus am
-- so sued, mad dooms sped dad,
dad passed
passed pep
`pep pads swoop pew` pans os --
we snap
by Darius Bacon.
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Sordid fiction
Posted 14 Mar, 2005 at 13:11 by matt in /Music | Permanent link
So I learned a little while ago that the much-anticipated Lowest of the Low reunion album had been released into the wild. It took me a little while, living in the States as I do, but with Blue's help I've obtained a copy of the disc.
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Order of the Stick
Posted 11 Mar, 2005 at 00:30 by brent in /Chatter | Permanent link
For those that have nostalgia for the rpg moments of old: Order of the Stick. Combines the greatness of stick action (nothing like Xiao Xiao though) and D&D.
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Firewall Update
Posted 10 Mar, 2005 at 10:21 by brent in /System | Permanent link
I'm planning a firewall update this weekend (late Saturday) which will make everything inaccessible for the duration. Let me know if this doesn't work for you.
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White Dress by Kerowack
Posted 09 Mar, 2005 at 08:58 by blue in /Music | Permanent link
As music goes, this has a trendy little beat that grows on you.
Of course, the real interest in this song seems to be coming more so due to the video than the music itself. Not a bad move... producing a video that is sure to be seen by thousands of people around the world... for a production cost of about $1.69 from your local grocery store (not to mention the start of a whole new wardrobe solution for those who hate doing laundry).
Here is what others had to say about the video:
Atomfilms said: Do we need to mention anything other than the fact that this synth-pop song features a girl wearing nothing but a white dress made of whipped cream? Or that she takes it off? Didn't think so.
And several blogs and review sites had this to say: Hot tech-funk, edible couture, and high-carb dairy goodness combine in this sexy DIY video for Kerowack’s “White Dress”, guaranteed to get your booty shaking and satisfy your holiday sweet tooth at the same time. Lick it up, y’all.
And yes... even I have to admit a certain fascination with watching the whipped cream go back into the can. What is it about watching things backwards that fascinates us so much? Just alters our reality I guess. Nike used a similar technique recently for an ad, featuring a break-dancer in reverse motion. TV shows use it all the time to show flashbacks... and we never seem to get tired of seeing the shattered window or vase reassemble itself, only to be broken again when motion resumes its forward course again.
Anyway... enjoy the video. (oh and if you're too young to have guessed what the video shows, don't click on the link!)
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Kael In Iraq
Posted 08 Mar, 2005 at 13:21 by blue in /World | Permanent link
Okay... so as it turns out, I actually found another person named Kael and it isn't our own Kael over there.
This Kael is however in Iraq as an independent journalist. Her work and several others can be found at Iraq Uncensored. The real question is, is it truely uncensored?
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Fun and Games
Posted 08 Mar, 2005 at 10:38 by blue in /Chatter | Permanent link
Most of the readers of this site are familiar with a University of Waterloo publication called 'MathNews'... which, really is not so much Math or News, but helped many of us suffer though the tedium of lectures none the less.
I happened today upon another distraction from yet another university. This time it is the Distractions from Princeton.
Thought I'd share... cause as we all know, you don't have enough ways to waste time online already.
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Precision
Posted 07 Mar, 2005 at 02:00 by brent in /Chatter | Permanent link
I've never been aware until recently just how imprecise I am. We are currently going through the career development mid-year review at work and having to go through the review process with my direct report has been eye opening with how oblique I can be at expressing what my desires or expectations are. The iterations my manager has had me go through on the review has shown me what I've been missing in being clear. Not even from a liability point of view but from a being effective point of view.
I think it was contrasted well when discussing my own areas for growth on the team as well that I should examine the questions and statements that others in management make in relation to the position they are in and the responsibilities and goals they have. It provided contrast by showing that I don't have this skill that I need to develop (at least to be in management or to deal with it effectively) and I shouldn't expect a direct (which would typically be lower level) to have it either. I shouldn't expect my direct to interpret my indirectness of expression.
So I've learned something today <take from South Park>: I need to be really precise. I need to indicate in my expectations exactly what I'm looking for. I also need to be precise when indicating what my direct's present performance is and where and how improvements can be made (or strengths leveraged).
I think this is something that I really need to learn even if I don't succeed as a lead in the group. The applications are much greater than just in management but helping children develop. I don't know what all my inhibitions are about having kids, but I now know this is one of them. I think kids need a place where expectations are clear, and I can't provide that yet. I am now aware of it from my own childhood, such as requests for various tools with the expectation I would know where they were (which was invariably not true and frustrating for both myself and my Dad). I think those unspoken expectations are a significant cause of the rift between my Dad and I.
So there's my learning experience of the day for the great wide web to read. If it wasn't useful for you, it was catharsis for me.
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IP Fixation
Posted 06 Mar, 2005 at 20:48 by brent in /System | Permanent link
Changing IPs of the servers behind the firewall. Let me know if you run into issues.
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Hairspray
Posted 06 Mar, 2005 at 14:19 by brent in /Chatter | Permanent link
Life is full of both big discoveries and little discoveries.
So a side effect of Lisa's appendectomy is she can't do a whole lot around the house, not such a bad thing but I'm a little rusty at some things and forget little details.
Such as checking pockets.
So a pen managed to make its way through the wash (at this point unexploded since it was darks), then into the dryer where it did. Little ink blotches werer on the jeans, dryer, everywhere. Some searching on the web found out that hairspray is a solution for removing ink stain but there wasn't any warning about having to use ALOT of hairspray in an enclosed space. So I'm presently feeling pretty high on hairspray fumes and was yesterday too. Little did I realise the wonders of simply breathing in alcohol instead of drinking it. So I'm about to play some CoH which is about all I'm functional for.
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Mad World - Gary Jules
Posted 04 Mar, 2005 at 09:01 by blue in /Music | Permanent link
So, I always have a song going through my head. It's just something I do. If you were to stop me at any point during the day, I could tell you what song is running through my head at that moment.
Today's song is something I heard while watching an episode of Medical Investigation. I can't quote the whole thing here without permission, but I'll quote a couple of lines from the chorus:
And I find it kind of funnyI find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles its a very very
Mad world
Mad world
The song is called Mad World and is by Gary Jules... apparently is was in the soundtrack for Donny Darko as well.
I don't know that it is, either lyrically or instrumentally anything special, but the haunting quality of it combined with the lyrics above have stuck with me. If you get a chance, you should find a copy and have a listen.
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World of Warcraft registration
Posted 03 Mar, 2005 at 20:34 by brent in /Games | Permanent link
Well, I decided to check out what the process was to sign up for WoW. Apparently Blizzard is really particular about eking as much money out of the consumer as possible as they require you to have purchased the game off the shelf and provide the key from it to create an account. This seems a little wierd to me as they are an online service that I pay money to. I should conceivably be able to simply download an ISO (image of a CD or DVD) to play the game, who cares where the media came from that I installed with? They are getting their monthly contribution when I create the account anyway! Unless they honestly include a single player game in there, there isn't a point!
Must say that is something I do like about City of Heroes. I can install the software all over the place: no CD requirement, no auth key. All that matters is that I have an online account. No account, no playing.
What I would really like to see is a billing system that is compatible with casual gamers too. One where there is a minimum charge (or zero) and then for every hour you play up to the maximum you are charged a dollar. So casual gamers won't feel forced to play more than 15 hours a month for the game, they can take their time and play as infrequently as they want. But then I understand a lot of online services depend on those users who don't bother playing anymore and forget to cancel their account. Reminds me of the incredibly convoluted set of steps required to cancel the Final Fantasy XI account. But then FFXI had some really shitty UI in general.
OK, rant over.
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Watching
Posted 02 Mar, 2005 at 08:51 by matt in /Technical | Permanent link
If there are web pages that you want to watch for changes, but that don't aggregate via RSS or Atom, then Watch That Page may be for you. It checks a list of pages that you set up, at whatever intervals you specify, and will e-mail you a notice if anything's changed.
It's possible that this is a spam address accumulator, of course, so be cautious as always. OTOH, it's heaps better than refrshing a page a dozen times a day to see if they've put up the damned schedules yet, for instance.