Update
Well, as blogs normally go, a long period of inactivity followed by an empty promise of more writing to come. Well, a lot has happened since I revived this blog a few weeks ago. I'm currently up at Colgate for the summer, doing web work for the Dean of the Faculty and Provost's office. Pays pretty well, I can work out of my room, and it should look good on my resume.
The big news is that I got a NEW CAR! It's a 2005 Toyota Matrix XR, in Silver Streak Mica. It costs a pretty penny, but my parents have given me 2 years of payments as a Graduation gift, and the remaining 3.5 years are up to me. You can see some pictures of it here.
- posted by Eric @ 7:00 AM  []

 
DailyDefrag... LIVES!
It's amazing what you'll think up to do when you're bored. I started this blog just about 2 years ago, when i was also confronted with a summer of boredom. It's fun to look back and read the posts from Alabama. I was such a different person back then, I can hardly believe it. So much has happened since then, so many life defining experiences, that the scared, lonely, unsure Eric that wrote those words is no more.
I look forward to blogging again. I have found no better therapy for stress, and this is the most accessable way to express myself. I'm not sure how many people ever read my words, or how many cared what I said, but I will continue to write, if for nothing else, than for my own enjoyment.
- posted by Eric @ 7:38 PM  []

 
Sweet Home Long Island
So I'm back home now on LI, at least for the next two weeks. Don't have a computer of my own, and I am spending my time getting my car on the road, preparing for college, working on CUTV stuff, and watching TV (booyah!), so I don't think i'll have many blog posts for a while. I have really enjoyed the process so far, and I think I'll continue it once I get up to Colgate.
- posted by Eric @ 6:28 PM  []

 
Moblogging!
Live from the lab in East Engineering Hall, and with the power of the Palm Tungsten C, I give you moblogging! I am stuck in the lab listening to run throughs of our presentation. Nothing interesting to say, but I wanted to give this moblogging a try.
- posted by Eric @ 8:47 AM  []

 
Unity and Self
A topic of great importance to me is unity. We live in a world full of disjuctions. I act one way around my parents, another way around my friends, and think private thoughts when I am alone. All of these faces are part of who I am, but their distinction is not entirely healthy. It is difficult to project multiple personalities. You can feel the awkwardness when you are forced to interact with people from two groups at the same time, "worlds colliding" as it is called in Seinfeld.
One aspect of myself where this is a real concern is sexuality. I feel comfortable in my attraction to women, and I don't have doubts about it. I do feel akward however expressing this desire. Men often exchange comments about the attractivness of a lady etc., but I find this kind of talk akward. I may very well be thinking the same thing, but I have been used to keeping those thoughts internal. While I don't think that I should share my every hormonal instinct with the world, keeping it all inside can't be good either.
This topic is explored beautifully in an episode of the 3d animated show Beast Wars. While it may appear to be a kids cartoon, it deals with deeper issues from time to time. The plot revolves around robots (inherintly logical and calculating) who must stay in beast form (taking the appearance of various animals) to survive on the planet they are on. In the episode Call of the Wild, the Maximals are forced to stay in their beast mode for long periods of time, until this gets the best of them, and they act like out of control animals. The solution is found when they incorporate their beast mode (formally just a shell) into their core and fuse with it. Only then could they reach their maximum potential, once they had achieved synthesis.
I have tried to use this idea when it comes to my sexuality. Growing up as a kid in this country, sexuality is something you develop in secret. I've been to my share of health classes, but none the less your sexual urges are supposed to be kept hidden. I have tried to break this barrier however, and acknowledge those feelings as psrt of who I am, not just some instincts that my body feels. The mond body split, while helpful at times, can lead to a denial of tendencies that are yours, whether you like them or not. I have made some progress in recent years, but I still have a long way to go until I no longer feel ashamed of my desires.
- posted by Eric @ 11:19 PM  []

 
Not Just Shiny Coasters
What I have come to realize in the past few weeks is just how much I love getting new cd's. I just recently picked up Elephant by the White Stripes and Welcome Interstate Managers by Fountains of Wayne. Having downloaded most of the songs from the White Stripes album last semester, I was sure I was going to love it. I bought it because I already had their first cd and I wanted to support them. I picked up the Fountains of Wayne cd simply because I really liked their single "Stacey's Mom" (the most fun song of the summer). As it turns out, every other song on the cd was just as good if not better. This cd was one of the best purchases I have made in a while, and I highly recommend it. It has a nice range of musical styles and is very enjoyable.
This summer I have added 9 new cd's to my collection, a huge jump for me but well worth the money. If you look around Amazon.com or Half.com you can find used cd's for much less than if you were to buy them from the store. In my experience these cd's have been in good condition and I have not even noticed that the cd was "used" (many people buy new cd's, rip the mp3's, and then resell them right away to try to make back some of the cost).
Lesson of the day: CD's Good. Fire Bad!
(In regards to the title of this post, I would like to quote myself by saying "There is nothing inherently wrong with shininess")
- posted by Eric @ 10:24 PM  []

 
Buh?
I don't think I've had any insightful thoughts in the last few days. I spent both yesterday and today working on my Power Point presentation for the trip to Auburn this thursday. In my spare time I have been working on some palm programs that I wanted to make (for the main purpose of using another piece of software past its trial period). I sent out some CUTV emails today. That's the full summary of my life in the past two days. I'm really looking forward to gettin back home, and spending some time on the beach.
- posted by Eric @ 10:21 PM  []

 
A Night Out
Finally some fun in Bama. A group of us research peeps went out to see American Wedding tonight. I highly recommend this film for all those who liked the first two. It follows the spirit of the first movies very well and yet still manages to be interesting and funny. I haven't laughed that hard for months, and it felt really good to just let out a roaring laugh. I wish we had done more group activities here in Bama, but then again we are all people who choose to sit in front of a computer screen every day for the rest of our working lives (and probably beyond), so social behavior is probably not our forte.
The whole group of us including the prof's in charge had lunch at Dreamland Bar-b-que today. Not your average place, to say the least. The menu consists of ribs, white bread, chips, and drinks. Of course, the ribs were incredible, and we all enjoyed talking and laughing out on the deck. Today has been a pleasant change of pace, and I have a feeling I will remember this experience fondly for years to come.
- posted by Eric @ 10:58 PM  []

 
Control+Alt+Woof
I think I may be in the minority, but I think virtual pets are really cool. I have had a tamagotchi or two in my day. I have downloaded a few virtual pet programs for my PC. I have even had a one of those $20 robot dogs (it was a gift). From all my experiences I have learned that virtual pets are simple, boring, and not worth the money. And yet I still want one!
I think part of my longing is due to the fact that I want to have a real pet. I have had in my life so far a gold fish named Freddy, two fiddler crabs named Sam and Ben, and a hamster named Aurora (rest her soul). While these pets were fun to have, I don't feel like I couldn't have bonded with them like I could with a dog or a cat. A now infamous quote of mine is: "I like the concept of dogs." I have yet to find many dogs that don't scare me, but I still feel like there is a dog out there for me, and that we could get along really well.
I know that a robotic pet will never be able to emulate the real deal, but they have that cool factor which makes them appealing. Tonight I discovered that I really want an Aibo. For those of you who don't know/remember, Aibo is a sophisticated robot dog made by the Sony corporation. He had a 400Mghz processor, could see and hear, learn tricks, and was remarkable agile. What makes an Aibo great:
1) It's just so cool!
2) Really, really cool!
3) I'm not afraid of it
4) Won't have to buy it food or take it to the vet
5) Can't pee on the carpet
6) People have hacked it and created a language so you can reprogram it
7) Did I mention how cool it is?
Why haven't I bought an Aibo already? Well the big reason would be that a refurbished model still costs $700. I was really daring when I bouhgt this laptop for $200 off ebay, and I don't see how I can ever justify spending more that three times that for a robot dog. For now my dreams will remain just that. I don't have high hopes that these will ever go down to a reasonable price, because they will no doubt be collectible some day. If you are reading this and happen to have an Aibo you no longer want, leave a comment and lets see if we can work something out :-)
- posted by Eric @ 9:51 PM  []

 
Grrrr....
I have just finished responding to an article posted on the Matrix blog, and I am a little worked up. I feel that everyone is entitled to their opinions, and I am not going to be angry with a person because they believe something that I don't. What get's me REALLY mad though is someone who believes they are right to the point where they no longer recognize their potential for fallacy. Everyone can be wrong about anything! This is not to say that there is no truth, but rather it is never safe to assume you have found it and stop considering other perspectives. If you believe that you know the truth beyond a doubt then you are assuming a position of superiority over the entire human race. Plato showed us that the wisest man is the one who knows what he does not know.
I think Billy Joel expressed my point best in his song Shades of Grey: "And the only people I fear are those who never have doubts"
- posted by Eric @ 11:25 PM  []

 
... and He created Google, and it was good...
Someone: If you were stranded on a desert island, and you could only bring one thing with you, what would it be?
Me: Google.

It may not be the most practical answer, but it is the one thing I can not live without. I have a feeling that sometime in the future Google will be recognized as one of the greatest achievements of our age. Google is powerful, simple to use, and everything it should be. What makes Google so great?

1) Power - Google is really good at bringing up content that is exactly what you are looking for. It has learned to ignore subversive search engine tactics that some sites use, like filling up the bottom portion of the page with thousands of words that barely relate to the page.
2) Simplicity - Go to Yahoo.com or Lycos.com some time. You are barraged with images, flashing ads, horoscopes, pictures of J-Lo. These major search engines have forgotten that they exist to help you find other sites. They have transformed into "internet portals", trying to do everything for you. Google knows its place. You go to Google.com, and find a picture of their logo, a text box, and a search button. That's all I need, and all I want.
3) Creativity - By default Google provides you with just the bare essentials of a search engine, it has branched out into other fields and has many optional services. They have a news service, an auction searching service, an image search, etc. The coolest section is the Google Labs, where they create new ways to search the internet.
4) Uses they didn't intend - If I don't know how to spell a word, I simply type it into Google, and see what its spell checker suggests. Want to find the name of the song your listening too on the radio? Type the word "lyrics" into google followed the lyrics you hear in quotes. Type your name (surrouned by quotes) into Google and see how many pages your mentioned on.

Google has gone from a search engine to an everyday tool. I don't even think about going anywhere else for information. I always tell people that I don't actualy KNOW anything, I just know how to use Google. :-)
- posted by Eric @ 8:40 PM  []

 
Bubble Boy
Sometimes I feel like the Bubble Boy. My emotional environment is sterile and bland. I am safe from the dangers of the real world, but I am prevented from experiencing the full joys it has to offer. I cannot get close to people. I forever wish to escape the bubble, but cannot imagine how to live without it. People feel sorry for me; they pity me. My existence is surreal and yet all to real. I live inbetween the dream of escaping the bubble and the cold truth that I might never be able to do so.
- posted by Eric @ 10:36 PM  []

 
Counting those Semicolons
The totals are in for my project. I wrote...
2854 lines
or 56 pages
or 6333 words
...of code.
Dang, that's a lot.
- posted by Eric @ 4:08 PM  []

 
Taking a break from Semicolons
After about 8 straight weeks of coding in the lab, I am finally finished with the program. I got to say that I am pretty proud of what I have done, although it looks pretty trivial on the exterior. I have yet to count how many lines I have actually typed, but I'm quite sure the number will be staggering.
What's left for me to do is not any more pleasant than coding, and I would actually prefer the coding. I have to write up a paper on what I did, and make a Power Point presentation to display to the other members of the research program. I don't think I will struggle too much in the process, but typing a paper is never a fun thing for me to do.
It will be nice to stop my 9am trips to the lab, and I can work with some leisure in my room or possibly at the library (laptop!). I have a feeling my efficency will decrease as my proximity to AIM increases, but oh well.
The summer has flown right by me, and here in Bama I have missed out on my favorite summer time activity: going to the beach. I plan to spend my last 2 weeks at home at the beach, getting a summer's worth of tan in a 6th of the time. I am also looking forward to getting back to Colgate, seeing friends and taking on my new CUTV duties. It's been nice Bama, but it was never made last.
- posted by Eric @ 8:51 PM  []

 
Lonesome George
Before you get the wrong idea, no this post is not about Curious George after The Man in the Yello Hat dies, although it is at least as tragic. After some channel flipping I landed on a PBS show about turtles. I have probably seen a show like this one (maybe the exact show!) before, but I have always been a sucker for nature shows. They talked about all types of turtles and a variety of aspects of turtle life.
One of the segments really struck me thought, about a turtle name Lonesome George. George is the very last of his species, Geochelone nigra abingdoni, which lives exclusivly on the Galapogas Island of Pinta. An exhaustive search of the island, and zoos and nature reserves around the world, have not revealed any others of is species. George's kind started to diminish after goats and rats were introduced to the island by sailors about a hundred years ago. Although conservation efforts are now in full force in the area, it is too late to undo the damage to this species.
I found it really sad that we could look into the eyes of the last of these great turtles, and do nothing for them. The DNA sequence that he holds originated from the very first organisms on the planet, has evolved over millions of years, and will come to an end within my lifetime. His distinct species has been around for thousands of years, with each generation struggling through life with the one purpose of keeping the species alive. Having a species die out is not uncommon in the history of the planet, and our very existence depended on the failure of other species. I still find it tragic that the stupid human actions could undo an entire line of creatures in such a short period of time.
- posted by Eric @ 7:23 PM  []

 
A Simple Kind of Life
Last night while cleaning up in the bathroom I noticed a fairly large tick attached to my chest. Slighty freaked out by it, I quickly got a scissor and cut it off at the base. After some online research on tick removal, it turns out that I did the right thing (give or take) and I put some antibiotic cream on the bite area. There is less than a 2% chance that I will get lymes disease.
While I am not really afraid of contracting the illness, it did make me consider the possible outcomes. I might have to seek medical attention down here in Bama, not a fun prosepect. Even worse, the illness can have life-long symptoms, as was displayed by Irene from MTV's the Real World Seattle. A doctor that the cast members went to visit said " the disease can cause confusion and brain problems along with the severe headaches and pains."
I really don't think that this will happen to me, and I still slept soundly last night even with the knowledge. What it did make me do is take a look at my life and what I want. I feel that many of the people I know, young middle-to-upper class Colgate kids, have big dreams about running a company, changing the world, or just getting wealthy. All I really want is to live a normal life, work a normal job, and have a normal family (I know that there is no such thing as a normal life, job, or family, but you get the point). There are so many things that can go wrong, so many ways that your life can take a turn for the worse, and a normal life would be simply wonderful for me. I must constantlly step back from my worries and problems, and remember people who have to face hardships much greater than mine, so I do not become too wrapped up in my petty concerns.
- posted by Eric @ 10:48 AM  []

 
Me Fail English? That's Unpossible!
I am by no means a huge Ebay user, but I have bought selected items from the online auction site, this laptop included. I have recently learned an insider secret from my suitemate: When searching for an item, deliberately misspell it. Assuming that the item you are looking for is general enough, there are bound to be a few sellers that have posted the item with the wrong spelling of the Brand, Model, etc. Because of the wrong spelling these items receive less traffic, and you have a better chance of getting it at a good cost.
The fun part of all this is trying to come up with various incorrect spellings. Anyone who has IMed with me can tell you that i misspell words left and right, so I have a pretty good idea of some common mistakes. I first pick mistakes that are born of ignorance not carelessness, like spelling Linksys as "Lynksys." There are quite a number of items under that title, since the spelling of the brand name is not obvious. Then I try leaving out whole letters, like "Liksys" or "Linkys." Some spellings look better than others, and therefore are more likely to be missed during a proof-read. My final tactic is to try to switch two adjacent letters in the word, like "Liknsys." Other permutations may exist, but the likeliness of finding such an error decreases as the complexity increases. This tactic for finding items not only can lead to lower prices, but it makes searching a lot of fun.
- posted by Eric @ 12:50 PM  []

 
Do What?
Working on my research at the computer science lab has really lost all excitement. I am almost done with the actual coding, but these last few days have been pretty agonizing. I keep finding new distractions: reading blogs, playing flash games, etc. I really don't want to go in tomorrow, and I am playing around with the idea of coming in after lunch. I have the luxury that no one expects me to be there at a certain time, but I have realized just how bland the process has become to me.
My parents always told me that I have to figure out what I really like to do, and then I find a job in it. I always insisted that I would be happy doing just about anything with computers, since I can find almost every computer-related topic interesting. This research program has shown me that the initial interest does not last long, and when it is gone the once exciting work becomes monotonous. I will work harder to find something I really like, so I do not get stuck in a job doing something I don't enjoy. I feel like graduate school may help me to find that area, but I am not so keen on another 4 years of papers and presentations.
- posted by Eric @ 10:35 PM  []

 
The Malleability of the Mind
How do you define who you are? Do you think that your physical features are a reflection of yourself? I would say not. I feel like my self is rather shaped by my physical body, my connection to the real world. If we believe in a mind/body split, then that means that you define yourself mostly by what you think. Your thoughts, your emotions, your intuitions. That's "who you are" to a large degree.
What does that mean in the context of change however? If I am my mind, am I limited to what I think? People always tell you that you are only limited by your own imagination. I think that has grand ramifications. It means that you can only change yourself within the boundries of how you believe you can change.
What if you do change, or choose to change an aspect of how you think? What are you now, someone else? If you do not like parts of who you are, does that mean you must become someone new?
We do not have access to the "real world." We must use our senses and gather information about what is out there, and then assemble this information into ideas about what really makes up the universe. We do not interact with objects, we rather interact with our concepts of the objects, and then recieve feedback based on those interactions.
My constructs though stretch far beyond what I can physically see, touch, taste, smell, or hear. Societal ideas, or norms, are very present in my mind. There is nothing physically linking robbery to jail, but I know that one cann very likely lead to the other. All the time I am confronted with boundries of my own mind. But to what end can I really surpass these bounrdries? I am trained to associate the boundries in my mind with real consequences, like in the robbery example. For that reason it is not easy to seperate the constructs of my mind with their predicted results.
We must be careful when we talk about fear. People can write off certain fears as silly or trivial, but in the person's mind they hold the same amount of weight as any others. The boundries that I make for myself are just as "real" as those of gravity and matter. I am stuck between the knowledge that I have made my own prison, and the belief that the prison is based on real consequences. Sometimes I think I could lift things with my mind if I really believed I could. But try as I might I can't bring myself to truly believe, and the pen stays firmly planted on the desk while my hand hovers above it.
A smart guy named Morpheus has the simple answer: "Free Your Mind."
- posted by Eric @ 10:40 PM  []

 
Evolving Computers
I am the kind of person who has many things he would like to do if he had the time or motivation to get started. I am interested in so many areas of science and discovery, but I lack the patience or the time to get through the boring stuff. Nanotechnology sounds like a fun scientific field to investigate, but my CORE Scientific Perspecitves class on the subject revealed that you have to study physics and chemistry to no end before you can do anything "fun."
Something I have always wanted to play around with is AI. The idea of another way of thinking is very exciting to me, and AI's hold the possiblity to show us so much. Since I believe in evolution as the driving force of Nature, I feel there must be a very simple algorithm, that when applied to a simple bit of computer code many times, can reveal interesting and complex results. I know that certain levels of success have been achieved, but I still hold onto the belief that there is a way to evolve a real intelligence quickly and without human-thought constraints.
Some jots in my notebook, at least two hours of reading articles on the web, and about 6 lines of C++ code have shown me that finding the "simple answer" is incredibly hard. The solution does not jump out at me, which is probably why thousands of other researchers have yet to find it either. I did stumble upon a increibly interesting article about evolving hardware to handle complex problems. After a few thousand iterations of an evolving algorith, a simple piece of hardware was able to distinguish between the spoken words "stop" and "go." It wasn't a matter of finding the right 1's and 0's to accomplish the job; the hardware evolved in an asyncronous manner. The very properties of the circuitry were used in a novel (and unknown) way to accomplish the task with an incredibly small number of parts. I find this absolutly amazing, and I am now even more eager to take the AI class next time it is offered at college.
- posted by Eric @ 8:01 PM  []

 
Set the Time Machine for 6th Grade...
All this free time in Bama has given me time to reflect on my life, my past, and my future. A particular memory struck me the other day, and its parrallels to today are astounding.

It's back in the 6th grade, Mrs. Carmen's class. There was a solid 15 minutes or so between when Eric arrived at school and the bell sounded for class to begin, and he often spent this time on the computers in the back of the room (no suprise there). He would often play Oregon Trail, or some game like that. There was also this bizzare little program, some sort of data layout tool. One could create pages, place text or pictures on the pages, etc. Doesn't really have a parallel in moden programs. One special thing this program could do is let one create a button on the page that could be linked with a popup text box. He adapted this to create a simple journal system, where each day would have its own button, and the day's post would be stored in the matching popup box.
The main concern of Eric those days was strangely enough love. There was a girl in his class named Adrianna. She played the cello, was funny, and quite attractive. They were friends, only marginally more than would be expected of people in the same class. Eric felt the stirring of what can only be explained as overall attraction (more than just physical attraction). Lacking the courage or social skills to do anything about these feelings, he did not reveal this attraction, and nothing became of it.
One morning in the back of class, Eric typed up a short entry into his journal about his prospects of ever finding love. He wondered how it would ever come to be, since he was incapable of even taking the first steps. While concentrating on his writing he did not realize that someone was reading this over his shoulder. That person might have been her, but that detail has faded with time. She moved to a private school at the end of 8th grade, leaving him without even a picture of her to help cement his memories.

Now, over eight years later my mind finds its way back to the exact same idea. Any adult at the time would have told me not to worry about such things. They would tell me that I was still young, and things will work themselves out. And yet here I am, no more grown up then I was back then, facing the same fears. And once again I am on a computer, attempting to work out my feelings through writing, and wondering who will be reading it this time.
- posted by Eric @ 10:21 PM  []

 
Mo Money...Less Problems?
I spent the large part of my night tonight trying to figure out some semblence of a budget for CUTV. Me and the techies have spent a few weeks planning out what would be good to buy, what the studio needs, etc. Tonight I came to the realization that we only have enough money for the bare essentials, and that's assuming there isn't a catastophic failure of any of our euipment. Even something as simple as buying pizza for our informational meetings will cost about $300 for the year! There are many simple things that will make the station run so much smoother, but that we just can't afford to buy.
The reoccurring theme in my life is that there is not enough money to do the things you would like to do. I'm not talking about my dreams; I'm talking about reasonable expenses. My mother always said that money doesn't solve your problems, but it makes life a whole lot easier.
Through my conversations with a student in this research program who grew up in India I have seen that some of our concepts of money and wealth are not universal. As he described, Indian people who come to America work very hard for the money they earn. The difference is that typically they save almost all of it, chosing to live more moderately now in hopes of greater returns in the future. A problem is that sometimes they save until the very end, and die never really enjoying their wealth. The economic situation is quite bad there, such that working full time at a low paying job in the US can get your family a large house with maids back in India.
There seems to be a fine balance between planning for the future and living in the present. In almost all cases, saving pays off in the long run. But since the end can come for us at any time, we must also invest in the present, because it's all we have. A common mindset in the US is one that revolves around the "next thing." Little kids spend weeks convining their parents to get them some little toy for their birthdays or the Holidays, only to become bored with it in a week or so. Then they see another fancy commercial on TV, and the cycle starts over again.
Sheryl Crow has the best advice: "It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you got."
- posted by Eric @ 9:44 PM  []

 
Going Mobile
I experimented with "mobile computing" today. Sitting at my desk, typing on my laptop, became very boring, and the seat is not too comfortable. So today I took my laptop out into the living room. The ethernet cord stretched just enough so that I could sit on the couch with it. I found it quite refreshing to be able to do full computing out there, and it was a needed change of pace. The term "laptop" is very misleading though, because the bottom of the computer becomes too hot to place directly on your lap. I am considering investing in a wireless setup for the appt this coming year at college, as it will make it possible to place my workstation out in the living room and not have to worry about stinging a long ethernet cable from my room. Plus it will allow me to use my Palm throughout the appt, although I doubt there will be a time when I will need internet access in my hand when the computer is just a 10 second walk away.
- posted by Eric @ 10:20 PM  []

 
Idle clock cylces are the work of the Devil!
In our normal, everyday lives we are confronted with choices between good and bad. We see injustice around us, and we can either choose to ignore it or rise up and fight it. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and there are individuals in the world who must be stopped. The Bush adminstration has overlooked one of the worst of these men: he goes by the name "Parks." A group of dedicated Colgate students have banded together to try to overthrow this dictator, and our manifesto gives a brief history of the situation. Even thought the resistance is gaining serious ground, the Computer Science Information Administer maintains that "The Parks Regime is stronger than ever. We are not in any danger of losing the top spot. Those student infidels are weak and cannot stand up to the power that is Parks." If you feel the call to duty, than visit our base of operations and join us in the fight for freedom!
- posted by Eric @ 4:18 PM  []

 
~Sarcasm~
In another effort to clean up my profile, I have moved my AIM invention to the blog as well. In recent conversations with friends over AIM I realized how the AIM system lacks the ability to accurately express inflection in people's speech. In most cases punctuation or capitalization can take care of this, but the use of sarcasm is the most difficult to convey. Take for instance the IM "Thanks a lot." Depending on how you say this phrase it means two very different things. In the hopes to clear up sarcastic confusion I have invented a notation to convey the idea. If you want to express sarcasm, surround the comment or word with tildas.
Example: ~I can't wait to start this homework.~
Example: Ya that kid is ~real smart~ alright.
Example: ~Wow Eric, what a great invention. I will use this is all of my AIM conversations from now on. I'm so glad we have people like you around to figure this stuff out.~
- posted by Eric @ 3:54 PM  []

 
The Laptop of Luxury
I went out to Office Depot today and got myself a laptop bag. When I got back to my room I put the laptop in it, slung it over my shoulder, and judged how it worked. It was exciting to think that I could carry a computer around with me in the future. Having nothing but desktops my whole life has made the idea of mobile computing difficult to comprehend. Of course, this laptop is by no means advanced (Pentium 166Mghz, 3.2 gig hd, 80 megs of RAM), but being able to take it home with me on vacations, or type something in the library (if I'm forced to go down there) is very appealing. It turns out my new Palm Tungsten C, that I got as part of this summer program, is significantly faster, running at 400Mghz and having WiFi internet access built in. No matter how you slice it though, this summer has been a good upgrade for my arsenel of technology.
- posted by Eric @ 3:45 PM  []

 
Culinary Critique
Well, last night I got to taste the results of my dessert experimentation. I found the taste of the dish to be very pleasing. Since the ingredients were just banana's, strawberries and water one would expect the taste to be good. The problem with the dish was the consistency. It froze to a near rock solid chunk, more like an ice-pop than a sorbet. I have considered making the recipe into one for a pop, but I want it to be more of a real dessert, that could be served at a restaurant. I think the key may be in the freezing process. I put this luke warm or sometimes hot substance directly into the freezer, and it ends up freezing like a brick. I think a better idea would be to chill it, stir it around, freeze it a little, stir it some more, etc.
- posted by Eric @ 3:31 PM  []

 
Highschool and Friendships
The dynamic of friendships is very interesting to me. The "highschool experience" is one shared by many people, and it is unique in many ways, but also indicitive of trends in the "real world." Highschool is a very clicky place, where social groups are usually small, selective, and very bonded. I have very fond memories of my highschool group. I would give quite a bit to be able to sit down at the lunch table, eat my cheeseburder, and laugh with those people. Some of my happiest moments were right there amid the chaos of the lunchroom. There was nothing awesome about any particular lunch, but added together, and then divided back into their seperate occasions, they were each a very good time.
But the seperation of college has divided us. Even the moden wonder of the internet can not hold us together. While I believe that we could become close friends again (the thing which linked us transcends our current status), I also feel like the difference in the lives we lead will prevent us from ever being that close again. A large part of friendship is common experience I feel. It gives you something to talk about, some place where you know you can relate. And while that common bond can lead to the formation of bonds not forged on homework or teachers, those bonds are often not strong enough to hold people together. I am saddened by the fact that I have become estranged from former friends, but in a way I see it as inevitable. Long term relationships, even friendships, are fighting an uphill battle the whole way. It takes a dedication and specific action to make it last, and even still the value you can get out of it only seems to diminish.
There is something very special about proximity and it's relationship to friendship. Two people, no matter how much alike, will not be as good friends if they are not in contact with each other. Friendship it seems is not a measure of the quality of the link between two people, but rather a measure of the quantity of times that the path has been travelled. Now why you travel the path in the first place depends on how much you like the person. But it seems that someone can be a good friend with a person they don't like that much just because they see them a lot.
I would like to give a shout out to my LI buds: Bryan, Keith, Sossin, Bohan, Maggie, Sandy, Rose, Jay, Murph-dog, Yanka, Pag. If I forgot your name, and you happen to read this, leave a comment and I will apologize and add you on to the list.
- posted by Eric @ 11:00 PM  []

 
Test-O-Rama
My profile was getting clogged with the results of the many online personality tests I have taken recently. I have decided to copy them over to the blog for records sake, and the clear up some space. If you take any of these tests, post your results in the feedback for this post. Enjoy!

My Geek Level is 32.34714% - Total Geek

I'm an irredeemably eejitous, liberal, disgustingly generous, pathetically simple-minded, dribbling child! See how compatible you are with me!

I'm Gigantor Which Colossal Death Robot Are You?
- posted by Eric @ 7:40 PM  []

 
Culinary Creations
When you're in Alabama, and you have no TV, you do things you wouldn't do otherwise. One of those things is reading. I had finally finished the Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien, I read all of Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, and I am working on a book called Social Prisms for my CUTV independant study.
Another more interesting hobby I have taken up is cooking. Now, I have been cooking just about all of my own meals since I got down here, but that's not really cooking. My recent endeavours involve freezing fruit. I like eating fruit, I like eating cold foods (ice cream, etc.), so I thought frozen fruit would be a good alternative. My first attempts were frozen sliced banana and frozen grapes, which I found tastee, but also very different. A frozen grape has the same flavor as a normal grape, but the texture is so different that eating it verges on annoying (an aquired taste I'm sure).
My next step was to take a banana, turn it into a puree (using a fork since I have no blender), and then freezing it in a bowl. What I discovered was a delicous dessert that is as good as many commercial available products. Because the dish is just banana and a little bit of water, it ends up having the consistency of an italian ice. Tonight I took the proccess a step further, puree-ing some strawberries, and make a half-and-half of strawberry and banana. Since it takes a few hours to freeze fully, I will eat it tomorrow after dinner. Expect a post with the results.
- posted by Eric @ 7:37 PM  []