Saturday, September 04, 2004
I woke up this morning
... merrily humming along to the melodious tune of "Mmbop" by the Hanson boys.
Oh no! God, please NO!!! MAKE IT STOP!!! ::weeps::
In other news, I have discovered a unique way to make my voice be heard on any bulletin board. And because I am an extremely generous person, I will share of my bounteous wisdom. Thus, here's Kacie's First Rule of Bulletin Board Posting:
Always mention sex in the title. Even if the post has nothing to do with sex, put some in the title anyway. You'll get about four times the page views.
Of course, then people accuse you of cheap tricks and leave in disgust--but they read your post, didn't they?
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Oh no! God, please NO!!! MAKE IT STOP!!! ::weeps::
In other news, I have discovered a unique way to make my voice be heard on any bulletin board. And because I am an extremely generous person, I will share of my bounteous wisdom. Thus, here's Kacie's First Rule of Bulletin Board Posting:
Always mention sex in the title. Even if the post has nothing to do with sex, put some in the title anyway. You'll get about four times the page views.
Of course, then people accuse you of cheap tricks and leave in disgust--but they read your post, didn't they?
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Thursday, September 02, 2004
Wormholes and Velocity
So, I was watching Stargate the other night. Now, this is the point where you readers all roll your eyes. Yes, I'm aware I'm a geek, so there's no need to go on about it.
Anyways, I was watching Stargate the other night and thinking about the wormholes. It's established canon in the Stargate universe that any object exits a wormhole at the same speed at which it entered the wormhole. Which, if true, could in real life cause some real problems.
Imagine this: an object (say, a UAV) is accelerating as it enters the Stargate. The front part of the UAV is going at 3 mph when it flies through the event horizon. The engines are in the back, though, so the UAV *continues* to accelerate. By the time the back half enters the wormhole it's going 5 mph. When the UAV rematerializes on the far side, the nose is going much slower than the back end. The back end speedily crashes into the front end, and the UAV is history.
This little problem could potentially get very ugly if a human being stepped through the Stargate while accelerating: human pancake!
I imagine the problem could be resolved with a small correction: you exit the wormhole at the same *average* speed as you entered it. The Stargate finds the average speed of the object upon entry, and spreads it equally across the entire object.
What do you guys think?
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Anyways, I was watching Stargate the other night and thinking about the wormholes. It's established canon in the Stargate universe that any object exits a wormhole at the same speed at which it entered the wormhole. Which, if true, could in real life cause some real problems.
Imagine this: an object (say, a UAV) is accelerating as it enters the Stargate. The front part of the UAV is going at 3 mph when it flies through the event horizon. The engines are in the back, though, so the UAV *continues* to accelerate. By the time the back half enters the wormhole it's going 5 mph. When the UAV rematerializes on the far side, the nose is going much slower than the back end. The back end speedily crashes into the front end, and the UAV is history.
This little problem could potentially get very ugly if a human being stepped through the Stargate while accelerating: human pancake!
I imagine the problem could be resolved with a small correction: you exit the wormhole at the same *average* speed as you entered it. The Stargate finds the average speed of the object upon entry, and spreads it equally across the entire object.
What do you guys think?
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Wednesday, September 01, 2004
I'm thinking about it
The new iMac has been revealed. I'm not sure that I like it.
On the one hand, the concept of sticking an entire computer (a G5 computer at that!) inside a flatscreen monitor is... unbelievably cool. On the other hand, it's not nearly as graceful or elegant as my 'older new' iMac, which is the standard of beauty to which I shall henceforth compare every computer.
Meh. Maybe it'll grow on me.
Anyone care to give me one so I can compare the two? Purely in the name of scientific study, of course.
UPDATE: Okay, having watched the introductory video, I must say I am looking at the new iMac in a much more favorable light. It's not as elegant as the 'old new' iMac, but it's scoring way high on the awesomeness scale. In fact, I'd say it's awful--in the original sense of the word.
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On the one hand, the concept of sticking an entire computer (a G5 computer at that!) inside a flatscreen monitor is... unbelievably cool. On the other hand, it's not nearly as graceful or elegant as my 'older new' iMac, which is the standard of beauty to which I shall henceforth compare every computer.
Meh. Maybe it'll grow on me.
Anyone care to give me one so I can compare the two? Purely in the name of scientific study, of course.
UPDATE: Okay, having watched the introductory video, I must say I am looking at the new iMac in a much more favorable light. It's not as elegant as the 'old new' iMac, but it's scoring way high on the awesomeness scale. In fact, I'd say it's awful--in the original sense of the word.
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If you need a good laugh
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Build Your Own Utopia
Seriously. Go right ahead. What kind of utopia would you create if you could? Please leave an answer in the comments.
I just had a fascinating discussion with many of my classmates on just that in my utopian lit. class today. I'll be writing a big paper on my utopia at the end of the semester which I'll make sure to post up here for all of my non-existent readers to read.
First we have to create our ideal individual, then we have to create the ideal family and community for him to live in, then we have to create an ideal state.
How do you decide what your idea of a utopian individual is? One must first question the asumption, does this person necessarily have to be 'good' in any definition of the word? After all, in Aldous Huxley' "Brave New World" young children's intelligence and intellectual curiousity was deliberately extinguished. They were taught to be sexually promiscuous and addicted to a certain drug. So it was an entire civilization of spaced-out morons--but they were all content with their small lives.
I tried to bring this up, but my group was already lightyears ahead, trying to decide what college our individual would go to. I hate group projects.
The next fundamental assumption: if we decide to make our individual good, how to we decide what 'good' means? Are we going by a Judeo-Christian values? Once again we could not discuss the topic because the group was off in la-la land, talking about one girl's experience in Israel. I really, really hate group projects.
Now I'm struggling with the tone of my utopia. Do I want to create a serious one, where I discuss all kinds of big issues like the struggle between the desire for individual freedom and the need for a strong centralized state? Or do I get silly and write about my fantasy world, in which I'm Supreme Empress, make everyone dye their hair purple, and declare that everyone must get around on pogo sticks? I'm sure the 'issues' utopia would get me a higher grade, but...
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I just had a fascinating discussion with many of my classmates on just that in my utopian lit. class today. I'll be writing a big paper on my utopia at the end of the semester which I'll make sure to post up here for all of my non-existent readers to read.
First we have to create our ideal individual, then we have to create the ideal family and community for him to live in, then we have to create an ideal state.
How do you decide what your idea of a utopian individual is? One must first question the asumption, does this person necessarily have to be 'good' in any definition of the word? After all, in Aldous Huxley' "Brave New World" young children's intelligence and intellectual curiousity was deliberately extinguished. They were taught to be sexually promiscuous and addicted to a certain drug. So it was an entire civilization of spaced-out morons--but they were all content with their small lives.
I tried to bring this up, but my group was already lightyears ahead, trying to decide what college our individual would go to. I hate group projects.
The next fundamental assumption: if we decide to make our individual good, how to we decide what 'good' means? Are we going by a Judeo-Christian values? Once again we could not discuss the topic because the group was off in la-la land, talking about one girl's experience in Israel. I really, really hate group projects.
Now I'm struggling with the tone of my utopia. Do I want to create a serious one, where I discuss all kinds of big issues like the struggle between the desire for individual freedom and the need for a strong centralized state? Or do I get silly and write about my fantasy world, in which I'm Supreme Empress, make everyone dye their hair purple, and declare that everyone must get around on pogo sticks? I'm sure the 'issues' utopia would get me a higher grade, but...
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Monday, August 30, 2004
Rudy Guiliani and Sept. 11th
I second Paul's post with a heartfelt 'Amen' of my own. Thank you, God.
I'm really glad right now not to be in New York City. Things are looking to get ugly up there. Note, for instance, this earlier post of Paul's and these posts (among others) by Dean. Everyone in the blogosphere seems to be expecting riots to break out any minute now.
The sad thing is how believable these rumors really are. I had a liberal professor last year who made us read "The Monkey-Wrench Gang", a novel about a bunch of ecoterrorists that used guns and dynamite to make their point. The prof actually *approved* of the actions of those nuts! To many members of the Left, a couple of casualities are to be expected in pursuit of The Cause.
So I'm waiting and praying and hoping no one dies.
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I'm really glad right now not to be in New York City. Things are looking to get ugly up there. Note, for instance, this earlier post of Paul's and these posts (among others) by Dean. Everyone in the blogosphere seems to be expecting riots to break out any minute now.
The sad thing is how believable these rumors really are. I had a liberal professor last year who made us read "The Monkey-Wrench Gang", a novel about a bunch of ecoterrorists that used guns and dynamite to make their point. The prof actually *approved* of the actions of those nuts! To many members of the Left, a couple of casualities are to be expected in pursuit of The Cause.
So I'm waiting and praying and hoping no one dies.
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I have no circulation in my fingers.
Seriously. My fingernails are bluey-purple right now. For some reason blood simply does not reach my extremities like it should. Seeing as it's summer in Texas, there's no way my hands should be cold right now. But somehow they are. Somehow my fingers are actually *colder* than the temperature in this room. I have a lot of fun walking up behind unsuspecting people and sticking my ice-cold hands on their necks. Doesn't that defy some law of physics?
It could be worse. Here's an excerpt from the book I'm reading on James Polk for my Presidential Personalities class:
"Polk was suffering from a urinary bladder stone... Invasive procedures in the nineteenth century were invariably harrowing and perilous ordeals. Because of the intense pain the patient experienced--whisky was the most common anesthetic--surgeons had to work with great speed, using clumsy implements...
[...]
The doctor's assistants strapped the patient to a wooden board, then held his legs high in the air to enable McDowell to cut through the prostate gland and into the bladder. While his patient writhed in agony, if he had not already passed out from the excruciating pain, the doctor proceeded to locate the stone, which he then extracted with forceps." (From "James K. Polk and the Expansionist Impulse" by Sam W. Haynes.)
Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch.
Hooray for modern medical science!
Next time someone implies that humanity should give up its evil technology and live in peace as one with Nature, I think I'll show them that page. I'll stick with my antibiotics and anesthetics, thank you very much.
Of course, most of the green types hypocritically take advantage of all that modern technology offers, then look down on everyone else for doing the exact same thing. I'll convert to the environmental cause when I meet an environmentalist that grows his own food, makes his own clothing from wool he shaved off his own sheep, and dies of an infected splinter at the age of twenty-five.
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It could be worse. Here's an excerpt from the book I'm reading on James Polk for my Presidential Personalities class:
"Polk was suffering from a urinary bladder stone... Invasive procedures in the nineteenth century were invariably harrowing and perilous ordeals. Because of the intense pain the patient experienced--whisky was the most common anesthetic--surgeons had to work with great speed, using clumsy implements...
[...]
The doctor's assistants strapped the patient to a wooden board, then held his legs high in the air to enable McDowell to cut through the prostate gland and into the bladder. While his patient writhed in agony, if he had not already passed out from the excruciating pain, the doctor proceeded to locate the stone, which he then extracted with forceps." (From "James K. Polk and the Expansionist Impulse" by Sam W. Haynes.)
Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch.
Hooray for modern medical science!
Next time someone implies that humanity should give up its evil technology and live in peace as one with Nature, I think I'll show them that page. I'll stick with my antibiotics and anesthetics, thank you very much.
Of course, most of the green types hypocritically take advantage of all that modern technology offers, then look down on everyone else for doing the exact same thing. I'll convert to the environmental cause when I meet an environmentalist that grows his own food, makes his own clothing from wool he shaved off his own sheep, and dies of an infected splinter at the age of twenty-five.
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I have arrived. The party may begin now!
I'm back! I'm sure all... two of you are ecstatic.
This semester's going to be crazy for me, so I don't know exactly how much I'll blog. I'll try write a least one post a day, because if I don't make a daily habit of it it won't happen.
I'm taking six classes, all of which could potentially be quite interesting, but will require insane amounts of work. (I spent eight hours on Saturday reading for this week's classes--and this is just the second week! Yikes!)
The first is Introduction to Historical Research Methods. The class in and of itself will doubtless be mind-numbingly dull (the book includes such *fascinating* subjects as how to take notes in class and how to prepare for an essay test--Yawn!) but I like Dr. Fairbanks and I think I could potentially have fun with the research paper. He wants us to pick some local issue (by local he means the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, or at least something in Texas) to write about; I think I'm going to research the history of the Arts District in downtown Dallas.
After that is Presidential Personalities. Basically we're reading biographies of several American Presidents. The emphasis will be on their character and life, rather than on their foreign or domestic policy. The professor is (gasp!) actually able to talk about politics in a fair, neutral, and balanced manner. He is mostly successful in keeping the students in line, too.
Beginning Fencing is so far proving delightful. Of course, we still haven't picked up foils yet, much less started bouting with one another, and I imagine my opinion of the class will change very quickly the first time I get my butt kicked. :P
I think my favorite class this year will be Build Your Own Utopia. In it we read all different kinds of utopian literature, starting with Plato and working our way up to Ursula K. LeGuin. The final project? We must create our own idea of a utopia, which we will then share with the president of the university and the housing department.
Next is Hollywood Classics. Basically, we watch movies about ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, and Drs. Chaisson and Petruso make fun of them for getting the facts all wrong. Hey, we get course credit for watching Monty Python's "The Life of Brian"; what's not to like?
Last but not least is my Chaucer class. I've never read any Middle English before, and am finding it a pleasant challenge. Just read The Book of the Duchess Saturday, which I would highly recommend to anyone with any interest at all in poetry.
CHAUCERS WORDES UNTO ADAM, HIS OWNE SCRIVEYN
Adam scriveyn, if ever it thee bifalle
Boece or Troylus for to wryten newe,
Under thy long lokkes thou most have the scalle,
But after my makyng thow wryte more trewe;
So ofte adaye I mot thy werk renewe,
It to correcte and eke to rubbe and scrape,
And al is thorugh thy negligence and rape.
If medieval poetry doesn't turn your crank, check this out: Terraserver USA. Put in an address and it'll show you overhead photos of that location. Cool, but in a rather creepy way. Note to self: NEVER sunbathe nude in the backyard. (Hat tip to Geek Press.)
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This semester's going to be crazy for me, so I don't know exactly how much I'll blog. I'll try write a least one post a day, because if I don't make a daily habit of it it won't happen.
I'm taking six classes, all of which could potentially be quite interesting, but will require insane amounts of work. (I spent eight hours on Saturday reading for this week's classes--and this is just the second week! Yikes!)
The first is Introduction to Historical Research Methods. The class in and of itself will doubtless be mind-numbingly dull (the book includes such *fascinating* subjects as how to take notes in class and how to prepare for an essay test--Yawn!) but I like Dr. Fairbanks and I think I could potentially have fun with the research paper. He wants us to pick some local issue (by local he means the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, or at least something in Texas) to write about; I think I'm going to research the history of the Arts District in downtown Dallas.
After that is Presidential Personalities. Basically we're reading biographies of several American Presidents. The emphasis will be on their character and life, rather than on their foreign or domestic policy. The professor is (gasp!) actually able to talk about politics in a fair, neutral, and balanced manner. He is mostly successful in keeping the students in line, too.
Beginning Fencing is so far proving delightful. Of course, we still haven't picked up foils yet, much less started bouting with one another, and I imagine my opinion of the class will change very quickly the first time I get my butt kicked. :P
I think my favorite class this year will be Build Your Own Utopia. In it we read all different kinds of utopian literature, starting with Plato and working our way up to Ursula K. LeGuin. The final project? We must create our own idea of a utopia, which we will then share with the president of the university and the housing department.
Next is Hollywood Classics. Basically, we watch movies about ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, and Drs. Chaisson and Petruso make fun of them for getting the facts all wrong. Hey, we get course credit for watching Monty Python's "The Life of Brian"; what's not to like?
Last but not least is my Chaucer class. I've never read any Middle English before, and am finding it a pleasant challenge. Just read The Book of the Duchess Saturday, which I would highly recommend to anyone with any interest at all in poetry.
Adam scriveyn, if ever it thee bifalle
Boece or Troylus for to wryten newe,
Under thy long lokkes thou most have the scalle,
But after my makyng thow wryte more trewe;
So ofte adaye I mot thy werk renewe,
It to correcte and eke to rubbe and scrape,
And al is thorugh thy negligence and rape.
If medieval poetry doesn't turn your crank, check this out: Terraserver USA. Put in an address and it'll show you overhead photos of that location. Cool, but in a rather creepy way. Note to self: NEVER sunbathe nude in the backyard. (Hat tip to Geek Press.)
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