I Make Things - Generality

Books Don't Die...

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:31:06 -0400

The Guardian had a great article about why eBooks and other reading "gizmos" (devices) won't beat printed books anytime soon.

The article was well written and pointed out some interesting facts about the longevity of books. This is exactly something I've been framing in my mind as to why I'd rather be writing books than writing software. If I could support myself as well doing the formers as I do doing the latter, I'd change my line of work in an instant!

Fractal Wrongness

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:15:14 -0400

Definition:

fractal wrongness

    The state of being wrong at every conceivable scale of resolution. That is, from a distance, a fractally wrong person's worldview is incorrect; and furthermore, if you zoom in on any small part of that person's worldview, that part is just as wrong as the whole worldview.

    Debating with a person who is fractally wrong leads to infinite regress, as every refutation you make of that person's opinions will lead to a rejoinder, full of half-truths, leaps of logic, and outright lies, that requires just as much refutation to debunk as the first one. It is as impossible to convince a fractally wrong person of anything as it is to walk around the edge of the Mandelbrot set in finite time.

    If you ever get embroiled in a discussion with a fractally wrong person on the Internet--in mailing lists, newsgroups, or website forums--your best bet is to say your piece once and ignore any replies, thus saving yourself time.

Taken from Keunwoo Lee : Lexicon 2

Idiot's Guide

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:00:23 -0400

I saw this in the grocery store checkout line the other day... It struck me funny.

Infotrip

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:44:41 -0400

I coined a new term the other day to describe what happens while browsing the internet and following links to various places. Sometimes, you set out to look for some information on something and end up learning about something entirely different than what you set out to research.

This phenomenon happens alot on Wikipedia but it spans the cyberspace in general just by it's very nature of "hyperlinked" information.

So my new word is "infotrip." This the perfect name for the birdwalk that so often accompanies internet research.

So, have fun "infotripping!"

When Blogs Go Stale...

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:38:09 -0400

You really need to post a new entry. So here it is:

Hello world! I'm a new entry.

Algebra

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 15:54:16 -0400

I've never really been good at math. In high school I only went as far as algebra and in college did the same. Lately, I've been thinking about going back to school and along those lines of thinking I've decided it would probably be a good idea to take the SAT again.

I will do superbly well on the English and logic part but the math area has always been a little tougher for me. So, with the help of my girlfriend, I am re-teaching myself algebra. I've got one of those "teach yourself" books and I'm basically plodding through it to see how far I can get. I'm only in the first chapter now and the stuff is pretty basic. I'm remembering alot of it and it certainly doesn't seem as hard as it used to. I'm sure years of programming has helped refine some of the pathways in my brain to make mathematical thinking a little more natural.

I'm going to try very hard to be successful with this. I fell enthusiastic about learning algebra but, like all things I do, my enthusiasm often ebbs and flows. Hopefully it will keep flowing as far as this is concerned.

Funny thing about the truth...

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 22:40:26 -0400

I saw this quote in someone's signature on some forum. Not sure where it came from, but I like it.

"Funny thing about the truth, it favors no religion, holds no political affiliation, takes no sides, offers no arguments, is not spiteful, evil, or devious, and yet is almost always unwelcome whenever it turns up. What does that say about us?"

X-10 PalmPad Remote Insert Card

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 21:24:00 -0400

I just finished outfitting my apartment (yes - apartment, not house) with X-10 lighting. I use a combination of X-10 lamp modules and X-10 switches. It's really easy to swap out the regular light switches in an apartment for X-10 ones - I've done it in two apartments already.

Anyway, I just finished but I kept forgetting what buttons do what on my PalmPad Remote Control. I wanted to write them in on the little paper insert but I always feel that looks so cheesy. So I searched around the internet for a while looking for a template of the insert so I could print it out and make it look a little better. I never did find one.

Not to be beat, I decided to create my own. I also decided to make it available to everyone else looking for one too. So here is my X-10 PalmPad Remote Control insert card. It is a multi-layer Photoshop file created at 300dpi (so it looks nice printed out). Each line of text is it's own layer so it's pretty easy to edit the lines to your system's devices. It's set up so that buttons 1-8 and 9-16 are all on a single side since it's easy to use one remote for all 16 addresses. The little circle at the bottom is easily cutout using an exacto knife to cut it into pie pieces and the cut out the pieces.

Hope it helps you. Happy X-10 remoting!

Sensitivity

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:58:12 -0400

I'm so sensitive to everything. My skin and body is sensitive to pain, and hot, and cold. My mind is sensitive to the emotions and mannerisms of people around me. My stomach and intestines are so sensitive to food. My ears are sensitive to sound and my eyes are sensitive to the details of the world.

As I tried to fall asleep last night, hearing a light tick from a watch somewhere in the house, feeling pain in my legs and back, feeling full from dinner and worry about what the new week would bring, the analogy struck me.

If the universe is a body, I am a nerve.

My Next Car

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 23:29:25 -0400

I was walking through the Stanford Mall parking lot with my girlfriend and we happened upon this car:

It's a 2006 Ferrari F430 Spider. I'm currently saving up for it. With my salary, I estimated that it'll only take me three and a half weeks to save up the full purchase price of: $230,000! Haha! Yeah right!

Ok, maybe not... But it's fun to dream.

Benevolent Architect

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Tue, 30 May 2006 17:29:32 -0400

I found a cool personality test website today. It was fun to take the quiz since they have an interesting interface and unique way of displaying your results.

My results are quite in-line with how I perceive myself. Of course that stands to reason since I'm the one who answered the questions.

We all often answer personality test question with a bias to how we see ourselves. It's hard to be objective when you're looking at you from the inside out. The quiz was fun nonetheless.

Toyota Camry Solara Convertible SLE V6

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 17:10:37 -0400

2006 Toyota Camry Solara Convertible SLE V6

The Amaz!ng Meeting 4

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 21:15:58 -0400

My father's going to The Amaz!ng Meeting 4. When he first told me about it I wasn't really paying attention. While I heard what he was saying, I didn't really think about what he was saying.

I decided to check out the TAM4 website and I was surprised at how cool this meeting sounds. First off, there are a few of my favorite debunkers: MythBusters, Penn & Teller (of magic and Bullshit! fame), and of course the host James Randi. Secondly, all of these critical thinkers are getting together to discuss and debunk the misinformation we hear every day. What could be cooler than that. I mean, a whole group of people gathering just to think for themselves and search for the truth behind the bs. This truly is an amazing meeting.

One of my biggest complaints about people and information these days is the surprising amount of imprecise, incomplete, and just downright wrong information that is being spit out all over the place. It looks like this meeting is a crusade against the trend. Hooray for them!

The more I learn about TAM4, the more it sounds pretty damn cool. I kind wish I was the one attending. I guess I'll have to pick his brain a bit when he gets back. Maybe he'll let me watch the DVD. I hope he has fun.

New Apartment

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 21:14:07 -0400

I just moved into my own apartment (about 4.5 miles away from work ). I was driving over 60 miles round trip for work each day and the time loss amounted to 2 to 3 hours or so a day. Considering I'm at work for 9 to 10 hours and I sleep for 8 to 9 hours, shower and get ready in the morning for about an hour, and eat in the evening for a half hour, I was getting only 2 hours for myself in the evenings.

That is a ridiculously little amount of time for relaxation. Figure it takes a half-hour just to slow down from work and the commute and suddenly, I've not even enough time to watch a movie in the evening. So, I decided I needed to be closer to work.

I've lived with my girlfriend for the last 2 and a half years or so and it was a very hard decision for me to make. She didn't want to move with me but we both want to maintain our relationship. Fortunately, we are only 30 miles apart and we will still see each other often.

I look forward to living closer to work but I hate moving and the way it usurps my whole routine. I'll be happy when I've gotten everything situated again.

Blog for Real

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Fri, 13 May 2005 19:16:34 -0400

I maintain two different blogs. One is the one you're reading and the other is a Final Fantasy XI character blog.

I post to the character blog far more often than I post to my real life blog. I wonder if it is because I prefer to be in a virtual world rather than a real one? I don't think I do; I only get an hour or two a night on Final Fantasy XI and I get much more time in real life... So I wonder why I post so much more to the FFXI blog?

It might be that things there are so much easier to talk about. Or that I feel like there are more people that care about those things than what I feel about real life subjects. On top of that, I usually have so much to complain about in real life and I figure no one wants to read about my complaints.

I think there's so much to talk about in real life, it can be overwhelming. It's often that I don't know what specific thing to blog about. So much happens in a day and sometimes the most minute and menial things cause the largest changes in life. I can't say it all and I have to pick what people might want to hear about. That's a hard thing to do. Blogging about a virtual world makes the choices much more limited and easier to focus on.

Well, with recognition of a problem, it is easier to fix that problem so now that I know why I blog less about real life, I know how to change it.