Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Coolness Theories
As a person who has always been told that he is self-centered and/or arrogant, I have developed several rules of thumb with the purpose of deflating my ego so I don't make foolish assumptions. These theories can actually be applied to practically any adjective of subjective self-worth.
Obviously, the point is to never think that you're cool. Ironically, the coolest people in the world usually don't enjoy their coolness.
- Perspective - You're never as cool as you think you are, since you never have access to enough objective data to make an accurate judgment.
- Purpose - If you ever think you're cool, the only thing you've done is wasted time in actually becoming cool and increased the probability that you are actually uncool.
- Propagation - If other people think you're cool, not only do they suffer from the same perspective problem, but they also could be lying. Believing them not only wastes more time in communication, but is less likely to be true.
Obviously, the point is to never think that you're cool. Ironically, the coolest people in the world usually don't enjoy their coolness.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Done with TopCoder
I've actually said this before so it's probably not permanent, but I will think twice before competing in TopCoder anymore. I had several bad experiences over the last several components I developed where reviewers were obviously less experienced than myself and even made large flaws in accuracy. I spend 20-30 hours developing a component, they make a mistake because they rushed through it in maybe an hour and even if I correct them on that point, it colors their entire review.
I already understood that TC was all about anal retention. The best design DOES not win, its the design that has the best documentation and the best color coding, etc. Similarly, the best programming does not win in development projects, its the project that has the most comprehensive test cases and documentation. I was ok with that to some point, I understand the value of communication and consistency. Also, when a good reviewer makes some very valid points, I'm the first person to shut up about being wrong. But several of the design reviewers have said some pretty weak things in their reviews that show some serious lack of understanding. And for an arrogant person like me, taking advice from people who obviously shouldn't be giving it, it's too much.
I already understood that TC was all about anal retention. The best design DOES not win, its the design that has the best documentation and the best color coding, etc. Similarly, the best programming does not win in development projects, its the project that has the most comprehensive test cases and documentation. I was ok with that to some point, I understand the value of communication and consistency. Also, when a good reviewer makes some very valid points, I'm the first person to shut up about being wrong. But several of the design reviewers have said some pretty weak things in their reviews that show some serious lack of understanding. And for an arrogant person like me, taking advice from people who obviously shouldn't be giving it, it's too much.
Monday, August 6, 2007
I'm a Dangerous Criminal
On Wednesday I'm going to the town of Manasquan to participate in what I consider a waste of taxpayer money. I'm facing a maximum of 2000 dollar fine for walking on the dunes.
The scene was my last visit to the shore, to the annual Liz Levine shore pilgrimage. I had arrived late, but everyone was still up waiting for latecomers to come in from a concert. I went out on the deck to get some fresh air and saw hooligans setting off fireworks on the beach. Wanting a better look, I hopped over the deck rail and wandered up the sand ridge in front of the beach. I didn't cross a fence and there were no signs there.
Less than a minute after arriving they all scattered. I was amused to see some police officers walking toward the area along the boardwalk. I admit I was sadistically looking forward to seeing some harassment. In beautiful irony, they filtered quickly off past two of the officers while one came over to harass me. He asked me for my license and I happily handed it over. At this point I assumed that he was just making sure I wasn't causing trouble. When he started writing out a ticket, he refused to tell me what he was doing.
Finally he told me that I wasn't allowed on the dune and that he "wrote a lot of these every week, it was just a little fine". I asked him several times if the people who were fooling around and setting off fireworks on the beach were going to get in trouble, but he ignored the questions. I was a little pissed off at this turn of fate, but honestly more in disbelief that I was getting a ticket. The icing on the cake is that I received a summons notice the next week. Walking on the dunes is not just a little fine, it's a federal law and I was required in court. So now I'll most likely be paying a fine, plus spending two days in NJ that I need to work on my thesis just because this police officer decided to get particularly strict. However, the moral of the story truly is this: never say you have your license on you when you're not in a car. Here's to ruining the image of law enforcement.
The scene was my last visit to the shore, to the annual Liz Levine shore pilgrimage. I had arrived late, but everyone was still up waiting for latecomers to come in from a concert. I went out on the deck to get some fresh air and saw hooligans setting off fireworks on the beach. Wanting a better look, I hopped over the deck rail and wandered up the sand ridge in front of the beach. I didn't cross a fence and there were no signs there.
Less than a minute after arriving they all scattered. I was amused to see some police officers walking toward the area along the boardwalk. I admit I was sadistically looking forward to seeing some harassment. In beautiful irony, they filtered quickly off past two of the officers while one came over to harass me. He asked me for my license and I happily handed it over. At this point I assumed that he was just making sure I wasn't causing trouble. When he started writing out a ticket, he refused to tell me what he was doing.
Finally he told me that I wasn't allowed on the dune and that he "wrote a lot of these every week, it was just a little fine". I asked him several times if the people who were fooling around and setting off fireworks on the beach were going to get in trouble, but he ignored the questions. I was a little pissed off at this turn of fate, but honestly more in disbelief that I was getting a ticket. The icing on the cake is that I received a summons notice the next week. Walking on the dunes is not just a little fine, it's a federal law and I was required in court. So now I'll most likely be paying a fine, plus spending two days in NJ that I need to work on my thesis just because this police officer decided to get particularly strict. However, the moral of the story truly is this: never say you have your license on you when you're not in a car. Here's to ruining the image of law enforcement.
Friday, July 13, 2007
I'm Back
I'm back from vacation in Chincoteague and back to posting. Chincoteague was great - we saw ponies, visited an old-fashioned carnival, and spent some time fixing up Terrill's parents cottage.
It's time to get back to work. I have a lot to finish this summer. I essentially want WebSeer done by the end of the summer. Which means no more architecture changes, no more major classes written - just top-level experimental changes. Plus I want to get a good start on the background sections of my dissertation. And only a month and a half to do all that, yech...
Happy Friday the 13th by the way.
It's time to get back to work. I have a lot to finish this summer. I essentially want WebSeer done by the end of the summer. Which means no more architecture changes, no more major classes written - just top-level experimental changes. Plus I want to get a good start on the background sections of my dissertation. And only a month and a half to do all that, yech...
Happy Friday the 13th by the way.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Genealogy
One of my recent hobbies (read distraction for when I get stressed) is genealogy. I got interested in charting where I came from about ten years ago, but technology wasn't such that it was easy to do back then. You either had to do it the old-fashioned way and track down county records in dusty rooms or order databases that may or may not have been useful to your search. Now a lot of stuff is online and its much easier to get leads.
I've been using the latest version of Family Tree Maker, which is pretty much the monolopy product in genealogy. It wasn't really that good when it first came out (I used version 4 originally), but with 16 versions, anything can get good :). Now it integrates with the Ancestry.com databases, which give you US census records from 1830-1930, which can be incredibly useful. They list every person who lived in a particular household, which at least for the male line, can often give you the whole line across this period if you line up birth dates and locations. The other datasources have not been nearly as useful for me, but have the potential if you get lucky with what they have scanned in (like obituaries).
The most interesting thing about this hobby is that it has slightly changed the way I look at the world. Now whenever I hear a name, I wonder about where it came from and if I'm somehow related to it. I look more closely at historical markers on the side of the road. It also gives me a feeling like I'm much more connected to my past and goes a bit of a way to lessen my fear of mortality. Even if this turns out to just be a phase, I think I will have gained something great from it.
I've been using the latest version of Family Tree Maker, which is pretty much the monolopy product in genealogy. It wasn't really that good when it first came out (I used version 4 originally), but with 16 versions, anything can get good :). Now it integrates with the Ancestry.com databases, which give you US census records from 1830-1930, which can be incredibly useful. They list every person who lived in a particular household, which at least for the male line, can often give you the whole line across this period if you line up birth dates and locations. The other datasources have not been nearly as useful for me, but have the potential if you get lucky with what they have scanned in (like obituaries).
The most interesting thing about this hobby is that it has slightly changed the way I look at the world. Now whenever I hear a name, I wonder about where it came from and if I'm somehow related to it. I look more closely at historical markers on the side of the road. It also gives me a feeling like I'm much more connected to my past and goes a bit of a way to lessen my fear of mortality. Even if this turns out to just be a phase, I think I will have gained something great from it.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Hill Training
I've recently gotten back into training for racquetball. I feel like my game dropped a bit during the last semester due to me getting slightly out of shape, so I'm determined to get back into shape for my final semester playing racquetball. In addition, I want to be able to dive...
If you watch racquetball at the pro level or even at a good amateur level, they all dive. Yes, diving is no substitute for good shot prediction or court placement, but there's always three or four shots in any game that are just an inch or so beyond my racquet that I know I could get with a dive. However, I really have trouble motivating myself to do it. I'm not a heavy person, but I'm not really light on my feet and I'd like to change that to make it easier to convince myself to go for it.
So for that end, I decided to work on a regimen to both lose a bit of weight and strengthen my leg muscles. I went with hill running, mainly because I really hate it so I imagine that its good for me :). My body really does not like pushing itself up a steep hill. Give me flat ground and I can plod along all day, but put me on an incline and its a whole different story. Also, hills are much better for leg strengthening than flat ground. Conveniently, I live on a hill so that makes it easy to find a place to run.
More revolutionarily, I decided to stretch my workout across the entire day. For one thing, I really can't run up a steep hill that many times in a row. And secondly, a recently read a magazine article on how short distance running was actually better for losing weight since it allowed you to push your body harder and get your heart rate up more across longer time periods. Therefore, once an hour I run up my hill. Ideally I wanted to do this eight times a day, but that never really happens. Its more like four or five times a day. And while in total this only gives me about 15-20 minutes of activity across the day, I believe that actually does more for me than the 20-30 minutes of continuous flat running combined with hours of sitting at my desk that I used to do. We'll see if that pans out over more time.
If you watch racquetball at the pro level or even at a good amateur level, they all dive. Yes, diving is no substitute for good shot prediction or court placement, but there's always three or four shots in any game that are just an inch or so beyond my racquet that I know I could get with a dive. However, I really have trouble motivating myself to do it. I'm not a heavy person, but I'm not really light on my feet and I'd like to change that to make it easier to convince myself to go for it.
So for that end, I decided to work on a regimen to both lose a bit of weight and strengthen my leg muscles. I went with hill running, mainly because I really hate it so I imagine that its good for me :). My body really does not like pushing itself up a steep hill. Give me flat ground and I can plod along all day, but put me on an incline and its a whole different story. Also, hills are much better for leg strengthening than flat ground. Conveniently, I live on a hill so that makes it easy to find a place to run.
More revolutionarily, I decided to stretch my workout across the entire day. For one thing, I really can't run up a steep hill that many times in a row. And secondly, a recently read a magazine article on how short distance running was actually better for losing weight since it allowed you to push your body harder and get your heart rate up more across longer time periods. Therefore, once an hour I run up my hill. Ideally I wanted to do this eight times a day, but that never really happens. Its more like four or five times a day. And while in total this only gives me about 15-20 minutes of activity across the day, I believe that actually does more for me than the 20-30 minutes of continuous flat running combined with hours of sitting at my desk that I used to do. We'll see if that pans out over more time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)