freezing engineers and other unscientific things

2011-05-15T20:22:00.002-06:00

Diplomatic immunity better not cover this.

Another French deuche.

Raid reaps a bounty

2011-05-14T06:00:00.003-06:00

Maybe if they can't release the intel from the Bin Laden raid, they can at least elaborate on what filthy porn the very spiritual guy was into.

Warning, sarcasm ahead

2010-01-15T21:01:00.002-06:00

So some company has attempted to help all of those who can't read tone into written communications: they have trademarked a "sarcasm sign." This is to be applied when needed to try to avoid offending others.

My problem is that my communication would be littered with these things. It is a good thing it contains a period, because I may have to end every sentence with it.

Big Mac

2010-01-11T20:34:00.003-06:00

I remember when I began following Mark McGwire as a baseball player. I was in 7th grade and just getting into baseball cards. I bought a 1988 Topps Mark McGwire card noting that he hit home runs. This was something I treasured since Jack Clark played with the Cardinals. St. Louis was never known for its power hitters, so Clark shook my imagination. I changed my hitting stance to look like him. But McGwire was the new and, my goodness, 49 homers!

I watched the 1989 World Series on TV, happy that the Athletics beat up the Giants. Watched the series in 1990 when the A's got the crap kicked out of them by Cincinnati.

In 1990 my parents took my brother and I to Chicago to Old Comisky Park to see the A's play the White Sox. My mom was pregnant with my youngest sister. It was a blazing hot day and I think mom and dad spent most of the game in lines for lemonade and ice for mom. Our seats were right on the field along the first base line in the sun (still the closest I've ever sat!). At some point McGwire came up and hit a homer to left. It made my summer.

When he came to the Cardinals my parents again got tickets. I'd just started going with my girlfriend (to be fiance, to be wife) and was reluctant not to spend time with her. But I went to the game and saw McGwire's first homer as a Cardinal. Later that summer and the next in 1998 I would go and see more of his moon shots, this time with my baseball fan girlfriend. One, against the Cubs, was the longest homer hit in old Busch Stadium. Another was when my brother took me to a game for my bachelor outing before my wedding.

So now there is the admission of past excursions with steroids. Whether they helped or hurt I don't know or really care. I never looked upon Mark McGwire as other than a hitter and someone to track. I never asked his opinion on what field of study to choose or whom to marry. I am sorry that Mark did what he did and that he, along with most of a generation, won't be given the recognition they (may) deserve.

But in the end, I really just miss watching the ball fly out of the park with him running the bases.

Decay

2010-01-07T19:44:00.003-06:00

I'm a sucker for websites with pictures of decaying and abandoned buildings, factories, hospitals, etc. One of the best is desolate metropolis: excellent photography mainly focusing on the remnants of Detroit.

However, this link is unique. It has images from the abandoned Biosphere 2, the self-contained ecosphere in the southwest that was to be some pseudo-scientific environmental test. It, like the modern environmental climate change movement, has fallen by the wayside and left to entropy and decay. Interesting to see, but not surprising.

Safe mode?

2010-01-06T20:50:00.004-06:00

This is unreal...would you like to boot into safe mode for your presentation, Microsoft CEO Ballmer?

Last page

2010-01-05T21:23:00.002-06:00

I find this somewhat sad as I remember going into these stores frequently when I was younger. B. Dalton's will close its last store in Southdale mall on January 16.

Funny story of the day

2010-01-05T21:11:00.003-06:00

According to my daughter's teacher, Lexi has a new game. She takes a baby doll from a girl that is about a month older than her (and outweighs her by about 15 lb), carries it to the table, hoists herself up. At this point Lexi will throw the baby onto the table and laugh at it.

Evidently she repeats this throw-laugh thing repeatedly.

In these acts she exhibits (not limited to): bullying, thievery, evasion, balance, a good throwing arm, and a sick sense of humor.

That's my girl!

Say what?!

2010-01-04T20:53:00.002-06:00

I really hope no one shows this to my parents, as they gloat.

"Study finds spanked children may grow up to be happier and more successful"

No mention about methodology: hand, belt, switch, or in my case, pink hairbrush.

New year and such

2010-01-03T19:53:00.002-06:00

I am going to try to post more here this year. If anything it may be a link log to things I find interesting with occasional commentary. Not many rants and such as no one wants to hear them.

Today, it will be this editorial from the NY Times, which was interesting on China's monetary policy. It somewhat agrees with a book review I read in National Review that skewered a book that essentially claimed that China's growth was never going to stop. The review had different points about why China was unsustainable--including their "one child" policy--but it is interesting to think about what a potential stumble in China's prospects might bring for the world.

Exchanging Exchange

2009-10-07T19:11:00.005-06:00

Since last summer when the iPhone began supporting Microsoft Exchange I have had my phone connected to my work server. Until lately the only bad thing I felt this did was enforce an irritating security policy on the phone, requiring a six-digit passcode on unlock.

Lately the entire "connection" thing has begun to chafe. Being involved in multiple projects, interacting with, ahem, "interesting" personalities on a frequent basis has increased my email traffic pretty significantly. This has led to my phone dinging with email pretty much around the clock: in the car to work, at work, at the gym, eating lunch, on the car ride home, in the evening--and it is virtually impossible to ignore.

So the irritation grows, with the little nuggets festering in the back of my head all of the time. And it isn't worth it. So this weekend I plan to firmly disconnect from the Exchange server.

Technical note of interest: this activity requires me to format my iPhone. The security policies persist on the phone even if the server account is deleted. Irritating, but likely a cleansing thing to do anyways.

Editor note: the part in red is wrong. Deleting the work Exchange server then allowed the passcode to be turned off, effectively deleting the security policy.

Sunglass progression

2009-10-02T19:28:00.012-06:00

I have at last one really frivolous expensive fancy: Oakley sunglasses. Allow me to show the pairs I've loved...

1. Frogskins: bought 1994, about a week after I got contacts. Was really happy to get these as I had not adjusted to the contacts yet. Also thrilled as they were Oakleys and that meant cool. Bought at Mid Rivers Mall. Mine were a darker, smokey frame that was still semi-transparent. Lenses were grey/black.

2. Oakley Sub-Zeros: bought around 1997. LOVED these for years; still do and think about getting a pair off of ebay. Deliciously odd looking, great for biking. Very expensive for me at the time (ironically, still are on ebay!). Also bought at Mid Rivers Mall. The "planet X" print on the frame would wear off over time. Wore them until they fell apart (adhesive failure at lens connection) but repaired them and kept going. Eventually so scratched they were unusable.

3. Eye Jackets: bought around 2000 or so. First pair my (to-be) wife had input on. Great glasses, eventually went to sister and then eventually died.

4. Why 8.1: Attempt at looking sophisticated. Bought around 2003 or so. Still have them, still wear them. Obviously not good for sports.
5. Lance Armstrong signature edition M-Frames. Bought around 2004 or 2005. Used exclusively for road biking and softball (when I played). Replaceable lenses, so I have a clear lens for cloudy days.
6. X Metal XX: 10 year anniversary gift from my wife. Debated between these and the Juliets, but the Juliets are a little smaller and didn't cover my eyes as well (nor worked on my big head). Most expensive pair of sunglasses I will ever own (neglecting inflation). Made from a titanium alloy and allows replaceable lenses. Very agressive style as I went past the sophistication stage into the midlife crisis stage.
And that's the progression.

Nice and stimulating

2009-10-02T18:29:00.005-06:00

Way to go Mr. President. Thanks so much for the help you are giving the economy. What's that? You want to do health care next? Sure, go right ahead with that.

f(x) = ?

2008-09-07T06:00:00.002-06:00

Per my post yesterday on the DVR capacity: I have discovered an oddity. It goes like this:
- only "Project Runway" on DVR (1 hr): 9% full
- "Project Runway" and two "Fox News with Brit Hume" (each 1 hr): 12% full

So we can clearly see that the DVR storage is strongly nonlinear. If the first hour is 9% and the next two are only 3% combined, well, the next hundred hours should only be some percentage where x < 1%. Thus, I should be able to get, generally estimated, about 1 million hours on this thing.

This is a prime example of how mathematicians would think and why pure math is boring, misleading, and boring. Engineers rule, others drool.

Churning along

2008-09-06T06:57:00.003-06:00

When you have a baby on the way there is always this little countdown clock in the back of your mind. It is gently telling you that you don't get to put off things anymore. If you want to get them done, now is the time. This is mainly driving me to complete a number of the house tasks that I had been putting off, like getting someone to fix our siding or some painting.

People have attempted to tell me that life is not ending, but I think they are lying. That's also my feeling on the "kids are the greatest thing ever" line I keep getting told. There are two possibilities:
1. Kids really are the greatest thing ever.
2. The parents are lying and trying to trap you in the same place they are. That way they (1) commiserate and (2) ensure more taxpayers to fund their retirement.

Although I'm pretty sure kids are great and all I've heard plenty of curses both from my parents and others to believe there is enough of the latter item as well. Misery loves company, right?

I am also not sure how to take the "we hope your child is just like you" comment. Is this a curse in disguise? Should I be talking to these people anymore?

Other items:
- although the new 3G iPhone is faster and less slippery to drop, it still is buggy. I don't know why the address book is so ridiculously s-l-o-w. I've heard of people using the Google app to search their contact list but this feels like using the computer to turn off the light right next to you. It's unnecessary and unwanted. Version 2.1 had best be the greatest thing ever.

- Switching from DirecTV to cable: going ok now that we have a DVR that actually records. I'm a little curious as to how much content the thing will store though. We have one "Project Runway" on there and it says 9% full. This is not HD content, implying about 10-12 hours of video. That seems wrong. I'll have to watch that or figure out how to hack the unit.

- The user interface on the DVR is the pits. This appears to be another Motorola invention from the same torture group that designed the RAZR menu system and style. I am really missing my TiVo and I am considering putting a Series 3 HD TiVo on my "big ticket" wishlist.

- Caller ID is the bomb. If you are "out of area" you are getting ignored.

Feeling like fall

2008-08-23T06:39:00.002-06:00

As it is 57 F and quite windy I'm not on the bike quite yet. This leaves me time to do this blog. I'm surprised the login still works.

As my sister and to-be brother in law have done name posts, here's my little diddy. Not so much on my name but the implied meaning of how it is signed in emails and other documentation.

First name only, abbreviated to "Chris": friendly, I likely know you. Family gets this. Ironically, I am told my mother did not want people to call me this; my aunt assured her that this was going to be the way it was. And it was.
Full first name: reserved for letters to people I don't know, generally for billing or account purposes.
Full first name + last name: again, billing purposes, similar to full first name. Correspondence with companies is often done like this.
Full first name + middle initial + last name: This is my academic way to put my name to differentiate it from the others with the same first + last name. All of my published papers should be this way. I'll use this on some company presentations as my boss sometimes does not want the extra initials (below).
Full first + full middle + last name: Only place this is used is Social Security, wedding certificate, important financial records, and on the spine of my thesis.
Fill first + middle initial + last name + Ph.D.: OK, this is the "listen to me you idiot" way. Used extensively in conversations with suppliers and people inside the company who I need to impress things upon. I generally get a good response time with this one. Prospective application will be for people in the school system who think they are (insert adjective here) than me and can tell me what to do with my kid.
Dr. + First name + middle initial + last name: I feel really wierd about this one. Generally the "Dr." makes people assume you can deliver their baby. M.D.'s don't like non-M.D.'s using "Dr." Oh well. I do sometimes as it is fun to get called "doctor."

So there's my name post. I really hope it is not as pompous as it sounded.

The only one (small) gripe I have about my name is that "Christopher" generally gets cut to "Christophe" or (Heaven forgive me) "Christ" in web forms. I always flinch at those.

Video game philosophy

2008-03-08T22:12:00.002-06:00

My general feeling on video games is: if there is no gun, I don't go. However, after buying a Wii (thanks, Craigslist), I am changing my position. This thing changes the way games will be thought of. My wife would never consider playing Halo 3. She likely wonders why I sit and fume about getting run over by a virtual Jeep with a machine gun attached to it.

But she LOVES bowling on the Wii.

And after playing it some, I now see how this works. It is the ultimate party game. You get everyone involved, bouncing around and laughing. It is a natural ice breaker with no "what card can I play now?" questions. It is just pure fun.

So my XBox 360 lives in peace with the Wii, and I am now happy throwing a virtual ball rather than bullets every time.

Waiting...waiting...

2008-02-11T20:10:00.000-06:00

Mac OS 10.5.2 installing...taking forever...why show status bars when they don't show progress?

On the plus side, Hillary is screwed.

Hllary self-funding her campaign?

2008-02-06T16:27:00.000-06:00

If this is true, she is in some serious doo-doo.

iPhone wants

2008-02-03T08:12:00.000-06:00

After seven months of iPhone-and the fact my brother just got a blackberry-I am wondering what additional things I want for the iPhone to fill some gaps in my view. This also will assuage my brother that I am not blind to the shortcomings of any given device.

In no particular order:

MMS (please!): I can't tell you how many times my family asks "did you get the picture I texted?" to which I respond "my ($600--first night buyer here, amazing interface, multimedia phone) can't do that."
Ability to not downscale pictures sent by email: iPhone has a 2MP camera. Why is there no button that lets me pick how large the picture is that it sends? It automatically sends it at about 1/2 resolution. For sending to flickr this is dumb.
A real scientific calculator application. And it needs to be reverse Polish notation as well. With real functions like powers, nth-roots, and (gasp) trig functions. And a web-based calculator does NOT qualify here as they are too s-l-o-w. There are a lot of us that want more than the four basics.
Calendar syncing to Google calendar on the fly to the Calendar application. Hard-syncing to get a remotely one-way synced calendar is dumb. Let's get some activity in the calendar application. Heck, I'll even pay for .Mac if it only works with that. Just give me live appointment editing!
To-do application. Nuff' said.
A replacement font for comic sans in the notepad. Like Helvetica--without the nasty hacks necessary to make it so.
Enhanced Exchange server support. I want the hooks to get into work remotely for all that it entails.
Voice dialing.
Shortcuts to the bluetooth on/off and wifi on/off settings. Too many clicks required.

I am hoping the new developer's kit brings some of these to life. If so, the iPhone will be everything I hoped when I stood in line on 29 June.

Admission

2008-02-03T08:07:00.001-06:00

I actually read some of the New York Times now.

This is mainly because it is written well.

It is definitely not written right though.

Compare to the StarTribune, which is not either of those things.

New strategy

2008-01-29T20:37:00.001-06:00

I am going to try to attack my blogging lethargy by only using small posts. We'll see how that works.

And tonight's post: the Twins got HOSED on the Santana trade.

Congrations Bill

2008-01-26T19:38:00.000-06:00

...you pompous ass.

Type and highway signs

2007-08-11T07:28:00.000-06:00

I normally don't like the NY Times much, but this article on a potential redesign of the font used for highway signs was excellent.

And for the record, at work I use Myriad Pro or Univers for all of my email and documents. I hate Times New Roman.

Twin Cities traffic

2007-08-01T19:54:00.000-06:00

Is about to get really, really bad. What a mess.

Anyone want to have a chat about fatigue now?

2007-07-31T18:59:00.000-06:00

Evidently Russian air shows are crazy! Here's one of their jets (Sukhoi SU-27UB to be exact) making a pass at 4 feet of altitude.

The only time I see articles about planes at this altitude is when they are in pieces or about to be.

Drudge sending people to England

2007-07-30T19:44:00.000-06:00

Evidently The Drudge Report is sending a lot of traffic to British news sites. They are not real happy with serving the masses of Americans some electrons. I've seen a lot of these links and stories and can emphatically say that if the British quit publishing useless gossip stories about celebrities then we will stop reading their papers. However, this means they will have to make stories about news again and then there won't be any papers in jolly old England. Bummer.

Sat, 9-12 route

2007-05-13T19:25:00.000-06:00

Deviation of the northern route: maplink

Did not eat enough breakfast, almost bonked.

Every once in a while...

2007-05-05T07:35:00.000-06:00

...the world does a good thing.

Paris Hilton, the vapid slut, is going to jail.

Better yet, her mom is mad too.

We should have a holiday or something.

Note to self:

2007-05-01T19:54:00.000-06:00

Don't ever write anything that gets a review like this.
Goodness.

Well, it is right.

The northern route

2007-04-29T19:05:00.000-06:00

Saturday, Apr 28 ride: maplink
Good ride for the winds, which were coming from the NE. You don't want to get hit in the face on the way home.

Idol gives back? What did it take?

2007-04-25T18:57:00.000-06:00

Watching that American Idol gives back thing. I have a wild and crazy idea!

How about the movie and music stars give all the cash?

They feel guiltier than I for their wealth. They say it is a good cause.

Really?

Who makes millions for one picture?
Who do I see in the Italian cars in the tabloids?
Who likes to tell me what to do on politics, environmental, and scientific issues?

They do.

Then fork it over Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Hugh Laurie, Simon Fuller....put up or SHUT IT.

4-15 evening bike ride

2007-04-15T19:05:00.000-06:00

The Chaska/Victoria speed loop. Yes, it is doubled up for a total of 17 miles. Map link.

Tonight's average speed was a little over 18 mph. Not bad for this time of the year.

4-14 bike ride

2007-04-15T06:06:00.000-06:00

route here: maplink

Beginning temp about 34 degrees F. Very slight SE wind. 31 miles total, 1 hr 50 min.

Great ride!

no more mega houses!

2007-04-09T19:27:00.000-06:00

So Minneapolis is ticked (or at least some people are) that some are tearing down older houses and replacing them with bigger, nicer houses. There is now a claim that these old neighborhoods have some sort of "retro aura" or something. As if 40 year old ramblers are anything to reminisce about. The story even points out that Minneapolis takes in more taxes from the new houses. You would think that this would make them the most popular people in town sharing the love.

This reminds me of a story a couple of years back about two tall buildings in Minneapolis, the IDS tower and the First Bank building. The IDS was believed to be the tallest in town and there was even some deal about nothing can be taller thanks to some famed architect or crap like that. This is somewhat similar to the deal in St. Louis, where nothing can be taller than the coat hanger.

Anyways, the engineer building the First Bank building decided to raise the flourish on the top of the building while it was being built, making it taller than the IDS. When this was revealed (years later) there was this huge swell of disdain: who did that engineer think he is? A real architect designed the IDS tower? He's just some punk! The ego! The disrespect!

You would think someone pooped on their mom's grave. They screwed with some measurement until the IDS was bigger to make them feel better.

I like the US Bank building better. And you know what, the engineer was RIGHT. Build it big. Don't ask for permission. Shove the establishment's nose in the gall of wanting it your way.

So more power to the McMansion crowd. Rock on! Just be careful walking down the street. Minneapolis is not exactly safe.

scientific consensus? hah!

2007-04-07T06:16:00.000-06:00

If you have been following the news much lately, you know that global warming (or some iteration thereof) is making the rounds as the newest threat to life and happiness. Politicians in the US and UN (and even the US Supreme Court) all agree that there is now a consensus that global warming is real, significant, and dire.

Backing off from the last two--the most easily refuted--and let's look at the first one. There is NO scientific consensus on global warming. None. The data itself refutes it, and the numbers we are being shown are very, very selective. And since Americans don't know math anymore, let me summarize: there are lies, damn lies, and statistics that are used to make the damn lies look right. That's what you are getting now.

But wait, there are computer models? They've got to be right! HAH: The models are crap, they can't predict next week and they claim they can predict tens or hundreds of years in the future. Point of interest: I worked on the cutting edge molecular dynamics simulations. You know how many atoms they can take? About 1000, max, at unrealistic temperatures or conditions. And they weren't dynamic--you simulate at a condition, you don't change them mid-calculation. Extrapolate to, say, the global weather system which appears to be dynamic to me.

How many times to we complain that our local weather guy/girl botched it? A bunch. One once said "there is no worse feeling than shoveling snow you didn't predict." We've got a lot more riding on this than a sore back.

More importantly is the trend to only look at the side of the equation that you want to see. Scientists are being paraded out, but you never hear a dissenting opinion. This is unrealistic. Whenever I (I am a scientist) hear a 100% consensus, I tend to question it more strongly. There is always scatter in data, and looking at it 10 ways should give you some reason to think different things. When the Minnesota congress had "hearings" on global warming, they did not have a single dissenting opinion give testimony. This is intellectually despicable.

Scientists may have an incentive not to talk negatively about global warming. The politicians have the pursestrings of their research grants. My advisor had to work over half of his time writing grant applications. His image and reputation were very important in this effort (and don't even get me going on all of the "extra" stuff that wasn't science in those grants: expanding outreach to women/minorities/ethnic groups, etc.) There is a fine line between intellectual integrity and the unemployment line due to lack of funds. There is also the fact that the global warming being considered today is nothing more than the biggest power grab in the history of this society. This opens the door for them to regulate and dictate every facet of our lives, and anyone who doesn't see this is not thinking clearly.

So to stop this rant, I will just say that the consensus being presented today is false. Our leaders and judges are trying to move an agenda of control where they are pulling the strings.

And they are wrong.

new train speed record

2007-04-03T19:10:00.000-06:00

So a French train breaks the train speed record...

...it must have been running in reverse or retreating!

a little touch of color

2007-04-03T17:38:00.000-06:00

Nothing interesting to say, so how about some images from flickr?

all winter for that?

2007-04-02T18:41:00.000-06:00

Well, that Cards game last night was not really worth watching. If that is the way the outfield is going to play (yes, I am looking at you Taguchi) and hit (Preston @!#!-ing Wilson, that's your song!) I maybe will be OK not watching a lot.

So Apple will begin selling some music sans DRM limitations. That's good. Higher bitrates too, that's good. But I wonder if it is smoke and mirrors to higher prices in the future. The new songs are $1.29, and you know that the conversation with other music companies will try to push that up for new stuff.

I have always been OK with the 128 kbps protected AAC file. They sound OK (I only have headphones) and the price is convenient. I doubt the extra cash will deter me a lot, but I will miss the old pricing. Simple is good.

Supposed to snow this week. That's what I get for putting on the summer tires on the car. Note to self: one 81 degree day means nothing.

sometimes it is all in the tag

2007-04-01T17:10:00.000-06:00

I have been noticing that my "hottest" picture on my flickr site is one of my sister with her new MacBook Pro box. This is presumably because I tagged it as "Macbook Pro."

I have heard of the phenom of "unboxing" but this is nuts.

Nothing like the thrill of watching someone else unbox what you want.

opening day

2007-04-01T07:23:00.000-06:00

Finally, baseball season again. After last year's magical run with the Cardinals, we will see what this year holds. My only real prediction is more Joe Mauer-gasms for the Minneapolis press. Good grief for a city are they provincial. "He's one of US!!"

But wait, the Minnesota congress is already swinging for the fences: a $1 billion tax increase. They are using the "it is for the kids, education is our biggest investment, ..." I won't even go into to the real stupidity of this argument, but I will note the following:
- This increase is WAY above the increase we are seeing in salary, meaning a real quality of life decrease for Minnesotans, and
- This will never be enough.

Jesse Ventura (uugh) at least has one good thing: he went to the education people and asked "how much do you want." The idea was to make them give a number that they would be given and then they had to make little Einsteins or shut up. They couldn't do it. Look folks, "more" is not a number. Trust me on that. MN spends almost as much per pupil per year as it cost my wife to go to a top-flight private school. And I guarantee that the brats coming out of MN are not that well off. I have to deal with them on a daily basis in the workplace--and they are causing serious issues (medical device industry, remember?) that I have to fix.

As a state we need to ask again: how much do you need?
After that, no more.

expert? who, me?

2007-03-31T06:44:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I was talking to a manager in her office and she referred to me as an "expert." I not sure how someone after really only two years gets this designation, especially with the attrition we are seeing lately. I noted that the process of elimination does not make one an "expert," it only makes them an individual.

Some of the leavings are for family reasons, others for career opportunities. Ironic that their leaving makes my opportunities more fantastic, but realistically will make things harder.

Sometimes younger engineers don't get it, but you really do want a peer group. Just a few, or maybe more than a few, that can question your assumptions and make sure you aren't jumping off a cliff. This will be a challenge for the time being.

It also will make me be more careful in mentoring the younger engineers: making them question the processes, their assumptions, and how to attack problems from all angles. This might be the biggest challenge of them all, but possibly the most gratifying.