Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
The Wrath
Sometimes, my mind tweaks a little bit about my job. I mean, I have been here for seven months, but still some things feel new to me. For example, I know the name of the networks guy. Screw that. I eat lunch with the networks guy. I’ve had beers with the networks guy. I’ve met the networks guy’s wife. At my last job, there was a whole networks department, and they were the devil. Here, we got the one guy, and he’s just another one of the pretty cool guys I work with.
Of course, that means when something goes wrong with the network, everyone looks straight at him. No paperwork or department head for him to hide behind!
The network has been screwy today. The first time it went down it was because a contractor kicked the power cable out for the switch. Silliness. It was just out again, if only for a minute, and what did I do? Not mutter under my breath. Not bad mouth the crappy people in the “other” building. Not have a whine-fest with my cube-neighbors.
I just pulled out my best Kirk impression, and yelled his name out. Okay, yelled might be a strong word. I wasn’t really that loud – I muted the tone. But at any rate, me and my really rather awful James T. impression (does anyone have a good one, really… even Shatner’s is pretty weak… heh…) quietly “yelled” his name. And a couple of nearby cube-neighbors snickered.
It helps that his name rhymes with Khan.
On a Lighter Note
Bonniejean had the most awesome thing linked from her AIM profile today. If you work in or around software, you absolutely must go listen to this song. It will make your day. I swear it.
Also, I think the artist, Jonathan Coulton, is really brave for putting himself and his music out in the world like he does. I wish sometimes that I had the patience with myself and my music to publish any of it on this here magical internet series of tubes. But I’m a chicken.
Of course, I haven’t written anything new in a while. I had an idea last week that I thought was pretty awesome, but (back to today’s earlier theme) I was a moron and didn’t write it down. That’s a mistake. Music is fleeting. If you don’t capture it, it’s gone.
Anyway, when I get home, I’m totally buying that song. And probably the one about the seahorse too.
Mind Reading!
So yesterday, I was minding my own business, doing work, when my coworker-whose-cube-is-as-far-away-as-possible IM-ed me about some website or other. That was interesting, but this part was amusing:
me: Has your TiVo updated to get the internet radio thingy and the stupid video games?
him: No, and I dunno why
me: I’m sorry
me: Though also glad for you
me: Mike and I got distracted by the word game
him: it is on the network as well, it may be ’cause I am new and don’t have points
me: For like an hour
me: It was bad.
him: hehe
him: maybe it’s good that I haven’t gotten them yet
me: You can also play connect four
me: I played that for at least 15 minutes
me: I beat the computer three times out of eight.
me: I was proud of myself.
him: ooooh…that is a great game…actually a fun drinking game
me: heh.
me: Because you only lose if you’re drunk?
me: I’m not good at connect four
me: I always miss something.
him: lol
him: how are you at Tic-Tac-Toe?
me: I know the algorithms to beat it…
me: Does that count?
him: dork ;-)
me: Tic-Tac-Toe is easy
me: I basically never lose
me: But most of the time I don’t win either
me: It’s almost always a draw.
him: You should scale the algorithm to beat Connect Four
him: though I imagine the solution set grows exponentially
me: Yeah… the concept is the same
me: But, yes, exactly
me: And there’s the added problem of having to build stacks.
me: You have to con your opponent into building them for you.
him: yeah…if I was a professor I’d make my kids do it…
him: I am not that smart
him: I can’t think ahead like that
me: I had an epiphany when I was playing it last week
me: I never used to think ahead more than a move or two
me: Suddenly I was able to think ahead by large numbers of plays.
me: It went well after that.
him: are you now like 1.2 trillion moves ahead
me: I probably did solve at least part of the algorithm.
him: that’s good
him: you’re getting smarter
me: I’m so far ahead that I know what the computer is thinking right now
me: :-)
him: Can you get a little further ahead and tell me what the lottery numbers are going to be next week?
me: Give me a minute
me: Hmmmm…
me: 3 – 5 – 18 – 30 – 35 – 36 and bonus 14
me: Totally go play that!
him: lol
me: :-)
him: K…back to work a little bit before off to gym!
me: yay work
[Editor's Note: The previous was edited for content and spelling.]
Yes, that’s right, I’m a mind reader. I can’t read the human mind, but I can read the minds of computers everywhere! Next thing you know, I’ll be beating the computer at Reversi on the highest difficulty setting.
Just a Short Thing Today
I’ve been listening to Phil Gordon’s WSOP podcasts. Yes, I know the WSOP was over like six months ago. So what. I’m occasionally out of touch with the internet. Forgive me.
Anyway, I was listening to the June 22 broadcast, and he was interviewing Richard Brodie:
Phil Gordon: “Do you think your training as a computer scientist helps you or hurts you in professional poker”
Richard “Quiet Lion” Brodie: “Well, first of all, I wasn’t trained as a computer scientist. I’m a college drop out. I am a self-taught computer programmer and an amateur scientist, maybe. You know, the math helps… but I think what really helps is the focus on what works – the pragmatism that is necessary to write a computer program. Because you can have all the highfalutin theories you want, but if you’re wrong, your program won’t run. And the same with poker – there’s a lot of people with different theories about how to play the game, and if they’re wrong, then you won’t win. Well, you might win, but you shouldn’t win.
– Transcribed from Phil Gordon’s WSOP podcast for June 22, 2005
I like that. I like that a lot. I may write in on a sticky and post it on my monitor. I think I’ll do that right now. In red ink. Yeah. That’s the way to go.
Turn Around
I still have an edge of sick around me, but I’m feeling much better. I thought I’d gotten better in an instant, but then Mike reminded me that I had taken DayQuil just thirty minutes prior to my instantaneous recovery. Way to ruin the moment. :-D
After a less-than-totally-productive day at work, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home. Okay, well, there actually isn’t a grocery store on my way home. Technically, I passed the driveway to our apartment complex, went down a block, jogged over about a mile on back roads to avoid the hellaciousness of turning left off of Route 9, crossed over Route 9, and then stopped at the grocery store. See, we were running dangerously low on DayQuil, and we’re both sick, so it was necessary to pick up some pseudoephedrine-filled soft gels.
While on my way, I decided that it would be a good night for meatball subs. I am very proud of my meatballs. I made them on Sunday for football, and they came out awesome. It was the first time I ever made meatballs on my own, and they really did come out pretty damn awesome. I’d share the recipe, but I don’t actually believe in recipes. I follow the Italian Grandmother style of cooking: put in some of this, and some of that, and when it feels right, cook it!
I made 26 of them for 3 people. You can imagine the leftovers.
So, having decided to have leftovers for dinner, I realized that we didn’t have any bread-like-substance except for whole wheat in the toast-shaped format. Since I was going to the grocery store anyway, this turned out not to be a problem. I also decided that while I was there I’d pick up some mozzarella to top the subs with. Tasty!
Apparently, there are some Stop & Shops in the Boston metro area that have computers for the customers. Later last night, after the luscious dinner, we were watching that Food Network show with the guy from Double Dare. I wish I could remember the name of the show… whatever. Anyway, he was talking about high-tech food industry, and they showed that some stores “on the east coast” have these little touch screen computer tablets that tally up your selections, show you where your favorite food is hiding on the shelves, and list the sales for the week, among other things. Mike found out that the such-equipped stores were located in the Boston area. Here’s a two year old news story. No one ever claimed I was “of the moment…”
Anyway, at the grocery store, I got my non-computerized hand basket, and picked up four small balls of mozzarella, store brand DayQuil, store brand NyQuil, and a French baguette. I agonized over the baguette for a while. I really wanted to find something of similar shape that wasn’t so huge or so… non-Italian. But it was good looking bread, and I found no suitable substitute, so I took one. Grand total – too much. Even store brand pseudoephedrine products cost a butt-ton of money.
When I got outside, I got wet! Not more rain! I looked up, and there was a dark cloud that seemed to be hovering over the Stop & Shop parking lot. It was raining, but not particularly hard. I looked up at the sky and asked, out loud, to no one in particular, “Where’s my rainbow?”
And there it was.
Arching across the sky opposite the store, from horizon to horizon, was a perfect double rainbow. You couldn’t have drawn a better one with PhotoShop. The conditions were perfect. The sun was at the perfect angle. The clouds were dripping rain at the perfect rate. And the sky opposite the sun was coated in the perfect shade of light grey from other clouds.
I threw my grocery bags into the car, and stood leaning on the door, staring, as joyful tears fell out of my eyes. Some lady walked by and got into her car, which was parked next to mine, and took off without noticing. Behind me, a mother’s voice said, “Look at that! It’s a rainbow!” as her child’s voice just went, “Oooh!” I didn’t turn back to look, but I could imagine the young child’s eyes open wide, maybe even wider than mine were. It was perfect.
Eventually, I was done with getting rained on, so I got in the car and headed home. There was an incident in the parking lot where I almost ended up the across part of a T-shaped accident, but that didn’t affect me as much as it normally might. Luckily for me, I live east of the Stop & Shop, so I could see the rainbow all the way home. In the parking lot, there was a young child, probably about seven, standing on the sidewalk trying to get a good view. “Amazing, isn’t it,” I sighed. “Yup.” It didn’t break up completely until after I went inside.