So, I came out of my yearly advisory meeting fairly unscathed. There was some very valuable feedback about the scope of my project, that I needed a specific "end" point. That's really reasonable, since you could essentially keep going with my project indefinitely. My supervisor attempted to throw some pretty serious technical questions my way to scare me. Its kind of funny, because this goes back to some of the issues I had hinted to previously, in terms of the communication breakdowns that constantly happen between us. Its sad but true. If he'd listen to the actual words coming out of my mouth, rather than assuming that i've done nothing and that I'm lying through my teeth.. but I digress...
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH RIDERS!
Yeah... LOL
I just finished watching the Grey Cup (Canada's Superbowl Equivalent). Fairly one sided game until the 4th quarter, where the team that was losing (Allouettes) overcame a THREE SCORE deficit to win with a no-time-on-the-clock field goal.
The team that was winning for 59 minutes of the game was the Saskachewan Roughriders. The Riders have probably the most devoted core of fans in the league, if not the continent. They follow their team around, they're always loud and raucous. Essentially, any team would want fans like that, since they can essentially take away home field advantage for opposing teams. We have a 70,000 seat stadium in which our local team plays. The only complete sellout of the season is when Sask came to town. Our local crowd ranges between 30-40k, it was almost even between Eskies fans and Riders fans. The unfortunate part is that they take it --TOO-- far. If they win, and you're an Eskies fan wearing anything with the Eskies logo, you'll hear about it. They'll get in your face, yell, scream, and let you know how much "they" kicked your ass. They'll start fights, badger people, throw things at you, you name it. Their behaviour borders on soccer-hooliganary. As a season ticket holder, I've seen it all. Sask's fans are by far the worst.
Also, the hype for the Cup game was how much the crowd will affect the game. "The Thirteenth Player" type talk. Although the Cup game was not in Sask, they had the majority of the fans, and yeah, they were loud. They managed to build a three score lead in the first 3 quarters. The Als started to come back, and closed to two points, and got into field goal range with no time on the clock.
Now. Make the field goal, and the Als win, shank it, and Sask holds on. Crowd's going nuts, Sask bench is celebrating before the kick, since its a long one 46-47 yards. They line up, snap the ball, and the Als miss.
Then the flags fly. Not one, but ALL of them. Why? Too many Riders on the field.
.. ha.. .. HA.... BWWWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHH!
So, 10 yard penalty, and another try. Now its a 36 yard FG. They make it.
Sask loses.
Huh.. That Thirteeth Player really screwed up.
Sweeet sweet IRONY. I'm going to enjoy it
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Back to the grindstone.
Well, back from Vegas. Vegas was fun, did some gambling, did some shopping, relaxed, and had a lot of fun.
Inevitably, its back to the grind that is my life. The next two weeks will be fairly high paced, with a lot going on, and a lot of long hours in front of my old friend, Mr. Work Laptop. I have a supervisory committee meeting in about two weeks, and of course have to produce a bit of a yearly report. I'm planning to produce a draft candidacy report instead, and using the meeting to prepare from the candidacy exam I'll be undergoing in February. I'm not terribly concerned about the meeting. I'm more concerned about the seemingly impossible attitude that I'm encountering with my supervisor and publishing.
One of my strengths as a researcher is experimental work, being able to work in the lab, perform experiments, and in this case, microfabrication, and produce devices and results. One of my weaknesses is the documentation behind the experimental work. Not so much the writing, moreso the proper way to disseminate that documentation. This problem usually rears its ugly head when I talk to my supervisor and attempt to discuss my project with him. I usually make the error of assuming that he understands the background of my project beyond the simple physics behind it. I'm not saying he's stupid - he just doesn't have the experience with the project that I do. So, any time that I attempt to talk to him about it, from his point of view, it will look like I'm either out to lunch, or haven't done my background research, because I'm expecting him to know the background.
Imagine talking to someone about driving a car, with the person never having the experience of driving. Its that kind of discussion, except that he's assuming that I have the same background experience that he does. Many arguments have spawned from this misunderstanding, largely on my part. The phrase "are you doing anything?" usually pops up, to which I do my best to turn the question on him in terms of trying to publish under him. (but that's a rant, for another day.. lol).
But yeah, Nov 27th is the first meeting. The first hurdle. After that it will be a mad dash to February, and the candidacy exam. Its going to be long days of work, experiments, simulations, and studying. Unfortunately, it just means I need to streamline my life a little bit. WoW's out. Probably extended vacation time @ Christmas is out too. Well, if those sacrifices allow me to get out of this university with my PhD before 30, I'll be happy.
Anywho. Back to talking about non-linearities in the frequency response of my device.
Inevitably, its back to the grind that is my life. The next two weeks will be fairly high paced, with a lot going on, and a lot of long hours in front of my old friend, Mr. Work Laptop. I have a supervisory committee meeting in about two weeks, and of course have to produce a bit of a yearly report. I'm planning to produce a draft candidacy report instead, and using the meeting to prepare from the candidacy exam I'll be undergoing in February. I'm not terribly concerned about the meeting. I'm more concerned about the seemingly impossible attitude that I'm encountering with my supervisor and publishing.
One of my strengths as a researcher is experimental work, being able to work in the lab, perform experiments, and in this case, microfabrication, and produce devices and results. One of my weaknesses is the documentation behind the experimental work. Not so much the writing, moreso the proper way to disseminate that documentation. This problem usually rears its ugly head when I talk to my supervisor and attempt to discuss my project with him. I usually make the error of assuming that he understands the background of my project beyond the simple physics behind it. I'm not saying he's stupid - he just doesn't have the experience with the project that I do. So, any time that I attempt to talk to him about it, from his point of view, it will look like I'm either out to lunch, or haven't done my background research, because I'm expecting him to know the background.
Imagine talking to someone about driving a car, with the person never having the experience of driving. Its that kind of discussion, except that he's assuming that I have the same background experience that he does. Many arguments have spawned from this misunderstanding, largely on my part. The phrase "are you doing anything?" usually pops up, to which I do my best to turn the question on him in terms of trying to publish under him. (but that's a rant, for another day.. lol).
But yeah, Nov 27th is the first meeting. The first hurdle. After that it will be a mad dash to February, and the candidacy exam. Its going to be long days of work, experiments, simulations, and studying. Unfortunately, it just means I need to streamline my life a little bit. WoW's out. Probably extended vacation time @ Christmas is out too. Well, if those sacrifices allow me to get out of this university with my PhD before 30, I'll be happy.
Anywho. Back to talking about non-linearities in the frequency response of my device.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
I R ANONYMOUS!
So, today the wife got some "hate e-mail" from one of her anonymously from one of her students.
I'm not going to post it, or anything else related to it, but it brings up an interesting point about which I commented on awhile ago.
People believe that they cannot be held accountable for their actions online.
This could not be farther from the truth. Even if you know how to contain your personal information online through management of cookies, downloads, etc, the majority of your online activities are monitored elsewhere.
If you happen to have an email address, even one that you pay for from your service provider, guess what? Your emails are being stored/monitored by your provider. Generally, your ISP does this for backup purposes, so, you know, when you do something to lose all your email, that they can be your savior and restore most, if not all of your email. This goes for any web-based free emails too. But these get more scrutinized, not so much for the "evil, you're going to bomb something" issues, but more for market research and advertising.
What the average person doesn't know is that in every email, blog post, forum post, tweet, Facebook what-have-you, tracking information is logged. Doesn't matter if you use a laptop, desktop, phone, iphone, blackberry, there is enough information logged to determine who posted it, from where, from what computer, and at what time. The majority of this information is hidden and cannot be blocked or otherwise manipulated by anyone other than those providing the service.
So, threaten someone online recently? Send someone a anonymous hate email? Well, you better hope that the recipient doesn't report you. Harassment is a crime. To give you an idea of how easy it is to be caught, most serious cases of email harassment are resolved, even those made "anonymously", with charges laid in less than 24 hours. In some cases, the time required to actually go physically arrest these people is LESS than the time required to determine their identity online.
Food for thought before you randomly go flame someone because nobody will catch you, huh?
I'm not going to post it, or anything else related to it, but it brings up an interesting point about which I commented on awhile ago.
People believe that they cannot be held accountable for their actions online.
This could not be farther from the truth. Even if you know how to contain your personal information online through management of cookies, downloads, etc, the majority of your online activities are monitored elsewhere.
If you happen to have an email address, even one that you pay for from your service provider, guess what? Your emails are being stored/monitored by your provider. Generally, your ISP does this for backup purposes, so, you know, when you do something to lose all your email, that they can be your savior and restore most, if not all of your email. This goes for any web-based free emails too. But these get more scrutinized, not so much for the "evil, you're going to bomb something" issues, but more for market research and advertising.
What the average person doesn't know is that in every email, blog post, forum post, tweet, Facebook what-have-you, tracking information is logged. Doesn't matter if you use a laptop, desktop, phone, iphone, blackberry, there is enough information logged to determine who posted it, from where, from what computer, and at what time. The majority of this information is hidden and cannot be blocked or otherwise manipulated by anyone other than those providing the service.
So, threaten someone online recently? Send someone a anonymous hate email? Well, you better hope that the recipient doesn't report you. Harassment is a crime. To give you an idea of how easy it is to be caught, most serious cases of email harassment are resolved, even those made "anonymously", with charges laid in less than 24 hours. In some cases, the time required to actually go physically arrest these people is LESS than the time required to determine their identity online.
Food for thought before you randomly go flame someone because nobody will catch you, huh?
Monday, November 2, 2009
Zomg Strategic Laser Chess. >.>
Yeah, I've posted a few critical things lately, probably a byproduct of a lot of frustration.
Now for something fun: STRATEGIC LASER CHESS!
I like playing board games, always have. "Run of the mill" board games like Monopoly, etc, have too much randomess for me. Essentially, strategy doesn't play much into the game and you just end up rolling dice for fun. Mind you, I love rolling dice (palms his d20 lovingly.. lol), but eventually it gets boring.
Awhile back, we started getting into what I now refer to as "Real Boardgames". Games like Puerto Rico, Calyus, Settlers. Games where strategy > randomness.
Now, I've found something awesome:
http://www.productwiki.com/khet-the-laser-game/
ITS LIKE LASERS AND CHESS HAD A BABY!
A co-worker showed me this, and I may have to try it. :D
Now for something fun: STRATEGIC LASER CHESS!
I like playing board games, always have. "Run of the mill" board games like Monopoly, etc, have too much randomess for me. Essentially, strategy doesn't play much into the game and you just end up rolling dice for fun. Mind you, I love rolling dice (palms his d20 lovingly.. lol), but eventually it gets boring.
Awhile back, we started getting into what I now refer to as "Real Boardgames". Games like Puerto Rico, Calyus, Settlers. Games where strategy > randomness.
Now, I've found something awesome:
http://www.productwiki.com/khet-the-laser-game/
ITS LIKE LASERS AND CHESS HAD A BABY!
A co-worker showed me this, and I may have to try it. :D
Sunday, November 1, 2009
H1N1, R2D2, and C3P-O!
Yeah, I know, two posts in one day... but I suppose that's what happens when I watch the news.
Ah the "news".. another skewing of facts, only this time about daily events.
Generally, I won't question the severity of certain events, nor their general impact on the world. I realize that there are serious things that happen on a daily basis that have large scale real-world ramifications. I'm not arguing that point. What I am arguing is the panic that is being fostered by the media about our old friend: H1N1.
Yes, H1N1 is a public health problem, yes its dangerous and potentially life threatening if you happen not to take it seriously. Yes, vaccines are a good thing. I hope that everyone will be able to get them. Yes, there have been issues with how the Alberta Government has handled the inoculation campaign. But, lets review:
1. The Gov't was able to initially get 400000 doses of the vaccine, and set up clinics. They asked that people who are high risk (Small children, Pregnant Women, and people with chronic health conditions) groups be given voluntary priority. Otherwise known as, "Hey IDIOTS, if you aren't a part of the risk groups, stop being completely selfish and wait your turn."
2. The media heavily covered this. Awesome. Get the word out. They seem to have the "voluntary priority" tidbit in the small little snippets they use as advertizing, but never in the main story they show. Excellent.
3. Apparently "High Risk" meant everyone, and the voluntary priority thing went out the window.
4. In order to not run out of vaccine, the Gov't decided to suspend all clinics open to the public, and to restrict the vaccine to the high risk groups mentioned above. Everyone else now has to wait 2 weeks for supply to catch up to demand.
5. Massive public uproar, whipped up by local media.
So, currently there's politicans demanding resignations and such. Massive knee-jerk reactions by random people on the news, some of which I doubt are not even close to being "high risk".
Well, I have very little sympathy for those that are upset about this situation. However, I do not have any sympathy for the Gov't in this case either. The situation could have been handled much better. I do think, however, the news media didn't help any. Not many people heard that "We have 400k doses, and will eventually be able to supply vaccine to every single Albertan", but heard "we have a dose for every Albertan NOW! and YOU WILL DIE TOMORROW IF YOU DON'T GET IT".
Yeah. The hordes of people panicking over H1N1 have brought this shortage on the rest of you. Heaven help you selfish people if the gov't runs out of vaccine and pregnant women or small children who should have gotten the vaccine get seriously ill.
Ah the "news".. another skewing of facts, only this time about daily events.
Generally, I won't question the severity of certain events, nor their general impact on the world. I realize that there are serious things that happen on a daily basis that have large scale real-world ramifications. I'm not arguing that point. What I am arguing is the panic that is being fostered by the media about our old friend: H1N1.
Yes, H1N1 is a public health problem, yes its dangerous and potentially life threatening if you happen not to take it seriously. Yes, vaccines are a good thing. I hope that everyone will be able to get them. Yes, there have been issues with how the Alberta Government has handled the inoculation campaign. But, lets review:
1. The Gov't was able to initially get 400000 doses of the vaccine, and set up clinics. They asked that people who are high risk (Small children, Pregnant Women, and people with chronic health conditions) groups be given voluntary priority. Otherwise known as, "Hey IDIOTS, if you aren't a part of the risk groups, stop being completely selfish and wait your turn."
2. The media heavily covered this. Awesome. Get the word out. They seem to have the "voluntary priority" tidbit in the small little snippets they use as advertizing, but never in the main story they show. Excellent.
3. Apparently "High Risk" meant everyone, and the voluntary priority thing went out the window.
4. In order to not run out of vaccine, the Gov't decided to suspend all clinics open to the public, and to restrict the vaccine to the high risk groups mentioned above. Everyone else now has to wait 2 weeks for supply to catch up to demand.
5. Massive public uproar, whipped up by local media.
So, currently there's politicans demanding resignations and such. Massive knee-jerk reactions by random people on the news, some of which I doubt are not even close to being "high risk".
Well, I have very little sympathy for those that are upset about this situation. However, I do not have any sympathy for the Gov't in this case either. The situation could have been handled much better. I do think, however, the news media didn't help any. Not many people heard that "We have 400k doses, and will eventually be able to supply vaccine to every single Albertan", but heard "we have a dose for every Albertan NOW! and YOU WILL DIE TOMORROW IF YOU DON'T GET IT".
Yeah. The hordes of people panicking over H1N1 have brought this shortage on the rest of you. Heaven help you selfish people if the gov't runs out of vaccine and pregnant women or small children who should have gotten the vaccine get seriously ill.
Advertizing does it again!
It blows my mind how much people rely on the media for general knowledge.
For example, the Mac "attack adds" (you know, those popular adds with "Mac" and "PC") are probably the best example of how people get misinformed, and believe that its absolute truth. Essentially, the overwhelming message that "Vista is the devil" to the uninformed masses was a slick advertising campaign. It got many long time windows users to not even bother with Vista - a definite upgrade in functionality and performance from XP. XP was the single most exploited and unsecured piece of software out there, recently over taken by Acrobat Reader. But yet, since it was familiar, and you had a good looking Hollywood actor, slickly implanting the message that Vista was evil, broken, had many bugs, and wasn't worth dealing with a lot of people didn't bother upgrading.
I've used every windows operating system. I switched to Vista when I got a new computer. Vista has been my most stable and useful OS yet. I haven't had the irrecoverable errors that had required me to reinstall 95 and XP. I haven't had the DLL errors, the constant crashes, memory leaks and what have you with Vista. The only legitimate problem that users of Vista saw was running it at the minimum system requirements. But then again, did they expect it to run well at the minimum requirements?
What's even worse, is that people who have never ever run Vista in their life would openly and blatantly argue with me that I was wrong to use Vista. Why? because Mac told them that Vista is bad.
Anyways, the campaign of misinformation continued today with a bunch of new Mac ads that could no longer attack Vista for being a "bad" piece of software. Windows 7 is probably the best piece of software that Microsoft has produced, so suddenly, can't attack that. So, what did they go after? Oh yes: "You're going to have move all you stuff, so why not move it to a MAC"
Yeah. I'm not joking. They're trying to convince people that its going to be a hassle to upgrade. Yeah... Talk about grasping at straws. But the sad thing is that people are going to believe them, because you know, TV never lies.
For example, the Mac "attack adds" (you know, those popular adds with "Mac" and "PC") are probably the best example of how people get misinformed, and believe that its absolute truth. Essentially, the overwhelming message that "Vista is the devil" to the uninformed masses was a slick advertising campaign. It got many long time windows users to not even bother with Vista - a definite upgrade in functionality and performance from XP. XP was the single most exploited and unsecured piece of software out there, recently over taken by Acrobat Reader. But yet, since it was familiar, and you had a good looking Hollywood actor, slickly implanting the message that Vista was evil, broken, had many bugs, and wasn't worth dealing with a lot of people didn't bother upgrading.
I've used every windows operating system. I switched to Vista when I got a new computer. Vista has been my most stable and useful OS yet. I haven't had the irrecoverable errors that had required me to reinstall 95 and XP. I haven't had the DLL errors, the constant crashes, memory leaks and what have you with Vista. The only legitimate problem that users of Vista saw was running it at the minimum system requirements. But then again, did they expect it to run well at the minimum requirements?
What's even worse, is that people who have never ever run Vista in their life would openly and blatantly argue with me that I was wrong to use Vista. Why? because Mac told them that Vista is bad.
Anyways, the campaign of misinformation continued today with a bunch of new Mac ads that could no longer attack Vista for being a "bad" piece of software. Windows 7 is probably the best piece of software that Microsoft has produced, so suddenly, can't attack that. So, what did they go after? Oh yes: "You're going to have move all you stuff, so why not move it to a MAC"
Yeah. I'm not joking. They're trying to convince people that its going to be a hassle to upgrade. Yeah... Talk about grasping at straws. But the sad thing is that people are going to believe them, because you know, TV never lies.
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