Oh, the People We Meet

As you may have noticed, it has been several months since I’ve had a new post. I wanted to break the unintentional hiatus to share a story with you:

I happened to be working yesterday when a man walked in and asked if we had security cameras in the store. He gives no immediate explanation as to why, so I have no idea what to say. I wait to let my manager be the one who tells him no. He then asks whether there are any cameras in the parking lot and, again, the answer is no.

He finally tells us that he was in the store a few weeks earlier, didn’t buy anything, and needed to prove that he was there. We tell him sorry and he leaves.

And I’m left wondering why this guy has to prove where he was on that particular day…

Fun With Numbers

I am a fan of the website Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. They are not the most frequent to update, but more often than not, those new posts are interesting. I always look forward, however, to their monthly “Linkdumps.” One of these caught my eye this month and I wanted to share it. They linked to a couple of Wikipedia articles about two numbers specifically: 6174 and 1729.

6174
This one is really cool. First, you take any four-digit number that contains at least two different digits (ex. NOT 3333). Next, you make two separate numbers from the digits: one in ascending order, the other in descending (being sure to add buffer zeros if needed). Subtract the smaller number from the larger and repeat with that new number. The cool part is that, in at most seven steps, the number will always converge to 6174. And 6174 continues to repeat itself.

So, an example for you all. We’ll start with the number 7439:
9743 – 3479 = 6264
6642 – 2466 = 4176
7641 – 1467 = 6174!!

The number 495 does the same thing with three-digit numbers.

1729
1729 is interesting because it is the smallest number that can be expressed by adding two positive cubes in two different ways.
1729 = 1³ + 12³ = 9³ + 10³
That’s amazing to me considering I’m always taught in my computer science classes about how fast cubes grow.

They also linked to an article about a theory that all numbers are interesting. It’s worth a quick glance, but they prove it by contradiction. If you have a set of numbers said to be “uninteresting,” the fact that there will be a smallest number in that set makes it unique compared to the other numbers and therefore interesting.

And that’s why numbers aren’t trivial, surely among other reasons.

Enough with the Bing Commercials Already!

I have a big problem with these new Microsoft Bing TV ads. They are inaccurate for any sane person who happens to be searching the web. In case you haven’t seen them, or just need a refresher, the three I’m talking about are here, here, and here.

Now that you’ve seen them, a few results I found from searching to see if their wild tangents are true (I used Google for all of these searches):

Searching “breakfast” resulted in NO mentions of the Breakfast Club through 10 pages.

Searching “back pain” resulted in NO pages about “back packing,” “back to school,” or Bach through 10 pages (If you’re getting results about Bach from back pain, you’re doing something seriously wrong.).

You CANNOT get results for “bird of paradise” from “two tickets to paradise” through, you guessed it, 10 pages (Are you seeing a trend here? My feeling is that if you can’t find what you’re looking for in the first 10 pages, you’re not searching well enough).

NO mention of “cell wall” from searching “cell phone.”

Searching “tickets to hawaii” will get NO results for “hawaii five-o” through 10.

I could go on, but I don’t think I need to.

If you’re wanting to compare LCD and Plasma TVs, you don’t just search for “plasma.” Are people really this dumb?! Do people expect to get reasonable results from vague searches?

I have to be honest when I say I don’t know how fully well Bing works because I’ve only dabbled in a couple searches. I’m sure that it is a very capable search engine. And it never hurts to have an alternative, if for nothing else than the chance at different results.

Bottom Line: Don’t try to tell the world that Bing is the perfect search engine when others give perfectly relevant results if you actually know what you’re looking for.

Star Trek Review

I saw Star Trek for the second time over the past weekend and I wanted to write up a review of it. I wrote in a earlier post about my preference of Star Wars over Star Trek. Nevertheless, I am still very much interested in Star Trek and was very excited about seeing this movie. And for me, as a whole, it did not disappoint.

The Story
I came in knowing that this was going to be a “reboot” of the original story, but I didn’t know to what extent. I don’t want to give away too much just in case there may be some reading who have not seen the movie yet, but I will say that the writers decided to used the proven sci-fi storyline that includes time travel and an alternate reality from said time travel. I think that most people will agree that the best and/or most memorable episodes of the various Star Trek series are those that include such storylines. Because of this, the story is significantly different from the original and I am thankful. If this film was a direct retelling of the original, it would forever have the stigma of being compared to the past which would detract from it’s own merit. While the story may not be the same, all the major players are there. Even the most diehard of Star Trek fans should be content with the differences in the characters’ backstories because they are not the same people on account of the alternate reality.

Cinematography
Visually, the film was stunning. The CG was impressive. The redesign of the Enterprise was both an homage to the original while also getting a modern overhaul. The interior of the Enterprise was much brighter than previous instances of the ship, while Nero’s (the bad guy) ship was dark as you might expect, bringing the classic good vs. evil imagery into play.

My only real complaint was with the, what I would consider unnecessary, overuse of lens flare. It felt like almost every scene contained some flare and at some points washed out most of the frame. I’m okay with some lens flare, but it felt like there were times when it didn’t seem to make sense why there should be flare at all.

Music / Sound
I almost always prefer an original score for a movie as opposed to sampling popular music. Michael Giacchino did great work creating some very strong themes. My favourite would have to be Enterprise’s theme called “Enterprising Young Men.”

They included many of the same or similar sound effects for the ship, which was enjoyable. One significant difference is the sound when heading into warp which blows you away, wishing they warped in every scene.

I appreciated the couple scenes that actually gave the contrast of entering a space vacuum. Not many films portray the silence of space and I thought it was a nice touch.

Casting
I thought the actors did a great job with their characters. I don’t think many actors today would be able to play Spock as well as Zachary Quinto. Chris Pine brings a style of toughness and arrogance that suits Kirk’s backstory well. I haven’t seen a lot of the Original Series episodes, but John Cho was a very cool Sulu compared to the Sulu I recall.

Karl Urban’s portrayal of Bones McCoy brought a little too much of DeForest Kelley’s and was slightly distracting a few times. Not a deal breaker, but it reminded me of the Producers remake where it felt like Matthew Broderick was trying to be Gene Wilder’s character and not his own.

Other
I’ve already given my most important thoughts, but I also wanted to add this tidbit. I thought the transport shuttles looked quite similar to the ATR-6 assault transport from the Star Wars Universe. Have a look:

Star Trek Transport

Star Wars Assault Transport

It just made me smile.

Verdict
Just to let you know, I don’t believe in the “stars” rating system. That comes from the fact that my mom thinks every movie with a three or four star rating is guaranteed to be good. I will say that I think this is a great action film that has a well thought out story. I think that Star Trek fan and newcomer will both be able find this movie enjoyable.

Technology’s Place in our Lives

Our beloved electronics, where would we be without them? I’ll be the first to tell you that I would go crazy if I didn’t have all of my gadgets around me at all times. That doesn’t mean that I cannot go without them for periods of time. This had been known to happen, but if I had to live the rest of my life without my phone, computer, tv, or various other electronics, I don’t know what I would do.

I recall the big ice storm a couple years ago here in Springfield, MO. I was one of the lucky ones that did not lose power at all, but I went ten days without television or internet access. I watched about a third of my movies, read, listened to music, and even worked on this really cool Puzz 3D Millenium Falcon puzzle. Even so, I was bored out of my mind for most of that time. Has technology really destroyed our ability to entertain ourselves?

Now, I can’t badmouth technology too much, considering I am basing my entire college career in the field of computer science. I don’t want to give up my gadgets, but I do think that they can negatively impact our lives at times.


My first example has to do with cell phones. Most people, including myself, take their cell phones with them everywhere. That doesn’t mean it should or has to be answered in all situations. All too often people don’t know proper etiquette of where and when to answer the phone, disturbing everyone around them (e.g., store check-out lines and and movie theatres).

On a side note with phones, if any of you have experienced phantom rings, you know how annoying they can be. For those who don’t know what a phantom ring is, it is when you think you hear your phone ring or hear/feel your phone vibrate when it actually doesn’t. It hasn’t happened much to me since I switched to the T-mobile G1, but when I had my Blackberry, it would happen at least once a day. It became very distracting.


My second example deals with print media. We all know that online news has been taking the front seat to the newspaper and I have to say that this makes me sad. I know that it is inevitable, but I am not looking forward to the day that the only way I can get my news is from the internet. I like newspapers for one main reason: format. I like being able to look at full articles all at once. The stories are easy to find and you know you are getting that day’s news. When looking online, the date of the stories are almost never labelled on the front page and you can’t get a snippet of the story without clicking to read the full story. When I read the newspaper, I first scan the headlines to see if the story is one I want to read and even if I don’t want to read the whole story, I usually like to scan the first couple paragraphs to get the main points. So, for intsant, breaking or non-traditional(i.e., from blogs)  news, the internet is a modern wonder. But I would much rather read a newspaper everyday.

And what happens when you lose your internet connection when that’s the only source? No news. Period.

Along the same line, Amazon’s Kindle is an amazing piece of technology, but I don’t want to use it as my primary source for reading. I like the feel of a book in my hands. On top of that, I spend so much time in front a computer screen, I don’t think it would be healthy for my eyes to look at another screen for an extended period of time.


We can’t deny that technology and electronics have become cornerstones in our lives that are not going away, but we can’t solely rely on them. Think of the episode of South Park from this season where the entire world goes insane because the internet is down. We must have other ways in which we can entertain ourselves so that we do not become dependent. Those are just a couple examples, but nevertheless, if someone tries to take away all of my gadgets, I’ll have to quote Charlton Heston when I say, “from my cold, dead hands.”

Pictures from the Rail Yard

I took the time to head out to the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge a couple weeks ago. I first found out about the bridge a couple of years ago, but only now took the time to go see it for myself. And seeing as it crossed several lines of active railroad tracks, I figured it was the perfect place to take some pictures.

Jefferson Avenue Footbridge

Using the bridge as a frame

I love the look of heat distortion coming from the engines.

I never knew how truly loud train engines actually are until I was standing five feet above them.

View from the middle of the tracks

This was the part where I was trespassing. If they didn’t want people to trespass at a place as cool as a rail yard, they would have put up a fence.

Next to a rail car

Rusted rail car of years past

Star Wars v. Star Trek

This is the pinnacle of all nerd debates; which science fiction franchise is better? This goes into personal favourites and also discussions on who would win in a head-to-head battle.

CAUTION: This could get nerdy from time to time from here on out.

This debate is nothing new, but seeing as the new Star Trek film is coming out in a little more than a week, I figure it’s a good time to let everyone know where I stand on the matter.

Star Wars has my vote hands down.

That’s not to say I don’t like Star Trek. I love The Next Generation, enjoy most of the Original Series episodes I’ve seen, and like most of the movies. I also can’t wait to see the new Star Trek movie when it comes out on the 8th. From everything I’ve heard and from the trailers, this movie is going to be awesome.

But still, I just like Star Wars better.

STAR TREK
The technology in Star Trek is like nothing ever seen before it. Who wouldn’t want to be able to transport themselves or and object instantly across huge distances? Who wouldn’t want to be able to replicate anything they want? And then there’s the holodeck. If this could be built in our time, it would be the pièce de résistance of all known entertainment.

On the other hand, Star Trek has the disadvantage of weak ships. How cool is it when your shields are down to 60% after one phaser blast? It’s almost embarrasing when you have this advanced society that can make just about anything, but can’t adequately protect themselves.

STAR WARS
Star Trek may have the fancy, albeit cool, technology, Star Wars has the best weapons and firepower. Death Star, blaster, lightsaber, bowcaster — Star Wars has everything you could ever want to destroy anything.

I think the well-defined plot is what sets ‘Wars aside from ‘Trek for the most part. ‘Wars has the advantage of all the episodes being feature length, but are also tied together. With the majority of ‘Trek’s content being from the various series, there is only so much you can do with an hour when the episodes aren’t tied together by plot. The exception to that, however, are the ‘Trek movies.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
I’m sorry, but anyone who thinks the Enterprise could take on and survive an attack from a Star Destroyer is crazy. All of the specifications around point to the Star Destroyer being about one kilometer longer than Enterprise (which is only about or a little more than 600m in the first place). Size advantage pretty much seals it for me, but the Star Destroyer also has a large complement of fighters. In my opinion, those fighters are going to be too small and fast for the Enterprise to be able to consistantly and accurately hit them.

These are just a few of the things that set these two storied sci-fi franchises apart. Like I said before, most of the allegiances betweent the two are based soley on opinion. Mine still stands by Star Wars.

You’ve heard how I feel, which side do you sway towards (if any)?

A Trip to the Park

I took a trip to the park the other day. Ritter Spring Park north of Springfield, MO to be specific. I decided to take my trusty camera along to snap a few photos of what I saw while I was there. I also wanted to see how well Google My Tracks GPS tracking for Android on the T-Mobile G1 worked on a smaller scale. It worked well (see map of the path I walked below).

View Larger Map

I know that I don’t start and end at the same point. It was a little while before I thought of starting the application. On top of that, it’s a jumbled mess when you zoom in because I did a lot of backtracking to take some shots.


So, without further ado, the pictures. To be honest, I’m not even sure I was supposed to be walking down these paths because I was first greeted with this sign:

Park Sign: No Trespassing?

And then the rest:

Dead Tree

Running Stream with a Fallen Tree

Bird of Prey: Hawk? Falcon? Does anybody know?

A Group of Purple Flowers

A Group of Turtles Lying on a Fallen Tree

A Small Waterfall at the Edge of a Pond

Facebook: What’s the Point?

Raise your hand if you have a Facebook. That’s silly… everyone has one. To be honest, most of the time I don’t even know why I still have it.

I was first introduced to the service in the fall of 2005. It was my freshman year of college and we had a contest on our floor. We join this website and the person with the most friends from our floor of the dorm would get a 2-liter of soda and some candy. I ended up winning the contest, but didn’t know who any of the people I became “friends” with were; nor did I care about finding out. That should have been my hint.

Since that time, I now have a little over 200 friends, of those I could probably count on my two hands the ones that I am in contact with regularly. And of those, I can and do interract with most, if not all, in other ways.

And therein lies the question: What’s the point?

The only reasons I can come up with are the “what-ifs.” What if I really need to get a hold of a certain person? What if I completely lose track and just want to say “Hi”?

Other than that, I don’t really know. It’s probably just the person I am and an anomaly compared to the masses.

What are your thoughts?

The Truth About Racing

The new season of Formula 1 racing is upon us. The F1 Grand Prix at Melbourne, Australia will start this year’s festivities. I became a fan about 4 years ago or so and I have to say that I could not be happier. Now, if you live in the US, you probably have a tainted view of racing on account of the whole NASCAR abomination. Let me start off by saying that it is my opinion that NASCAR is a disease to the racing world.

You may be thinking to yourselves, “Isn’t that a little harsh?”  The easiest answer is NO!

The basis of racing is the skill of the driver. Please, tell me how much skill it takes to have the gas on full throttle, turn the steering wheel the same direction, and sweat for three hours. An F1 driver, on the other hand, must actually use the brakes to slow down for upwards of nearly 20 turns per lap and know the optimal speed and angle at which to take said turn.

The “series of turns” are what makes a race interesting. They are also the true test as to whether a driver is worthy to race in the first place.


WARNING: I am about to lay down a harsh insult to any paved oval track racer (I will mention how Indy racing is slightly, and I do mean slightly, better than NASCAR later). I realize that some F1 drivers have made the transition to NASCAR, but I am unable to respect them as a result.

The insult in my own words: “Any monkey can drive an oval track.”

This is an insult because I am implying that a monkey could do a better job behind the wheel than the driver (I know, you really did need the explanation, right?). The curves on an oval track are so big, they’re practically straightaways and they easily run three-wide on them. If you don’t have to down-shift at least one gear, then it’s not a curve. Therefore, oval track drivers are (un?)glorified drag racers. Drag racing surely takes more skill by the way.


Next, comes NASCAR’s concept of “bumping.” I’d be lying if I knew the strategy behind it, because frankly, it doesn’t make sense. Basically, it just involves cars hitting each other, many times this results in crashes. I will note that crashes are the only thing that make NASCAR worth anything to watch, but bumping boils down to lack of respect for the car. You bump, you crash, you wreck a car worth more than most people’s lives (no offense), and these driver’s don’t care. For an F1 car, if you scrape against anything, car or wall or whathaveyou, something important (e.g. nose wing) will probably break off your car or the car may be beyond repair all together to remain in the race. I’d say that’s an incentive to pay strict attention to where you are.

Cautions, those dreaded cautions. There’s a piece of dust on the track, looks like we better put out a full course caution. Give me a break. The beauty of an open F1 course, there are almost exclusively local cautions. That means you don’t have to stop the race and waste precious laps because of the forementioned piece of dust. In fact, in the about four years I’ve watched F1, I have seen between two and four full course cautions. It has to be a bad accident for that to happen, but at least you get to watch an awesome Mercedes safety car drive around the track.

Weather almost goes hand-in-hand with the cautions. How can you not let the cars race in the rain. Tire companies make tires with tread. F1 gives its fans that satisfaction. A couple years ago, I saw an F1 Grand Prix at Hungary where the entire race took place during a rain storm and it was awesome! Only half or so drivers finished the race, but at least they let ‘em give it the old college try.

I’m not even going to go into depth about NASCAR fans.

I mentioned earlier that I would explain why Indy racing is slightly better than NASCAR. Indy is cursed from the get go by racing on the oval. However, they do have the open-wheel factor in their favor. Indy drivers must also be careful to not hit each other. They also get props from me for not driving in a huge pack the entire race. Therefore, F1 > Indy > NASCAR.

Remember, if the race you want to watch has turns that go both directions, it’s okay to continue watching.