Friday, January 31, 2003
"When you browse the Internet, you are downloading text files. Your browser (Internet Explorer, for example) interprets these files and displays for you, holy or unholy, the web page you requested."
JeezIt! - jeezit.com
Well, I can't help with the latter request, but I do unfortunately know where one can find train wreck pictures (not the wrecks, actually, but people after them) and other such gross stuff. DO NOT click that link unless you really want to be disgusted, and possibly nauseated, depending on how strong a stomach you have. I mean it. And don't go here, either - there are no train wreck victims on that one, but the StinkyMeat project is pretty nasty, too.
Don't ask why I know these things. I have some weird friends, and some of them have friends that are weirder.
A post about this article at Kairosnews , however, makes a good point: the students were caught in a "sting" operation, a tactic which might be seen as slightly less than ethical by some - including me. If I were a paying member of the amumni association, I'd call and complain.
It's also interesting to note that the article points out that students might have an advantage over their older, and less tech-savvy, profs. Really? Gee, there's something new! Come on, Wired, this conversation's been and gone so many times already!
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
Running late because I was reading MeFi, Slashdot, and some more traditional sources of news. Found some good, funny stuff that I'd blog if I had an extra 10 minutes!
A report from the referrer logs: frank abignale
I'll probably be hit #1 on most search engines instead of 3 or 4. Really, there have been a bunch of visitors looking for info on this guy, and they've landed here since I commented on a NYTimes article about the DiCaprio movie based on this guy. It's strange that there aren't more (and more relevant) links out there!
Finally, a weather update: besides snowing, it's 27. Downright balmy. Yay!
Sunday, January 26, 2003
Basically, the article is a critique of the assumption that the brain's architecture can be inferred by considering local effects: basically, that function is kind of contained in a little area of the brain that performs a certain function. When that part is damaged, the function may be affected, but other related/connected functions aren't affected because the local areas of the brain aren't interdependent. The author argues, instead, for a model more along the lines of parallel distributed processing (pdp) networks. More interdependency, and in the examples discussed in the article, a more streamlined kind of functioning, too. It's interesting to read the reactions, which range, of course, from "the author is totally wrong" to "yes, the author is entirely right, and let me give a few more examples and models to support."
pdp networks are fascinating: I am really interested in how tests for object and word recognition are simulated, and how these networks are trained or taught over time. There's a lot of discussion of emergence in the article and responses, another intriguing phenomenon. I'm also flashing back to reading Deleuze and Guattari, though, and the summer 2001 seminar on A Thousand Plateaus I took with Rich Doyle. There's all of this overlap between cognitive theories, literary theory, distributed networks, peer-to-peer systems (digital and otherwise).
Argh. I just ventured into abstract theoretical territory, and the loftiness and logic required to pursue such a train of thought is just absolutely lacking right now, 6:58 on a Sunday night. My brain is spent. Reading about cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience is ouchy. I am going to go do something sompletely mindless for a bit before shifting gears a bit and tackling another task.
Saturday, January 25, 2003
What do I name such a thing? Hmmm . . .
Friday, January 24, 2003
I'm going to go do some work in my office, and then head home. Must get back home with enough energy to do my physical thera[y exercises - I slacked a bit over vacation, and I have got to get back into a routine.
Thursday, January 23, 2003
I'm off to find the warmest outfit I have in my closet! More later . . .
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
I'm so glad I quit smoking before all of this. It's too unbelievably cold to even think about going outside for a smoke.
(well . . . maybe has tastes similar to mine in the area of bathroom decor--some people would probably argue that this is not, in fact, a measure of good taste. My husband, for example.)
Monday, January 20, 2003
**edit: as far as I know, the links below work - each should take you to the start page for the album, *not* the Shutterfly homepage (link above does that). Let me know if these aren't working, please!**
Bahamas album (by the way, Eric did the file naming, so I take no responsibility for some of the odd names!)
Death Valley album
Enjoy!
This link courtesy of Jessica at Who Needs Oxygen Dot Net.
A silly quiz to discover which drink you are. Here's what it said about me:
I'm a Sex on the Beach, discover your ALcoHoLiC personality!
Weird, because I don't really like the drink too much, and the associated personality traits are not quite me, I don't think.
Thanks to Kara for this info!
Sunday, January 19, 2003
Ok, picture #1 is from the trip to Death Valley: my dad and I reached the lowest point in the U.S., Badwater, at sunset. It was absolutely beautiful: the sunset reflected in the brackish pools, the reflection off the salt flats.
At the end of my trip to California, on the very last day, I got to have breakfast with Lindsay, one of my best friends. Our travel plans conflicted this trip, but at least we did get to see one another!
Eric and I took so many pictures and had so much fun in the Bahamas that picking one picture to put up here is really difficult, but here's a pic of the two of us with Mom and Dad:
I might throw some more pictures up later, but I have to get going now!
Saturday, January 18, 2003
Monday, January 06, 2003
I'm not sure how much I'll be posting from the Bahamas: I'm trying to stay away from computers and get outdoors for a while. :)
The lesson to be learned from this: turn the computer off before the next holiday function you host at home!
A cultural commentary on working the system, turning consultant, and the ability to get women to sleep with you.
Sunday, January 05, 2003
Grades are now available (so everyone at the U - to Onestop! Make haste!). Just as everyone said I would, I did fine. Wish I had less performance/test anxiety, and as much faith in myself as everyone else has.
My sincere thanks to everyone who supported, or even just tolerated, my anxiety attacks, freak-outs, and so on. You all should know who you are. I send great big hugs to all of you. You put up with me when I was the world's largest pain in the butt. And I know he doesn't read this, but I still have to say the biggest and most heartfelt thanks to Eric. Boy, does he get the brunt of the end-of-the-semester craziness I bring upon myself twice a year (thrice, if summer classes are involved). I don't think it would have been possible for me to have found a better life partner. And without him, I probably wouldn't be where I am now.
Susan and Kristin also need to be mentioned by name. You guys are my family, and I rely upon you as much now as I did when I was significantly closer (maybe even more).
Next semester I am only taking three classes, as opposed to the insane four of last semester. I'm actually excited about all of them, but nervous about Psychology of Language - required for the Cognitive Science minor. I still get the feeling I might be in over my head with this minor, but I am going to tough it out! I love making intersting interdisciplinary connections, but doing so means venturing out of the safe space that is my home department, my own field, where I know the major figures, the first- and second-tier journals, the history of the discipline, But to be cliche, to talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk. And believe me, I'm trying. But I think I am still taking baby-steps with the social sciences classes, and boy, am I scared of the Comp.Sci. AI course. I'll have to program. Haven't done that since BASIC on an Apple II E in high school. I'm sure that'll come in really handy, hmm?
I'm off to try and figure out finances, see which bills to pay before, and which after, the Bahamas trip. Ick. That's part of why this is such a long post. I really don't want to do it, but it has to be done, you know?
Saturday, January 04, 2003
A random find from weblogs.com.
It is also having some undesireable effects, however. I am so sleepy all the time. And I think part of the reduced pleasure of smoking comes from the worst-ever case of drymouth. Yum.
Official quit date is Jan. 10. I'll be in the Bahamas. I am hoping the setting, the fresh air, and the non-smoking in-laws will all be positive influences.
In the meantime, I have fifty bazillion (yes I sound five, but that's how many there are, I swear!) things to do before I catch a flight at 6:10 am on Tuesday. 6:10, with a suggested check-in time of ninety minutes to two hours before that. There won't even be any coffee places open in the airport when we arrive. How miserable.
But I am leaving the Twin Cities area for ten days in the Bahamas, so I guess my room to complain in marginal, at best.
I must get back to work. Must work until the zyban renders me comatose.
More than just the repeated phone calls, however, I am getting very irritated that the telemarketers pretty universally assume (since the phone is listed under the names of two people) that I am not authorized to deal with phone decisions. They ask to speak to my husband, or some other only slightly less blatant thing. This guy today asked to speak to either one of us. I said, "I'm Laurie." So he asks if I am authorized to make decisions. I told him, a bit tersely, that I was the one who had set up the phone service. So he says, "Oh, so you're both authorized to make changes?" Argh! Well, yeah, at least I think so (see case below), but the phone service has always been my thing: I'm in charge of it, I make the decisions about it, and I usually pay the phone bill.
Compare with: woman who wouldn't even tell Eric how much our phone bill was when he called to make a payment by phone. Why? Because he wasn't authorized. Because he didn't set up service. Generalizing is always bad, but I'm really annoyed at male telemarketers who assume the "woman of the house" isn't in charge of decisions about water, phone, power, cable, or ISP bills. Did it just turn 2003, or have we moved backwards somehow, into the era where it was commonly assumed women were incapable of balancing checkbooks, and therefore couldn't have them? *whew* Sorry, every once in a while I need to vent!
Oh, and hey: for those who think feminism sucks or the need for such action is over, this is one small indiciation that there's still a lot left to be done.
By the way, South Park was number 29.Spice World is number 10 on the Bottom 10 Musicals list. Cannibal! the Musical didn't make either list, and neither did the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Those are two of my personal favorite musicals. Also interesting to note, Cannibal! actually has a higher rating than Rocky Horror. Slightly weird.
Friday, January 03, 2003
I got here by doing some serious bloghopping. I got lost along the way, and so the usual associational link credits are absent in this case. But thank you anyway!
I need to check this out later when I don't have a million things to do before leaving the country.
Hmmm, not doing so well on getting the pictures up today, either. Maybe a bit later.
Anyway, my blogging has been less than inspired, or inspiring, since I got back from CA. Not sure why. I'm still very *blah* after the whole LA experience.
I think my mission for today will be to go through my Death Valley pictures, pick a few, shrink them down to manageable sizes, and post them up here. I got a few really cool ones, though I also discovered that the auto setting on my camera deals poorly with sunsets, and I don't know enough about photography to set everything manually. Also, pictures from moving vehicles turned out pretty funky. :)
Yeah. But first I have to get to my appointment on time. I'm pushing it right now . . .
Thursday, January 02, 2003
At least one other person has gotten here by searching for the women's guide to peeing standing up. That seems to be a popular link, I guess.
Very recently, someone found me this way:
Search Engine: google.com
Search Words: duckies soy wax
Yep. All of those things are on my page somewhere. But how, um, original to put them together in such a fashion.