Ben Main's Blog

Google Maps test

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 15:12:00 +0000

Test

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:07:00 +0000

FlashVars='feed=http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/xml/data_synd.jhtml?vid=91137%26myspace=false'

Testing Microsoft Word 2007’s blog capabilities

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 11:25:00 +0000

I thought that this would be a good opportunity to try Microsoft Word again for blog posts. I don't like using it as much as Windows Live Writer Beta simply because of its emulation of the blog template while writing…it gives a better idea of what the blog will look like when it's posted on the web. There is a bug though, and that is the deleting in Writer. If you hold down the backspace key, it won't show what it's deleted until you lift your finger, which is a minor annoyance, but I wish it would get fixed.

About naming

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:00:00 +0000

So now that I have two blogs with virtually identical content (see the WordPress version here), I thought I might touch on one of the differences between the blogs...the name.

The name of this blog on WordPress is Terra Nova, which, as you can see from a Google search, is not an incredibly original name. However, I think that it is a bit more original than the title of this version. But this isn't a big issue, because both names are temporary (as is one of these blogs). I named the WordPress version "Terra Nova", because WordPress was new terrain for me and I felt like I should have a name that was better than "Ben Main's Blog", which I have here.

One of the reasons that I have not settled on a permanent name for the blog is because I don't really have a planned aim with this blog. I'll probably comment on Sci/Tech news and talk a bit about myself to start, but I don't think there's a defining characteristic I could use for a good permanent name.

Another difference in naming is the url for the blogs. Beyond the obvious "blogspot" vs. "wordpress" difference, there is the first part. In this blog it is "alethiareg" while on WordPress, it is "mengbomin". To just about anyone, both are meaningless unless explained, so I'll do that now.

Alethiareg is a user name I've used for largely for second accounts, second email addresses, and as an otherwise throwaway login name. I believe I came up with it a short time after reading Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which I would recommend as good reading material. The "golden compass" for which the American version of the first book is named has the more technical-sounding name of "alethiometer", which according to Pullman in the book, comes from the Greek word for truth "aletheia". I misspelled that and added reg, which I believe was short for "regular" to make "alethiareg". The reason I continue to use it in many places is that it is now very easy to remember and it is very unique. I doubt that anyone else will ever come up with it independently.

As for "mengbomin", this is my name in Chinese class. In Chinese characters it is 孟柏民 (pinyin: Mèng Bómín). I thought that this would be a better username for the future as it actually means something to me and is probably nearly as unique as "alethiareg".

If anyone wants to comment on my current names or give a suggestion for a future name for this blog you are more than welcome to do so.

Trying out WordPress

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:15:00 +0000

When I initially started my blog on Blogger, I was not aware of other options for blog posting and I likely didn't really care either. At the time, I was very excited about all things Google, and since Blogger was owned by Google, I probably viewed it as "one of Google's cool products".

So, as I am blogging again with a bit more knowledge of the web and a more even view of web companies, I thought it would be a good idea to test WordPress against Blogger to see which I like better. My initial impressions of WordPress are good. I like the layout and themes a bit better than Blogger and I appreciate the lack of a big bar at the top of the screen. I will do more fiddling with both before I make a final judgement on the issue.

Until then, I will be posting to both blogs with pretty much the same posts. This shouldn't be too difficult, since I am using Windows Live Writer (Beta) to write my posts (a pretty good experience as far as I am concerned).

Click here to see this blog in WordPress.

Embryonic stem cells and Bush

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 08:27:00 +0000

If you've been paying attention to the news, you know that President Bush recently vetoed another bill that allocated funding to research on embryonic stem cells saying that "Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical."

This is a disappointing development that is apparently backed by faulty reasoning. If Bush were really so opposed to the destruction of embryos, then he should be actively campaigning for an end to in vitro fertilization (IVF), which would serve as the source of embryos for the research that this bill concerns. What is so immoral about using cells from embryos that would otherwise be discarded to help cure diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's? Since the act of destroying embryos by itself isn't worth Bush's attention, why is using them to help others so immoral? There doesn't seem to be any reasoning behind this view.

Further down, there is another argument that lies at the heart of many pro-life mindsets, and that is that anything that can be defined as a human life somehow has intrinsic value that should not be breached. This is the view behind the idea that abortion of any sort is murder, as human embryos can be defined as human life and thus should be treated as if they were people.

While such a view is internally consistent (it would be nothing short of embarrassing if such a popular and influential view were not) and understandable if one takes simplistic view of morality and value, it is flawed. Value is given by circumstance, not by definition, and the circumstances surrounding human embryos are most certainly different than those surrounding newborns, children, adolescents, and adults. For one thing, early embryos lack a nervous system, making them unable to feel, think, or desire anything.

Another difference is that not nearly as many resources are needed to arrive at an embryo as are needed to arrive at a newborn. Basically, all that is needed is one egg cell to be successfully fertilized by a sperm cell. In the case of IVF, this is achieved in a lab, though the act is more conventionally initiated in the bedroom. What is produced is a cell that multiplies, creating a ball of cells. This organism, while technically human, is capable of little.

For visual purposes, this is a microscopic view of an 8-celled embryo courtesy of Wikipedia:

The value of this organism lies completely in its potential. If, as in the case of IVF, multiple embryos are created and some are unused by the owners, the potential for these embryos to become human beings will go untapped. Of course, this is not to say that these embryos become valueless. These embryos are made of stem cells, which have the potential to differentiate into any type of human cell possible, which gives them great value in the realm of stem cell research.

This brings us back to the original topic. By throwing out these embryos, we are discarding something of great potential value. And so, by saying that vetoing this funding bill it is Bush that is pushing the immoral position and that is to destroy something that could be made useful in the medical field.

Some of my thoughts on mp3 players

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:05:00 +0000

Since my last post was about my experience with getting my mp3 player replaced, I figured that I'd post my opinion. I know I'm not the foremost authority on the subject, only having owned one mp3 player for myself, but I think I have enough experience with them to make a few comments.

Apple's iPod mp3 players dominate the market. In the minds of many people iPods and mp3 players are equivalent sets rather than the former being a subset of the latter, as the actual case is. For instance yesterday, my mother, knowing full well that Apple did not make my mp3 player, asked if my iPod had arrived.

I think it is unfortunate that iPods hold the market share they do, not because I hate Apple or feel that people shouldn't own them, but because they are not the best devices one could buy for their price. Take the iPod nano. It is a thin flash mp3 player. It does not have video support or an FM radio (you can get a radio add on for $49 from Apple). Furthermore, it has a troublesome file structure, forcing one to edit the songs via iTunes unless they hack the player. The 2GB version costs $149, the 4GB version costs $199 and the 8GB version costs $249 according to Apple.

In contrast, the mp3 players in SanDisk's Sansa e200 line does play video and has a built in radio. According to SanDisk, the 2GB version costs $120, the 4GB version $150, the 6GB version $170, and the 8GB version $199. Both the 4GB and 8GB versions are $49 cheaper than the corresponding nano. Yet, the majority of buyers who buy flash memory-based mp3 players buy iPod nanos over Sansa e200 series players.

Now, I'm not going to say that SanDisk's player is better for all people. It's not. For one thing, it doesn't support games. I'm not one to play games with handheld devices, so that didn't matter to me. As well, for some, the touch scroll wheel of the nano is preferable to the mechanical scroll wheel of the e200 series (for me the situation). Others may find that the form factor of a nano is worth plunking down an extra $49 dollars. To me, if it fits in my pocket with room to spare, I'm happy. However, given the features and the prices, I cannot believe that the nano's market share is due to rational, knowledgeable choices being made by users.

Of course, there are other mp3 players beyond those produced by Apple and SanDisk, which happen to have the first and second place market share respectively, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were comparable players that have better features and/or a better price tag than both. For instance, I have little doubt that there exists a flash player that works with a different format or formats than the space-consuming .mov format that the e200 series uses.

This is one of the irksome things about the e200 series. Video is converted to a 90° rotated scaled down .mov file (one of the formats used by Apple's Quicktime player). Presumably this is so that the player can directly play it without using many resources, but since it is uncompressed, it can sometimes take up more space on the player than the original file did, even if the original file was of higher resolution.

My mp3 player issues

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:35:00 +0000

In February, I bought a SanDisk Sansa e260 mp3 player at the Grinnell Super Wal-Mart. It was the first mp3 player I have ever bought and I really liked it. It's a flash player, like an iPod nano, except it has more features and a cheaper price tag. There are some minor gripes I have with it, like the lack of support for Asian characters in the English interface (I have a few songs that have some Chinese characters...if I had more, this would be an issue for me). However, overall, I was more than satisfied.

But, last week, I hit a snag. Like the iPod, the Sansa transfers songs from the computer and charges via a USB cable. One day, I was plugging in the player as usual when instead of plugging in smoothly, there was resistance. I unplugged it to find that two of the wires within the port had separated from the plastic ridge in the middle, leaving it looking like this:

I ended up contacting SanDisk via their support site. After a few exchanges they asked for some pictures of the player, which is why I have the picture above. They decided that they would replace the player. They gave me a three day delivery UPS shipping label to print out and use to send them back the player on June 12. I sent it that day. They received it on the 15th and sent the replacement on the 19th and I will be receiving it today and will update this post when it comes.

Update: I got my mp3 player today as expected. They sent a completely new mp3 player, which has some benefits and some downsides. The benefit is that it's new and shiny and is in really good shape. There were a few nicks on my old player, as you can see from the above picture. As well, I have a new pair of cheap headphones. I probably won't use them as I have a better pair of headphones from Sony (nothing noise canceling, but with better sound and better fit to my ear).

The downside is that I have to add all my songs back onto the player. This isn't a total disaster...it means that I can go back and look at what music I want on and what music I don't. Of course, I could go back what I had on my old player, since I do have it backed up on my external hard drive. However, that would take only a little less time, and I want to make sure some things are cleaned out.

Now, as for what I got. The new player had different packaging that went along with their "Lil' Monsta" marketing campaign. Here's a picture of the new packaging:

Contrast it with the old packaging:

Overall, I am happy to have an mp3 player again that is functional. I may say more later, but for now, I have to go to work.

Now for that personal rambling

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:02:00 +0000

I thought that since I haven't posted anything since last year, I'd start by updating how things are going for me. I finished my sophomore year at Grinnell College this past year. My second semester was less than stellar, but I am looking forward to a better Junior year.

This summer, I am working third shift (6:45-4:45 Sundays and 9:15-4:45 Monday through Thursday) at School Specialty in Greenville, WI. I perform a few different jobs in the warehouse there, which is full of (surprise!) school supplies. It's not a terribly stimulating job, but it will help me earn a bit more money for school and hopefully for a summer in China next year.

Another thing that I'm doing this summer is learning Japanese. I've taken upon myself the rather ambitious project of getting through the first year なかま (Nakama) textbook, which is used by Grinnell College in its first year Japanese course, by the end of break. This is going to be tricky because, for one thing, I don't really have anyone around to practice Japanese with. Having someone to speak to in a foreign language makes learning the language quite a bit easier. We'll see how it goes.

As for my online life, I've completely quit out of the Online Debate Network, where I was a moderator for a while. It was fun while it lasted, but my interests have changed. I now like to read a few science blogs and tech blogs. It's nice to delve into subjects that interest me instead of constantly coming back to stagnated debates over religion, evolution, or politics. Over the next few days I will be updating this site so that it better aligns with my interests.

Also, if you happen to be one of the few people to chance upon this blog and read through, I am open to suggestions about how to improve my blogging.

Trying this out again

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:27:00 +0000

When I first created this blog, I thought it was a novelty that I wanted to try out. However, I didn't really have anything to post about outside of what was happening in my own life. This time around, I think I will begin to post about outside news stories and give my opinion on the issues raised. I have no clue where this will lead me, but at least this blog will be something more than off and on ramblings about my personal life. This is not to say that I won't ramble about my personal life...but I will talk about other things too.

A long summer

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 10:03:00 +0000

Summer has been long and dull so far this year. When I first came home, things were a bit tense between my mother and me, as I hadn’t finished many applications for jobs. We had a few disputes over the conditions of me staying home. Things got better near the end of June when I landed a weeklong job at the Oshkosh Hilton Garden Inn where I was to work as a dishwasher.

After learning that, I went to work at my grandfather’s house doing some maintenance on his driveway, tennis court, and deck, which had grown cluttered with sticks and lichen growth after a few years of neglect. As well, I helped him move a sculpture to the house of a lady friend of his that bought the sculpture, which in my opinion is a nice work. I was there for a week and a half, including my birthday and ending on Independence Day. For my birthday, I got some new rope sandals to replace my old smelly decrepit ones that I got at Sea Base a few years ago as well as some books and a travel Sudoku puzzle board with a Da Vinci Code theme (my family saw it while I was at college and apparently liked it).

Meanwhile, online, ODN has done a bit of updating. We finally have a working automated infraction system, though we will probably be making some modifications as soon as it comes back to the table. As well, Apok installed a wiki, so we can have a little ODN knowledge base known as ODNdium. Because I’ve done a little bit with Wikipedia, which runs on the same software (MediaWiki), I was able to play a large part in getting the wiki to a nice look. As well, all the moderators were promoted to Super Moderator to allow for simplified, quicker moderating. On top of that, our site has started a little alliance on OGame.org.

Of course, working during the EAA at the Hilton has interrupted my ability to participate online. The job had long hours, was fairly dull, and forced me to live most of the experience in a fantasy world to maintain sanity. To add to that, my co-worker mumbled and articulated poorly, making him understandable about 10% of the time he opened his mouth. However, I found the experience somewhat rewarding, as it broke the cycle of boredom and nagging that I had come to know.

The end of my freshman year

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Sat, 27 May 2006 03:13:00 +0000

It is finally the end of my freshman year of college. Quite a bit has happened and I think that I have grown quite a bit as a person. I’ve definitely made some good friends, and it was a pity to see them all go for break. It’s going to be tough for the next few weeks since I feel like I’m going through withdrawal. This is a reason never to take addictive drugs. I feel bad enough leaving my friends behind…I can’t imagine what it would feel like leaving heroin behind. It’s especially tough to leave Emily.

I am back in Neenah and I just ripped out carpet from the townhouse that shares a wall with my dad’s. It was tedious but not incredibly difficult. I got paid $30, which seems fair to me, as the work wasn’t very labor intensive and I’m not exactly sure how many hours I put in, since I took quite a few breaks and some of them were pretty long. Oh well.

Wow, that was a corny post.

Test Blog entry from Microsoft Word 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Fri, 26 May 2006 21:24:00 +0000

So I downloaded the beta 2 version of Microsoft Office 2007 and now I’m testing out one of its features: blog posts. If this posts, then it worked.

Sperm Bank - Google Video

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 08:41:00 +0000

Sperm Bank - Google Video

Testing embed and Google Toolbar:

Night Runner

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 02:26:00 +0000

I am yet again starting a running regime. Yesterday the temperature rose significantly and today it is not much lower, which was the signal I needed to make the step. I will actually be running shortly after I post this entry.

I'm back as an ODN moderator and we are working on reworking the rules and setting up the Debater of the Month award again. If it succeeds, we will have the first DoM in 11 months, when CliveStaples won. I myself was the Debater of the Month in November of 2004. In addition to the restarting of the Debater of the Month award, we are trying to add a Debater of the Quarter award. Since we are starting with February, I think that it will be a two month Debater of the Quarter (so actually a Debater of the Sixth), unless we want a wierd quarter system.

School's going pretty well, though I think that I will need to be a bit more careful now that I've made a few mistakes in Chemistry, which what I am leaning toward in terms of a major.

Google

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 07:13:00 +0000

Recently, Google has been a big news item, both for its refusal to comply with a Department of Justice subpoena and its decision to censor its content in Google 中国. Google was very popular on the web for refusing to comply with the Department of Justice, but that popularity turned sour with the China decision.

Personally, I agree with Google on both counts. The department of Justice really doesn't have a reason to subpoena one million urls, as they can get more relevant information by running their own searches. The whole thing smells rotten.

As for the issue with Google 中国, Google was put in a tough situation. If they didn't comply with China, they would be blocked, which would make them a whole lot less useful. While it did ruin their image for the time being, it was the right thing to do. Resisting on moral grounds is fine when doing so does hurt more than it helps. However, if Google had done so, their services would have not been available. True, the filter does take away some of Google's utility. However, being blocked leaves Chinese users without any utility from Google and still in a censored position. Google resisting would not have done any good and would in fact be more evil, IMO. Whether they their motives were in their pocketbook or not, they did the right thing.

Table of squares

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 22:21:00 +0000

Table of squares
Originally uploaded by alethiareg.

This is an image I am using for ODN

Google Talk

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 09:07:00 +0000

Google talk a
Google Hack by
Douwe Osinga

The doldrums of winter

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 06:06:00 +0000

Winter has proven to be extremely boring.

The Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 19:28:00 +0000

I spent Christmas at my Uncle Eric's house with my mother and brothers. While it was not the ideal situation that we had during Thanksgiving, things went pretty well. The experience was soured by a fight between mom and me over her high tension attitude toward life. That problem carried out until New Year's Eve when I finally let go of my anger.

I found out my grades today and was relieved to see that I had passed Tutorial with a C+.

Release

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 08:33:00 +0000

As Christmas arrives, I have felt a release in many ways. The first semester of college is over, I have finished all of my essays, and I have left the Online Debate Network staff. As break starts, I have developed a new interest: learning about the web and exploring the options created by the competition between the search sites Google and Yahoo!. My preference is Google, though I have been recently drawn to Yahoo! Answers, a site where one can ask and answer any question that falls within the rules. Unfortunately, this leads to a lot of low quality questions and most of my energy on the site has been spent trying to find worthwhile questions. I hope to find a solid interest over this break so that I don't stagnate, but this is beginning to look like a formidable task.

For Christmas, my family is traveling to Minneapolis to see my uncle, who is in alcohol rehab after getting his third DUI and trying to commit suicide. After the wonderful Thanksgiving at my other uncle's house there, I hope that the experience will be similar.

As well, things tend to change when one is gone for a while. My father broke up with his girlfriend, though he still shares a house with her. He moved into a new, smaller apartment in Neenah with his former employee Steve Herrick. He and my brothers have been playing a karioke game and one of the presents he gave today was DDR, which means that now there will be singing as well as dancing.

My mother hasn't changed much. She is still rather neurotic though I am able to joke with her a bit. My brother Kit still enjoys a level of control and Ian is still rather mellow.

I am growing both my hair out and trying to grow a beard, though the results have been a bit substandard as of yet. We'll see if it works before the second semester starts in January.

Leaving Grinnell

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 14:13:00 +0000

Well, it's time to head back to Neenah, where I will be spending the next five weeks, with the exception of Christmas, when my family is going to Minneapolis.

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 10:27:00 +0000

This is one of the most recent pictures of me available:

Final Exam week coming to a close

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:07:00 +0000

After not posting here, I've decided to start up my blog again.

Final exams are over for me but I still have some essays to write...so despite the relief of finals being over, I still have a ways to go.

A boring summer

noreply@blogger.com (Ben Main) — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 22:18:00 +0000

I graduated on June 8 and recieved my diploma on the 9th. The graduation ceremony was nice and I left it feeling good. That kicked off this years summer vacation.

The first event that I had this summer was a trip to Rochester, MN for a week and a half to stay with my grandfather as he recovered from chemotherapy. He had undergone the chemotherapy, which killed off his bone marrow 11 days before I arrived and his condition bottomed out and he started to recover while I was there. He and I stayed at the Gift of Life Transplant house in Rochester. While it was great to see him recover, most of the time was a collosal bore. He slept most of the time, forcing me to either read or surf the Internet. In fact, because of this boredom, I started participating the the Online Debate Network again. However, after about a week and a half, he was well enough to go back home, so we took a private airplane back to his house in Sheboygan, where I stayed for another week.

After that, I did get to do some fun things, such as watch Batman Begins in the theater for my birthday. I also started to get more information about Grinnell College, such as what dorm I have and what roommate I have. Currently, I am working on repainting one of the bathrooms in my house, which is boring and the small of the paint is rather strong.