tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86267432025-09-06T23:20:46.914-07:00What happens when you let a smartass play with computers.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger316125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-74851081848883050492009-11-17T12:15:00.002-08:002009-11-17T12:17:32.959-08:00

A short note. It's been while since I posted to this blog, and it's possible that I won't anymore. Just too busy to do so, and perhaps I no longer need the psychological therapy of writing this stuff. In any event, there is a surfeit of good academic blogs out there. So, I've cleaned all of the junk out of this blog, left stuff related to my profession in place, and there you have it.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-12557798710275131992009-03-10T23:34:00.002-07:002009-03-10T23:38:42.890-07:00

It has been quite some time since I've blogged; I'll get into why in a later post. In these tough economic times, the last thing you might want to do is to make a major purchase. On the other hand, sometimes you have no choice, or at least are headed that way, and you may feel relatively secure in your employment (after all, the unemployment rate is under 50% -- how's that for looking on the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-65520141522083916142009-01-30T19:12:00.000-08:002009-01-30T19:12:00.609-08:00

I've been crazy busy with a new position here at work, so I haven't been able to indulge myself in the luxury of ranting and raving on the internet (except for 140 characters at a time, on twitter). But the article linked from the title above caught my eye, and then the following quote from that article made me laugh out loud: Faculty members will take furloughs on days they don’t teach class..

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-44063175811223460212008-10-29T17:24:00.000-07:002008-10-29T17:24:00.593-07:00

iPhone users finally get free wifi from AT&T. Basically, you connect to the access point and enter your phone number. AT&T then sends you an SMS message with a 24-hour access key. I haven't tries it yet...

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-42691905883698627122008-09-29T18:13:00.001-07:002008-09-29T18:15:16.001-07:00

Every time a colleague asks the question, "What the hell happened to computer science enrollment?" I answer, "These things are cyclical. CS enrollment will come back, and some other field's enrollment will drop." And, indeed, as the dot-com bust has faded in new student memories, enrollment has increased again (new enrollment was up last fall in my department and is up again (over 30%, year over

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-47087806406849569942008-09-22T18:21:00.001-07:002008-09-22T18:25:16.425-07:00

I've taught calculus at the college level and, now that my daughter is taking algebra in middle school, I see why students have so much trouble with college math: they aren't taught math in middle school. Let me clarify this statement by first illustrating what I mean when I say that too many students have trouble with calculus and why you should care about that. Calculus is generally

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-5209282671303506062008-09-15T18:08:00.000-07:002008-09-15T18:08:00.381-07:00

I recently received an email for fundraising from a friend's child's school. It includes a link to a web site that's selling magazines. The usual deal is that the school gets some cut of the subscription price and the kids get crappy "prizes" from Oriental Trading. So, I clicked on the "Children" section link and was almost immediately struck by two magazines offered: Boys' Life, with a cover on

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-69301400290150321232008-08-25T20:31:00.001-07:002008-08-25T20:40:56.808-07:00

I finished the novel Empire, by Orson Scott Card, a couple months ago and had been meaning to write a review of it, or at least a commentary on it, since then. At this point, enough time has passed by that I'll not be including very much in the way of specific details from the book, though there will be some spoilers. I think the title above succinctly sums up the book in a variety of ways.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-10829441208369772412008-08-21T21:59:00.001-07:002008-08-21T21:59:04.773-07:00

Sock and Keys Originally uploaded by stiber No need to fret when one of a pair of socks goes through the interdimensional portal in your clothes dryer. Use the orphan for an iPod case or, as I've done here, to keep your keys from scratching up other things in your bicycle panniers when you commute to work.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-64533541645962271842008-08-20T21:01:00.001-07:002008-08-20T21:06:48.759-07:00

Two days after the iPhone 2.0 software and the iTunes app store were released, I went on a family trip to Europe. So of course, in the days prior to my trip, I frantically installed, then reinstalled, the 2.0 software. This would make my phone much more useful during my trip, I reasoned. Well, it turns out I was right, and the main reason for that was the truphone application. Truphone is a VOIP

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-76409688524781015512008-07-11T16:16:00.001-07:002008-07-11T16:21:17.850-07:00

For those of you (like me) who followed the information I reference in a previous blog post, note that that unofficial iPhone 2.0 software was for the new iPhone hardware. If you (like me) have the original iPhone hardware, you need to follow the directions at MacRumors linked from the title to get the correct software for your hardware.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-51339985988107991802008-07-10T12:33:00.004-07:002008-07-10T15:32:37.768-07:00

Here are some of my initial observations about the iPhone 2.0 software: Settings: Has a "Fetch New Data" item that lets you turn push updates on or off, set data fetch interval (includes the email check intervals for non-push email). Has a new "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" item, which consolidates various items (I think, I don't remember the details of this from the old OS) and includes under

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-91278962063007409552008-07-10T12:23:00.002-07:002008-07-10T12:31:47.188-07:00

Since I'm in the process of writing my part of a grant proposal before heading off on a trip, I figured, "Hey, why don't I update my iPhone to the 2.0 software?" The software is unofficially available; see this iLounge article for a good summary of how to get it. Here's how things went: 11:55AM: Option-clicked "Check for Update", selected .ipsw file, iTunes extracted update. 11:56AM: iTunes

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-55044947128167046162008-07-10T09:44:00.002-07:002008-07-10T09:52:04.486-07:00

Some more-or-less random observations about the available iPhone apps (based purely on their app store descriptions and icons): There's a lot of $0.99 apps; I'm not really sure what the rationale is (on the part of the software developer) for not just releasing such apps for free. There are many free apps that appear to do the same thing as pay apps. Why would anyone pay for an app that simply

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-8852105514675870252008-07-10T09:04:00.002-07:002008-07-10T09:18:19.951-07:00

Wooo! The iTunes App Store is up! Just use Software Update to download iTunes 7.7, enable "show apps" in iTunes preferences, click on the "Applications" icon, and select "Get More Applications..." (similar interface to podcasts). Can't load the apps yet on the iPhone, since the iPhone 2.0 software hasn't been released, but you can at least browse and make a list (which I will be doing shortly).

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-76411529804918912132008-07-05T00:04:00.002-07:002008-07-05T00:06:30.819-07:00

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-15578228662278411272008-07-04T14:47:00.001-07:002008-07-04T14:47:59.432-07:00

So, we're getting ready for a trip and really don't feel like lugging our Sony mini-DV camcorder along with our digital camera. Everyone's talking about the Flip Mino, so that would be a possibility. Then again, our still camera has a movie mode, with the same resolution as the Mino (640x480), except that it has a 12X optical zoom, better optics, and a better sensor. It doesn't have much in the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-1251898546859174682008-06-27T15:08:00.002-07:002008-07-04T00:11:09.059-07:00

The title above links to one of the best illustrations I've seen of how to disagree with someone respectfully, even if that respect isn't reciprocated. This is something I should work on.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-15181249322390632512008-06-18T08:17:00.000-07:002008-06-18T08:41:21.074-07:00

Is this for real? Is there really a "World Rock-Paper-Scissors Society"? Is it just an elaborate joke? Would someone really put that much time into such a joke?

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-27649958554770245192008-06-17T21:26:00.000-07:002008-06-17T21:52:03.015-07:00

Seems there's a company in Japan that says they've built a car that runs on water. Supposedly, they have a "membrane electrode assembly" that breaks water into hydrogen and oxygen; they then use the hydrogen to generate electricity, producing water as the result. Sounds too good to be true? Then it almost certainly is (actually, I would state it more strongly than that). By comparison, cold

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-79531017164661967262008-06-02T21:06:00.003-07:002008-06-02T21:31:57.072-07:00

Today, we filled up our car's gas tank; it cost $4/gallon for the first time. At Costco. No doubt, in the months and years to come, people may read those last two sentences and wonder briefly if I was bragging about how low the price was. So, Dodge has release the new Challenger, with an SRT-8 model for 2008 and two down-line models planned for 2009. The car gets 13 miles per gallon (city)! With

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-86365312792675544672008-05-29T20:09:00.001-07:002008-08-11T13:56:29.984-07:00

Apple has released the Mac OS X 10.5.3 update, as of yesterday. This looks like it will be a big win for us Mac users, with stability improvements seemingly throughout the OS and included applications. Notable from my point of view are: "Fixes reliability issues with iCal syncing." I use Spanning Sync (click this link to save $5) to sync iCal with Google and back, so I can keep my home and work

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-87767380402758320482008-03-12T19:52:00.000-07:002008-03-12T16:55:37.161-07:00

Bill Gates made his annual pilgrimage to DC today to ask the federal government to spare him from raising his employees' wages. He says pay isn't the problem. Bill, if you want us to believe that this isn't just about money, why don't you help out the nearest university campus to you? We desperately want to start science and engineering majors, but the State doesn't have the money to build us a

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-91312838298794001572008-03-06T07:57:00.000-08:002008-03-06T12:59:00.735-08:00

Here's a very interesting video of the CMU autonomous vehicle they've been developing for the Army. I have mixed feelings about this. The chasis is very impressive. This thing would be great at a monster truck rally. I don't want to be anywhere near this thing when its gun is loaded. Not based on my assessment of how formidable it will be, but rather how reliably it will function. Shades of

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626743.post-63068151001935168292008-03-03T07:40:00.000-08:002008-03-03T13:40:54.861-08:00

An interesting article in that well-known socialist rag, The Wall Street Journal. Math and science do matter, not just for the individuals involved, but for the US economy as a whole. And, despite decades-ago calls to improve science and math education, the US still lags other industrialized nations.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0