Mike's Place - Blog

Star Wars

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:15:04 GMT

Over the last week and a half, I've read all the Star Wars novels (only those based on the screenplays for the movies) and watched all the movies. Two weeks ago, I was not a Star wars fan but now, although I still wouldn't go to any of the conventions or line up in advance for a premiere of one of the movies, I am (a fan). In many ways, I could be considered a geek - my love of science, math, reading and technology. Despite these things, there are many areas where I am definitely not a typical geek - I'm not into Star Trek, Monty Python, Lord of The Rings, comic books, graphic novels and Sci-fi in general. But now, at 40+ years of age, I have taken one more step closer to true 'geekiness'. I watched Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back as a kid (and enjoyed it) but after watching it, I never felt the need to immerse myself in the culture. I never watched Return of the Jedi until yesterday. After immersing myself in the stories of the Star Wars saga for the last week and a half, here are my thoughts:

My favourite of all the movies and novels was Revenge of the Sith. The novel was better written than the others and the story was more thought-provoking. The characters were well-developed and there was consistency with the overall story of the other novels.
My favourite of the original trilogy is Return of the Jedi. It wrapped up many of the loose ends and there were many new developments in the story.
After Obi-Wan dies, his apparition comes back every now and then to instruct Luke to "use the Force". I think a better use of his time would have been to sing "99 bottles of beer on the wall" or "I'm Hen-er-y the 8th I am, Hen-er-y the 8th I am, I am... 2nd verse same as the first" to Darth Vader whenever he tries to sleep. Doing this over a 5 or 6 day period would make Darth Vader so useless in a light saber duel that even an Ewok would be able to slay him.
If I were asked which character is most like me, I'd have to say R2-D2. He doesn't say much, few people understand him and even though he doesn't play a huge role in things that are going on, he often comes through to save the day. Also, when an annoying character (like C3P0) spends a lot of time complaining and blaming R2 for the problems, R2 ignores him. That would be my response too.
I, like everyone else, found Jar Jar Binks to be very annoying but not enough to ruin the movie. All they needed to do was to give him a less annoying voice (maybe deeper) and it would've been fine.
Mark Hamill is a bad actor. It's not hard to see why he dropped off the face of the earth after these movies. He reminds me of Shaun Cassidy in The Hardy Boys. He exaggerates his reactions and it just doesn't seem believable.
After 900 years, you would think Yoda would learn to put English phrases in the correct order.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I hope you found them amusing.

"I try, and I made it" - The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:47:55 GMT

I just finished what I consider one of the best (if not the absolute best) books I've ever read. I know, those of you that know me are thinking, "He says that about every book he reads". Let me explain. I actually only said "best" about two (maybe three) other books that I've read. It might seem like I recommend a lot of books to friends and family, but as a percentage of the books I read, it's actually pretty low.

Anyway, the book I'm talking about is "The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind" by William Kamkwamba. It's an autobiography about a boy struggling to live in a poverty-stricken area of Africa. It is such a poignant story. The hardships in the story brought tears to my eyes while the triumphs (even the small ones) made me laugh out loud.

I heard about this book over a year ago on The Daily Show and from TED videos:

After learning about this book, I bought it (digitally) right away but I hadn't got around to reading it until now. It starts a little slow, talking about the cultural superstitions about magic but this adds an important aspect to the main theme of the story. Once I got to the 'meat' of the story, I couldn't put it down.

The aphorism that most aptly summarizes the plot is "Knowledge is power", but that doesn't do it justice. The author, William Kamkwamba, realizes that with a little bit of knowledge, he can prevent the deaths of family members and friends. Not only can he save them, he can help them thrive. The main benefit is to power a water pump to irrigate crops which would allow the planting of crops twice a year instead of the usual once. It would also help during droughts. He started to develop the idea during the catastrophic drought of 2001. He (and everyone around him) was starving to death. One day when he went out to work in the fields, he mentioned to his friend that his father had reduced the number of meals they could have each day to two - "Isn't that awful?", he asked his friend. His friend responded that his family had already been doing that for weeks. Shortly after that, they had to cut down to one meal per day.

William cannot afford to go to Secondary School (it's not free) and he doesn't have much academic training. One day, he sees a Dynamo, which attaches to a bicycle wheel to power a light. It fascinates him. He begins to wonder how it works. He experiments with it and often goes to the library to read about Electricity and Magnetism. That's when he gets the idea to build a windmill. His family and friends think he's gone mad, collecting junk and preoccupying himself with things they don't understand. He quickly builds a tiny prototype and when it successfully powers his transistor radio, he nearly jumps out of his skin. He then begins to build a bigger, more functional windmill.

The people from the village laugh and ridicule him. When the day comes for William to assemble the finished windmill, many of the villagers gather around to laugh at him. When he finishes assembling it, and it powers a light bulb, everyone is in awe. His dream comes true.

Word gets out and the people from TED contact him. They ask him if he'd share his story in front of others. He gladly agrees, even though he has no idea what TED is, or even what a 'conference' is. When he finally gets to TED, and is on stage giving his story, he expects all the intelligent, educated and cultured people to laugh at him. When the audience erupts in applause, he can't believe it. When asked how he built the windmill, he briefly goes through his story and says, "I try, and I made it." The audience erupts in exuberant applause and the motto of that TED conference becomes, "I try, and I made it."

The main points that make this such a brilliant story to me are: - tenacity and hard work pays off - scientific, logical thinking defeats superstitious, magical thinking and can help turn a poor nation into a successful one - a passion for learning is often necessary for life (literally)

It's a great story and I strongly recommend it. If there were more William Kamkwambas in the world, it would be a better place.

The End of Satire

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:10:36 GMT

There is no need for parodies anymore. Nowadays, satire writes itself. When Sarah Palin was interviewed by Katy Couric, Saturday Night Live did a spoof of it which, they freely admit, required no writing. The skit was almost exactly the same as the real interview. I just saw a Levi Johnston interview where he announced he's running for mayor. Q: "What is your platform?". A:"I have none" Q: "What are your qualifications?" A: "I don't really have any, I will just talk to the people." You can't write this stuff! Christine O'Donnell's quotes can be strung together, unedited, to make a hilarious comedy show. She asks if Evolution is true, why aren't monkeys turning into humans right now? If this was someone in grade eight asking their teacher an honest question, it would be understandable but this is a person running for a Senate seat. She struggles with the easy questions that someone in her situation should be very prepared to answer. Jon Stewart was named the most trusted newsman of the year! I love his show and think he nails the issues but even he can see the irony of this designation. People can't tell a satirical comedian from the (so-called) honest pundits! If you watched Glenn Beck and then Stephen Colbert, you wouldn't be able to tell which one of them was speaking hyperbolically. Today's pundits are the ones that talk the loudest - they don't need to make any sense.

Rubik's Cube - Very Close

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 00:56:20 GMT

Well, this week I haven't had much time to work on my quest, but I feel like I'm very close to solving it. I will not be giving up. I have another busy week (or two) (as much as an MSer can be busy) , so I probably won't solve it within the next two weeks, but I WILL solve it. I am using my computer simulator (I wrote it) to help me analyze the moves and it's helped a lot. I could write another program that would go even further in its analysis, but I think I will leave it as is because the way it is now, it just shows me something equivalent to a detailed chart done with pen and paper. Anyway, stay tuned and when I solve it, I'll let you know.

Rubik's Cube Progress 2

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:31:01 GMT

I'm still working on Rubik's cube. I'm very close to solving it. I have sequences of moves that can transform the cube in predictable ways. I am able to keep one or two sides completed while manipulating other sides. I am spending on average about half an hour per day with most of the work being done in my head. I will keep you posted.

Rubik's Cube Progress

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:27:46 GMT

Well, I've spent probably three hours in total in my attempt to solve Rubik's Cube. I'm making progress and I'm confident that I'll solve it within 7-10 days. What I've done up to this point is to think about how each move affects every square on the cube. I realized that it comes down to finding a pattern from a chunk of data. Since I'm a programmer at heart, I wrote a computer program to simulate each move. That way, I can execute several combinations of moves and see the impact on the cube from its initial state to the end state (without tiring my fingers). The program is finished, so now I'll just need to experiment and find the patterns to develop an algorithm. Like I said previously, the first solution won't be optimal. I've made some simplifications like not worrying about counter-clockwise moves since it can be accomplished with 3 clockwise moves - this will be a very easy optimization at the end.

Rubik's Cube

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 14:46:28 GMT

Okay, I'm laying down the gauntlet (for myself). I've decided I'm going to solve Rubik's Cube. Before you ask, "Why are you telling me this?", I'll tell you. I want to announce it semi-publicly so that it gives me motivation to finish it. If I have to announce in a couple of weeks that I couldn't do it, it will be very embarassing and I'll be castigated and ridiculed by my peers. First, I'll give you some background. When I was twelve years old, I could solve it, but I did it by memorizing patterns and moves from a book. I think my best time was 40 seconds. Anyway, doing Rubik's cube with someone else's solution is like being a programmer that doesn't design his/her own code. It doesn't prove anything, except that you can follow a recipe. One of my strengths during my career was my problem solving ability. Although my skills are not quite what they were, I'm sure I can develop my own algorithm. These are my constraints:

I am not looking at other solutions/algorithms first. I don't want to be influenced by other people's solutions.
I am not using other people's notations. In my opinion, the notation is part of the solution and I'd like to develop it myself.
Since my hands get tired quickly, most of my practice will be executing moves in my head or written notes on my computer.
Since I can't concentrate deeply for long periods of time, I will probably do it for half an hour a day.

My basic approach is to treat it as if an alien dropped it off on my doorstep and the future of our civilization depends on solving it. Wish me luck. I hope that I won't have to announce in a couple of weeks that I couldn't do it.

Erratic Laughter

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:58:27 GMT

Have you ever known anyone that giggles or laughs for no real reason? I'm not talking about nervous, anxious laughter; I'm talking about someone that laughs at the most mundane things with no obvious impetus. "It's raining outside." "Hee Hee Hee Hee." "We just got back from the store." "Hee Hee Hee Hee." I don't get it. In my younger days, I might have smiled or laughed with approval. Now when someone does this, I just stoically gaze at them or possibly show a puzzled face. What else can you do? I don't feel like laughing about the statement "We need to fill our car with gas" or something just as ordinary. Don't get me wrong, I think I have a pretty good sense of humor, but entertaining these kinds of awkward situations takes too much effort. If you say something funny, I'll laugh. If you say something that has absolutely no humor, I won't. This happens more often than one would expect. Does anyone have any insight into this?

My Blog

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:14:19 GMT

Well, my blogging has been non-existent for quite some time. My last few blogs have started with "Well, I haven't blogged for a while..." There are a few reasons for this. When I started this website, I had the following goals in mind:

for me to keep up to date with web development technologies
to share photos, stories, thoughts with my family and friends
to make people laugh
to represent me as a person

It has always been a very personal project. This site is a good representation of who I am - technical, like to laugh and like to make others laugh, like to share my thoughts and stories with those that are interested. There are a few things that happened that made the focus of my site difficult to sustain. The first thing that happened was marriage. Don't misunderstand, I'm not blaming my wife in any way, it's just that things change when you get married. For example, I couldn't post on my blog "Joe Blow is a real jerk", like I could have when I was single - my wife would probably be appalled. I wouldn't blame her - we're no longer purely individuals; I represent her and she represents me. Those are my thoughts (I haven't discussed them with her) and it makes me second-guess the things that I am able to write. Another thing that has limited my desire to continue blogging is the combinaton of a larger audience with a direct link to my Facebook wall. It's ironic that when you create a blog, you want as many people to read it as possible but as soon as you get a consistent audience larger than your immediate family and close friends, it makes you feel self-conscious and (again) it limits what you can write about. The direct link to Facebook makes it difficult to be totally open since there are acquaintances on my "friends list" that I wouldn't, necessarily expect to be interested in things that I would post on a blog. That last point is quite ironic since : a) that's what Facebook is for and b) having a website that is accessible by anyone in the world would seem much less private than a Facebook post. The difference, in my mind, is that Facebook is more "push" and my website is more "pull". This means that only people that are interested in my ramblings will go to my website to view them, while anyone in my friends list on Facebook will see the same posts. For this reason, I'm breaking the Facebook/website link. After this post, anyone that is interested in my blogging should go to my website http://www.mikemartonfi.com). The other thing that has stifled my urge to post is the fact that my website is diffuse. It covers MS, technical issues and personal thoughts. People that are interested in technical discussions aren't necessarily interested in the other two categories. Likewise, people with MS may not care about technical issues or my personal thoughts. I've made a decision, though, that this website represents who I am as a person and will, therefore, be written about the things that are important to me. Some people that think about bloggers think that they are all narcissists. I don't consider myself as such and actually I'd consider myself slightly introverted. I've always liked reading about other people - their thoughts, their likes, their dislikes, etc. I like to read autobiographies to learn about different people. I don't do it in a voyeuristic way - I hate trashy magazines like "People", "The National Enquirer", etc. I'm more captivated by what a person chooses to share with other people about themselves. Up until a few years ago, I thought most people were like me - that the are intrigued by other people's life stories. I now realize that most people would rather talk about themselves than listen to someone else's story. Anyway, I'm going to start blogging again but (as I said), I will unlink my website blogs with my Facebook wall. For those that are interested in my stories, you can come visit my website.

Christmas 2008 Photos

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:38:29 GMT

Christmas photos from our trip to Newfoundland are posted at Flickr (click here)

The Results of My Online Poll

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 03:25:32 GMT

Well, I find the results of my online poll very interesting. The two questions were: 1) "When counting drawers, do you count from the bottom or the top?" (In other words, if someone said "3rd drawer", does that mean 3rd drawer from the top or 3rd drawer from the bottom?) 2) "When buttoning your shirt, do you start from the bottom or the top?" Four people answered and the results are as follows: 1) I count drawers from the bottom and button shirts from the bottom. 2) My twin brother (aka Santa Claus) starts at the top for both. 3) My younger brother starts at the top for drawers but at the bottom for buttons. 4) My mother starts at the top for both. So, even a sample of one family has different ways of doing these two simple things.

The End of an ERa

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:08:42 GMT

This is the last season of what, in my opinion, is probably one of the best dramas ever. It has outlasted many great shows including dramas and other medical dramas. The show has been my "comfort food" for 14 years. ER made such a large impact on me for a few reasons, but one of the main reasons is that I could immediately relate to it. The show started just as I was starting my career in Software Development. Some of the stories of the show were similar to what I was experiencing in my life. The hectic schedules, the constant "firefighting", the complex problems that needed to be solved immediately even though they seemed unsolvable were all shared between the show and my life. You'd see an intern on the show that was expected to save a life despite the self-doubt. Similarly, in my life I was in an occupation that had insane schedules, constant challenges and expected much of young people that had just come out of school. We were not expected to "save lives", but at times it seemed like it because of the urgency and the expectations of the clients. At times we felt we were over our heads but just as often, we had the "punching the air" in celebration moments that Peter Benton (played by Eriq La Salle) experienced when he performed at his best. As well as the career similarities, I could relate to the characters; Like me, they were young, they were discovering themselves and they were doing their best to balance work with leisure. They were developing new relationships with co-workers, friends and lovers. They were often dealing with difficult personality types. Sometimes their lives seemed out of control because of all the chaos but at the end of the day, they loved what they did. They learned to deal with their frantic lives and grew to thrive on it. I could relate to all of it. Along with these similaities to my life, the show was impeccably written. The characters and stories were created by the best in the business. There was humor, drama, tension, pain, exultation and sometimes horror. It was like watching an academy award winning movie every week. In my opinion, the quality of the characters and stories never suffered after all these years. Despite many characters/actors coming and going, the cast always seemed exciting, deep and cohesive. Despite the myriad plots over the years, the story lines were always interesting and fresh. In the early years, they were showered with Emmy awards, but lately they were overlooked. That's a shame since the quality of the show deserved to be honored. Some of the new characters on the show like Pratt, Luka and Gates were as good as Ross, Carter, and Greene. Some of the guest stars such as Forest Whitaker deserved awards for their masterful performances. The plots always had new challenges and were never predictable. After all these years, it's sad to see such a great show come to an end. It's been a constant companion of mine for 14 years and saying goodbye is hard.

Hacked!

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:24:39 GMT

I've said it before, I'll say it again - I can't understand how someone will damage someone else's property or work. My website was hacked with a SQL injection attack today. It affected thousands of records and could have potentially infected visitors to my website with a virus. I immediately took my website down when I discovered this. So, the technical readers of this article are thinking "didn't you read all the advisories in the new lately?". Well, I guess I should have read them more closely; I thought I was safe since my forms all validated input to prevent potential attacks. Well, this one used the query string on the URL to add script tags to every text field in my database. Arrggh! The good news is that I restored my database from a previous day, so I didn't need to fix my database manually. More good news is that (I believe) this type of attack is now impossible on my site. The last bit of good news is that I will now go back and read all those advisories and run the tools to check to see that my site is, indeed, hacker-proof. Damn hackers!

Gluttony - My Favourite Sin

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:03:11 GMT

We just got back from our favourite restaurant and we are totally stuffed; I feel like I will never need to eat again. We've only been to Milestones three times, but it is now clearly our favourite restaurant. We can find no flaw in any part of their food or service. Their Calamari is absolutely, without doubt, the best I've ever had. If you don't like Calamari, you should go to Milestones and try it. If you've never tried Calamari, you should go to Milestones and try it. If you do like Calamari, you should go to Milestones and try it. In all cases, you will find it to be one of the best appetizers you've ever had. Along with their appetizers, their entrees are excellent. I usually get the New York Striploin with Peppercorn spices - it is amazing. My wife gets their ravioli which is also awesome. Their desserts (especially the White Chocolate Cheesecake) are to die for. Even their coffee is great. The service is impeccable. If you ever watch "Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares" or the American Version (simply "Kitchen Nightmares"), you can see that the things Gordon Ramsey criticizes are all the things Milestones gets right:

a simple menu
get the small things right
focus on service
good food without a lot of complexity
good value
quality food

Although Milestones is fairly expensive, it is definitely worth it. We strongly recommend it.

Scrabble Techniques

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 03:34:03 GMT

I've always liked Scrabble and I consider myself to be a very competitive player. I've been playing Scrabulous (the same as Scrabble) on Facebook. I read a short article in Wired magazine about an online Scrabble word finder that has had a dramatic increase in traffic since the addition of Scrabulous to Facebook. The point of the article (and I agree) is 'what is the point of playing if you are going to cheat?' When I play, I sometimes (if it is mutually agreed-upon) use a dictionary. Playing this way is fun because you can be creative and discover new words. It still requires you to place the words in the most beneficial spot on the board and to play defensively. It's not cheating because both players have the same advantage. What I have decided, though, is that I am not going to play this way anymore. I've discovered enough extremely useful words to pull out some high valued words (EX, QAT, QAID, QADI, OO, QI, etc.) and it's time to exercise my memory. My new way of playing is to keep a text document open while I play. This document is not to refer to during play, but to add any 'potential' words that I think of. I will then look up the word after the game and find out whether or not the word could've been played and mark it in the document. The list will grow and I will look through the list as it does. I will try to remember the real words to add to my arsenal. So, bring it on! I'm ready to play but no cheaters allowed!