You have your slaw sir!

The Bailout Rap

2008-10-01T12:09:00.001-07:00

When is a sphere not a sphere?

2008-06-26T17:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I posed the following question to a few of my more mathematically-inclined friends:

"If you have an orthographic representation of an object (that is, views from the front, top, and left sides), and from each angle it appears as a circle, is the object guaranteed to be a sphere? And if not, what other shape could it possibly be?"

Here it is again, in simpler terms.

Let's say you have a ball. If you trace the outline of that ball, it will be a circle. Take that ball and rotate it 90 degrees forward, trace the outline, rotate it 90 degrees sideways, and trace it again. Can you make any modification to that ball without affecting the outlines?

I probably wasted more than an hour yesterday trying to figure out this simple puzzle. There is one trivial solution which does not count, and that is anything affecting the invisible 1/8th of the ball.

I finally realized the solution earlier today when I glanced at the basketball on my floor. I recommend thinking about it for a while on your own, then when you're done you can find out.

The end of personal blogs

2008-06-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

I have completely neglected my blog. So has everybody else.

Of my friends with blogs, half of them have not updated in 3 months. One hasn't updated in over a year. In fact, the most recent update on any blog was a full month ago!

Blogs come and go, that's a given. People have short attention spans. But when an entire group of blogs fades out of existence, there must be something else afoot. Our personal blogs are being replaced in great quantity by structured "social networking" websites such as Facebook and microblogging services like Twitter.

The reality is that those services have provided better alternatives to achieve the goals that we were trying to achieve with blogging. For a small personal blog that only gets read by friends and family, the focus is mostly on updating those people about our personal lives. Facebook is now the most popular way to do this, and it takes much less effort than blogging.

I've spent some time thinking about how this affects me and the handful of people that read my blog. I have decided that I will not give up on blogging, but rather pursue a different direction. In the future, my posts are likely to be of a more technical nature which will reflect on the nature of my interests.

I hope that you will continue to find my posts interesting, and I look forward to reading your comments.

Relay for Life times

2008-05-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

My time slots for Relay for Life are as follows:

May 10, 9:00 PM - 10:00PM and
May 11, 12:00 AM - 1:00 AM (yup, that's midnight!)

Feel free to join me! :D

Relay for Life 2008

2008-04-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again - Relay for Life!

I'll be walking again this year, and this will be my fifth year participating. I'll be walking with my coworkers from Chan Foucher LeFebvre.

And this is where you come in. My co-workers are all accountants, and I want to show them that a handful of students can contribute more than they can. I've put in $50 of my own money already. Now I don't expect everybody to match that, but it would be great if you could make some small contribution.

If you're feeling up to my challenge, then head straight on over to my Official Donation Page, linked below. Keep in mind that you need a credit card in order to donate online. If you don't have a credit card, I can take cash and place a donation in your name.

Click Here To Donate

I'll be walking at Masich Place for two 1-hour segments, probably at night because I'm no pansy. I don't have my time slot yet, but I'll post again when I do. If anybody wants to come walk with me, I'd appreciate the company!

Music and Life - Alan Watts

2008-04-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

jellybeans

2008-03-08T15:49:00.001-08:00

I could really go for some jelly-beans right now...

... it's too bad about the zombies.

Race

2008-02-28T21:23:00.000-08:00

Today I participated in a lawnmower race.

I came in second place.

That is all.

MacBook: Tape not included

2007-12-27T23:12:00.000-08:00

I got my MacBook back from London Drugs today after taking it in for a fan issue, and (as usual) my computer came back in less than ideal condition.

Whoever worked on this computer managed to leave a gash of plastic hanging loose off the front that scratches at my wrist when I type or use the trackpad. It's kind of hard to explain, so I took a picture.

I'm a bit upset that my computer came back in this condition, but honestly it's not a huge deal. Right now, the flap is plastic is taped down using scotch tape, so it's only slightly annoying. Still, it's the principle of the issue. When I take my computer in to get it fixed, it's reasonable to expect that extra defects won't be present when it comes back to me.

I've already called the tech at London Drugs about it, and he says he's going to follow up with the store that did the actual repair (I have a sneaking suspicion I won't hear back from him soon). I'm not really sure who to complain to. London Drugs was doing the repair, but my service plan is with Apple. I have a hunch that neither of them will want to take responsibility.

I'm wondering whether I should even make a fuss about it. After all, it's already been gone for two months and I just got it back barely in time for school, so I'd hate to lose it again.

What would you do?

Update [Dec 29]: The manager of the computers department at London Drugs left a message on my answering machine today, letting me know that she wanted to "help resolve this issue." Her next work day is Monday, and I'll be following up then.

Daniel leaves for China

2007-12-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

Daniel is leaving for China tomorrow and will be staying for three weeks. He is going to present some research he did in university at some conference-type thing. Afterwards he is going to explore China and see things that I am pretty sure are only real in books, like the Great Wall. It's all very exciting, and I wish him the best of luck.

He will be maintaining a travel blog and I encourage you to check it out.

http://greatdanielofchina.blogspot.com/

Christmas Party 2007!

2007-12-15T22:14:00.000-08:00

We are hosting CHRISTMAS PARTY 2007 at my apartment tomorrow evening, Sunday Dec 16! If you are a regular reader of my blog and have not been invited yet, you probably should have been, so feel free to drop by.

There will be a under $10 gift exchange too, so buy something cheap and wrap it nicely, but leave it anonymous. Remember, only if you bring a gift for the exchange can you get one in return.

If you bring snacks or drinks, we will love you forever. Hope to see you there!

A change of place

2007-12-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

I recently accepted a job offer from Chan Foucher LeFebvre, LLP, a local accounting firm. My duties include providing dedicated IT Technical Support and upgrading their website, among other fun things. I will be leaving Future Shop and starting at CFL in the new year.

Wish me luck. :)

Sharing expenses with roommates

2007-12-06T01:20:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been thinking about how normal roommates manage their shared finances, and why that isn't good enough for me.

You see, I have an unusual setup with my roommates. We share almost every kind of expense, from the obvious (rent) to the obscure (a toilet plunger). Our combined buying power allows us to own nice things, but requires careful tracking so that each roommate only has to pay their fair share.

Most my friends avoid the issue altogether by keeping expenses separate, with the exception of rent and utilities. As far as I can tell, there is always one person elected as the "accountant" of the household who is responsible for adding up a couple bills at the end of the month. However, it never goes much beyond that.

While drafting this post, I tried to summarize the features of my accounting system, but it quickly ran to several boring pages. I'm leaving the details out today, but may write about it later if anybody is interested.

If you live with at least one roommate, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear about the strategies that other people have developed.

Music and Feelings

2007-11-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

*ramble alert*

I was very young when I first heard somebody say that music was a language that all people could understand. It was ridiculous, how could you tell somebody your name, or ask where the washroom was, just by using music? "Pssh," I thought, "that's baloney."

Years later when I was studying French, I was intruiged to find out that there were some things that could be said in French that had no real equivalent in English. It turns out that most languages have this feature! So... maybe music is a language after all, it's just that we use it to say different things... I heard a musician once say that music was the true language of the human spirit. So maybe music is the language of feelings? How many times have you tried to express a feeling but couldn't find the words, yet were able to find a song that matched that feeling perfectly?

Some philosophers have postulated that our ability to think is limited by our ability to express our thoughts. In other words, our ideas are limited by our language. I think it's reasonable that language could be a prerequisite to sentient thought. So what about music? It seems to me that music (listening and creating) is a huge part of our abilility for feeling and emotion.

Here's a kicker: music isn't exclusive to humans. Whales, dolphins, and probably other creatures have music too.

What do you think?

I am returning to UNBC!

2007-11-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

Yes it's true, I am going back to school next semester. I am pretty sure that some of you out there will be excited to hear that I haven't turned into a drop-out yet. :)

I'll be taking only three classes, which is enough to qualify myself as a "full-time" student, so I'll be eligible for student loans because saving money while working almost minimum wage didn't work out so well for me.

Yes, I will be accepting donations to the "Nic needs brain food" fund starting immediately.

I haven't told my coworkers or bosses any of this yet, so if you're out there reading my blog (creepy!) then this message is for you: "Nyahhh!"

Laughing Yoga

2007-10-11T18:54:00.001-07:00

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a while. Some of you might find it corny, others might find it downright disturbing. Click if you dare.

Electronics Recycling

2007-10-09T19:33:00.001-07:00

Future Shop started an electronics recycling program on October 5th. I'm still trying to find out the specifics, but basically you take your old iPod or whatever to Future Shop and drop it off for free in this box at the front door, then they take care of shipping off that stuff to wherever it needs to go. Neat.

More details to come!

Groceries aren't taxable!

2007-10-01T11:50:00.001-07:00

Call me a fool, but I didn't realize until yesterday that there is no tax on groceries! True, there are a few exceptions, but the definition of "essential" foods is pretty lenient. When I went grocery shopping yesterday, I had to pay GST on only these foods.

Potato Salad
Tortilla Chips

But the following were all completely tax-free!

Chimichangas
Frozen Lasagna
Spanakopita
Yoplait! Yogurt

Before you scream at me "Nic! That isn't healthy!" please realize that this isn't a true cross section of my grocery list - I picked out only the items I would expect to carry GST.

Okay, now you can criticize my shopping habits.

Future Shop: Blogging Code of Conduct

2007-09-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

By popular request, I've posted the Future Shop Blogging Code of Conduct that I was given by my manager last month. Here's a couple excerpts that nicely sum it up.

Common Sense and Good Judgement - Associates have an obligation to uphold Future Shop's reputation while engaging in blogging activities. You should refrain from making disparaging remarks about the company or our stakeholders (e.g. associates, management, customers, vendors, business partners) and should maintain harassment-free blogs. You should also ensure that the company's conidential information is kept secure at all times. Ask your manager or HR representative if you have any questions about what is appropriate to post.

Confidential, Proprietary, and other Protected Information - You should never disclose any information that is confidential or proprietary to the company or to any third party that has disclosed information to us. Do not use company trademarks, logos, or other company material. You should respect copyright, fair use, and financial disclosure laws at all times.

Associates who conduct themselves contrary to this policy or other company policies in connection with their blogging activities will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment for cause.

It's pretty much just common sense, really.

Future Shop Screensavers for Mac

2007-09-18T18:33:00.001-07:00

At Future Shop, we have screensavers (animated advertisements, actually) that go on all the demo computers. They are produced at head office, but for some reason head office neglects to make version that work for Macs. So last week, I quickly converted the screensaver to work on my MacBook, then e-mailed a copy off to one of my managers.

After a few days, it's made the rounds, and now the General Manager of my store is sending me mad props via e-mail.

Awesome job Nick!!!
This is truly living Learning from Challenge and Change!

Great job keep up the good work.

Steve Leduc
General Manager
Prince George, Store 700

It's nice to be appreciated. :)

PS. Future Shop has recently released a "blogging policy" dictating what we are and are not allowed to disclose on blogs. Free speech FTW.

I found my camera!

2007-09-16T01:45:00.001-07:00

I've been wondering where it was for a few weeks now. Dez figured that I had just misplaced it in a pocket somewhere, and laughed at me for getting such a small camera that it could be lost in a pocket.

Dez turned out to be right, it was in a pouch in my back pack all along! I'm so happy now. I did a little dance when I found it, because I was so happy!

That is all.

Did you know?

2007-08-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

Every so often, you see or hear something that makes you stop in your tracks and just THINK really hard. That's what I found in my e-mail box this morning. Watch this video, and you'll be glad you did.

Did You Know? (YouTube, 8 minutes)

A+ Certified!

2007-07-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

I wrote my second and final A+ test today, and if you read the title of this post, you already know that I passed. :)

My score on the A+ "IT Technician" test: 820 (out of 900)

And I finished five minutes faster than last time. :)

:)

Half Certified

2007-07-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

As some of you already know, I'm pursuing my A+ certification right now. Okay, maybe "pursuing" is too strong of a word. All I need to do is pass two short tests with at least 75%. Of course, 75% isn't really a satisfying score, so I spent some time studying beforehand. It paid off nicely today.

My score on the A+ Essentials test: 810 (out of 900)

Oh yeah, and I finished in less than half the allotted time. :)

I'M IN UR COOKIE

2007-07-15T17:36:00.000-07:00