Jon's Notes
Bah
Go away for the weekend and come back to find that the microwave/refrigerator unit has died. This makes no sense. My computers ran while I was away without any ill effects. I would expect a computer to be more sensative to power problems than a rugged appliance. Ohh, well. Now I know the good in having the tap water scalding hot. I can make hot chocolate without using the microwave.
The fun of mistaken identity
I was going to the bathroom early one morning when I happened across two people in the hall. School has a no people of the opposite sex between blah time rule. I wear a pager for work. RAs wear pagers as well. One of the people was badly disguised as a football player. Around here, the typical football player's girlfriend looks nothing like a football player. It was so obvious that I nearly laughed. They saw me and started running for the nearest exit.
Thoughts from history class
These “historians” talk too much and cite too little. The make claims that contradict what has been taught without offering proof. They act as if changing their story on bits of history is no important matter. As Sagan said, though he probably rolls in the grave at my use of it, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If you are going to claim that North Americans traded with the Egyptians in the days of the Pharaohs you need to provide better proof than claims of nicotine on mummies. Which is easier to believe, that the Pharaohs consumed tobacco imported from North America, or that the mummies were contaminated by pipe smoking explorers?
Frankly, I'm surprised that this course (HIST103) exists. It is supposed to be history from the western world view. I get the feeling that his course has more to do with the instructor's world view than with anything else.
Interesting version of history
History class was quite interesting. I'm glad that I have a cold and can't think. Otherwise, I might have been corrupted :) Writing about class tonight it a matter for my more serious blog. I'll write about it there as soon as I'm done cleaning my room and running through chem problems.
Back from Chem - Getting ready for History
I'm back from chemistry class. I did not get as much out of it as I could have because of this cold. My head feels like cotten. I wish that the med cabinet was not out of common cold symptom shooter.
Hi ho, hi ho, off to class I go
I'm heading off to Chem in a few minutes. A whole hour early at that. I will sit in the hallway and read the textbook. Working a few problems can't hurt either.
I wonder if the science people are keeping an eye on the bluff. It would seem like the perfect place to observe erosion at work. I have been taking pictures of it lately. You can see cracks after the rain where large chunks of land will go crashing into lake mich. I wish I had my tape measure. It would be fun to record rainfall, water height, phase of the moon, and crack width, length, and height. Someone might find such information useful. If not, it would be good data collection practice.
Writing often
The more I write, the easier it becomes. I just wish I was more sure of my grammar. I lost my copy of Strunk and White. Perhaps it is under the pile of papers on the floor in my room. I really should clean up that pile. Where would I put the magazines. When will I get a change to go through the examples in Dr. Dobb's. I'm still not sure why the sent me a free subscription. Perhaps their advertisers are trying to make college students aware of their products.
I really should have purchased a full-height bookshelf. The short one does not have enough room. I have books scattered about, not because I like messes, but because there is no room on the shelf. I don't want to keep books on the window sill like everyone else because I'm worried about moisture damage. You see, I have to keep the windows open to keep my room cool.
Test post from BlogJet
This is a test post from BlogJet.
BlogJet and Zempt both have trouble with my MT blog. The Apache thread handling my request core dumps. I'll install it on another computer and see what it does.
I'm off to lunch. After that, I need to study for chem class. I should probably work a few problems to work out the cobwebs in my mind.
Such Evil Exists?
I'm currently recording grad nursing classes for distance learning.
The presenters tonight are speaking on pediatric neurology and child abuse.
I get the feeling based on the neurology speaker that I should not have ignored the headaches I had during my early teens.
Now, from the child abuse speaker: 1,200 Children die in the United States each year from child abuse or willful neglect. That number disturbs me greatly.
No, scratch that, the powerpoint pictures disturb me more. What makes people do these things?
You can see the look of one who has seen too much in the eyes of the presenter. I'm getting pretty good at identifying that look. I see it in the eyes of one of the students in my chem class who is a police officer on the night shift.
Now she is on the burn pictures. Only 30 more minutes of this.
The Iguana and the History Professor
This morning, the professor in my
CS class gave us little
plastic iguanas. Each iguana is about one inch long. I tried to walk around with the iguana on my shoulder, but it fell off. I put the iguana in my pocket and left it there until my evening class. My evening class is three hours long. It starts at 5:30 and runs until 8:30. The professor is quite serious. Very much a no-nonsense type. I placed the iguana on top of my desk after our second break, around 7 or so. I started stroking the iguana. Sometimes on the head. Sometimes scratching it's belly. This appeared to disturb the professor. He would step forward, pause, and glance down for a second. At other times he would glance at my desk with a look of puzzlement. He seemed to relax once he came to terms with the idea that, yes, I was petting a plastic iguana.
Confessions of a (former?) Code Monkey Trainee
I've become dissatisfied with Computer Science lately. Studying the science of computing seems to be sucking the art and enjoyment out of it. A few month ago I would have told you that I felt called to be a computer scientist. Now I'm not so sure. Family and friends think that I have a gift with computers. I don't. I've just had far too much experience with them. Yes, I can make the “rocks that do logic” jump through hoops. That does not mean that I will make a good code monkey. Assuming I wanted to be a code monkey, which I don't.
I want to make computers do impossible things, better. Not spend my days writing transaction modules for a bank. Current “Computer Science” curricula often claims to have concepts as it's goals. In practice, it's all about fancier graphs for Uncle Bob's financial management program or better graphics for Cousin Anne's game. To be blunt, I resent going to class three times a week just to go over things I knew three years ago with people who, for the most part, couldn't care less. It's draining me. Never mind that being able to skip along on one class tricks my mind into skipping on classes where it can't.
You want me to be a better communicator? Fine, I'll take English courses above and beyond what is in the common core.
It's all about problem solving? Experience at work and home has taught me that problem solving is more art than science. The most successful way for me to solve problems is by looking closely at things that don't look or feel right. Programming is, for me, a series of intuative leaps strung together.
Perhaps I'm just fed up with the way computing is headed. I don't want a hand in creating interactive crack for a new generation. The future of computing is not about a better form of interactive television or universal access to the internet. We are all swimming in a polluted river of untreated data. The true usefulness of the internet will be revealed when anyone can have timly access to relevent and well formed intelligence about their life and the things that directly affect it.