I decided to take a break from the overly cerebral thoughts. It'll be days before anyone reads that stuff and I doubt anyone will comment. After all, if you're looking to discuss religion, you're looking for a fight. Hopefully, my opinions won't stir up any fights. Many people don't see how a mathematician like myself could reconcile religious issues with scientific principles. Hopefully, I have given people enough insight into that dynamic that they can understand.
Here is a short anecdote to show off how truly lazy I can get. With the exception of rent and my utilities, which gets tacked onto my rent, I pay all of my bills online. I set them on the corner of my command center and typically deal with them around the middle of the month. All I have to do is log onto my checking account online and set the date for which they are paid. It's a painless process that literally takes minutes. As you recall, mid month I finished the novel and took a break. Too lazy to pay the bills. Instead I finished off those Stargate episodes (more on that in a minute) and started pondering my God and my faith. Too lazy to pay the bills.
Anyway, it gets to the 26th, Memorial day, and this is when my internet bill is due. Still too lazy to pay it. On the 27th, I finally sit down and pay all of my bills. Don't worry, they're all on time except for my internet. Literally hours after I pay the bill, my service is cut. The bill will take a couple of days to process so I am currently without internet access. Hopefully, it'll be turned on late Thursday or early Friday. It wasn't like I forgot to pay it. Every day or two, I'd look at the bills sitting there and I just kept putting it off. Too many important things to think about, but really, that's just heady talk for, too lazy to pay it.
I am fortunate that I have evolved into a high enough being that I can access the internet with my mind. It seems the only tools I need to aid me in the process is my laptop and the wireless connector that's built in.
As I said a moment ago, I finished yet another project. My ten seasons of Stargate viewing has been completed. when last I commented, I praised the show for starting a cerebral long term plot arc. Unfortunately, it only lasted the second half of the ninth season and the first half of the tenth season before returning to the single serving size that bored me. I may, someday, revisit this plot arc, but I doubt I could muster up the energy to watch the entirity of this show again. Don't get me wrong. It's a fine show for what it does and it is enjoyable if for no other reason than it takes itself no more seriously than it needs to, but at the end of the day, I do not find it as gripping as I do other shows sci-fi shows. Mosse insists the show is much better when viewed one episode per week as opposed to back to back. I am sure he is correct.
That was a lot of TV viewing for me over the last month and a half or so, but I am glad to get it out of the way. It means I can start a new project, and like it or not, it's going to be the second novel. I have started it already, but not by much. Essentially, I have completed the preface and now it is time to pick up where I left off. I may or may not get to starting on it this weekend. Kim was supposed to come out and visit while attending a tea convention, but she had to cancel as things were too busy at the building. She has asked me to attend part of it on her behalf so I can pick up the literature.
In doing this, it will be the first time I have actually bothered to go down to the far end of the strip. I have been working on getting back on to a daytime schedule so that I can attend this convention for a day. It will also be good since I want to start the second novel in earnest on Sunday or Monday For some reason it has been quite tough flipping schedules this time around. I slept this morning from about 6am to noon and it was easily one of the worst six hour periods of sleep I have ever had. I was up seven times in that six hours, but I think this is a good thing. With any luck I can manage to stay awake until late this evening and sleep all night. We shall see.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
'Cause I Gotta Have Faith
Albert Einstein once said, "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Unfortunately, the word lame has undergone a slight metamorphosis since his day. He meant the word to imply crippled, not boring or "unfun" as it is often taken today. Even the Catholic church has begun accepting mass quantities of science into their coffers, up to and including the Big Bang Theory. If only they could get over their sexual repression, especially the use of birth control, I'd probably give them more respect. Sexual repression is an issue I have with most Christianesque churches. For whatever reason they are trying to treat sex as a mental and spiritual exercise when it is a biological one, but the issue of sex is not what I am to discuss today.
I have been thinking about the concept of Faith itself. It is a curious thing. By definition, matters of faith require no proof. I find it to be the foundation of hope and optimism, so without it, I feel people would lack enthusiasm, curiosity, and desire. A person with no faith in anything is truly a mere shell of a person.
I find it unfortunate that modern science has chosen to attack back at religion as religion has attacked it in the past. Worse yet, religous people choose to cut off their nose to spite their face, by denying science. We've all read about the religions/cults that believe in the healing power of prayer. Whereas, I will be the first one in line to say that people should rely less on medicines and focus more on their health, there is no amount of prayer that will help most cancer patients. We've also all read about the miraculous remissions that sick people can fall into overnight. Miracles or not, such things do not happen to everyone. Not even enough to warrant blind faith that the Lord will cure them. I see no sensible thought process that prevents a person from praying in addition to chemotherapy and/or operating.
Of course, in such an extreme cases, I am sure those that will be reading this blog agree with me. Yet, it points out the extremity of faith. The lack of a need for proof and it doesn't have to involve a strict religious setting. Of course, this example uses such a vehicle, but there are examples where faith misleads a person, and it has little if anything to do with organized religion.
Michael Crichton, yes, of Jurassic Park fame, spoke of such an example. He has become quite the philosopher of late and in particular, he speaks of environmentalism. Somewhat unfortunately, he does so from an anthropologists point of view and has used the anthropological definitions of what constitutes a religion. By this account, he decrees environmentalism to be a religion. I am not going to debate the merits of this point of view, since, as I have spoken in previous posts, one can make a definition as they see fit and mold it to their own ends. I will employ Potter Stewart's archetype for a definition in that I cannot fully define what a religion is to consist of, but I know it when I see it, and I am a long way off from counting environmentalism as a religion. More abstractly, I have no doubt that you can define an apparent religion from anything that involves faith.
I digress; How does one observe issues of faith in environmentalism? The simple truth is that most environmentalist "facts" are nothing more than observations that make sense to the average person. Let's start at the top: Global warming. There really is only one fact that we know about global warming and that is the observation that the earth is warming up. Without wasting the time to look up the precise numbers, I believe the average rate of increase is in the neighborhood of 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit per century. I could be wrong. Feel free to correct me, but whatever the proper figure, it is not anything anyone would notice in their lifetime.
Of course, since my childhood, third grade in fact, I have endured theories in the news and the classroom about greenhouse gases and other sorts of speculations. Quite simply, they are all theories that try to explain why the earth is warming up. Like many boys, I had a curiosity in dinosaurs and read about ice ages and other natural disasters that eventually wiped them out. As I got older, I managed to correlate the two phenomena and form an opinion of my own. In particular, we know the earth has undergone four ice ages in the last million years. The last one ended about 10,000 years ago. To my thinking, the ending of an ice age must be defined by a warming trend. In short, we are obviously still in the warming trend of the last ice age.
Thus, any discussion or theory about global warming must take this into account, but they do not. People concerned about the environment, and for the record I don't blame them for I am concerned myself, have sought modern causes for something that started quite naturally 10,000 years ago.
Quite frankly, there is little evidence of man's impact on the environment because it does not suit those with the proper resources to look for it. There is no funding from big business because they would be wasting resources to shoot themselves in the foot. There is little funding from governmental resources because our government is run by big business. Worse yet, people still have the power to influence don't want to pay for it in the form of taxes, so they let the science pass them by in hopes that they won't have to deal with the environmental fallout in their lifetimes. Of course, that's not faith. That's sticking ones head in the sand.
Where does the faith come in? Environmentalists accept certain things on faith. They accept without proof, the greenhouse gas nonsense. Not so much because it makes sense, but because they need to believe that this our fault. Obviously, they feel the need to protect the environment and are willing to accept unproven statements to back their belief that we need to change our ways. Again, I couldn't agree more. I am not debating the merits of their position, merely, what causes them to accept that position. They attempt to grasp at science to prove their claims about the degradation of the environment, but in reality, science doesn't have their back.
I could go on, but I am kind of running long. It is perhaps best that I simply link the speech Michael Crichton gave in regards to environmentalism as a religion. He makes the point far more eloquently that I could. I highly recommend it.
Unfortunately, the word lame has undergone a slight metamorphosis since his day. He meant the word to imply crippled, not boring or "unfun" as it is often taken today. Even the Catholic church has begun accepting mass quantities of science into their coffers, up to and including the Big Bang Theory. If only they could get over their sexual repression, especially the use of birth control, I'd probably give them more respect. Sexual repression is an issue I have with most Christianesque churches. For whatever reason they are trying to treat sex as a mental and spiritual exercise when it is a biological one, but the issue of sex is not what I am to discuss today.
I have been thinking about the concept of Faith itself. It is a curious thing. By definition, matters of faith require no proof. I find it to be the foundation of hope and optimism, so without it, I feel people would lack enthusiasm, curiosity, and desire. A person with no faith in anything is truly a mere shell of a person.
I find it unfortunate that modern science has chosen to attack back at religion as religion has attacked it in the past. Worse yet, religous people choose to cut off their nose to spite their face, by denying science. We've all read about the religions/cults that believe in the healing power of prayer. Whereas, I will be the first one in line to say that people should rely less on medicines and focus more on their health, there is no amount of prayer that will help most cancer patients. We've also all read about the miraculous remissions that sick people can fall into overnight. Miracles or not, such things do not happen to everyone. Not even enough to warrant blind faith that the Lord will cure them. I see no sensible thought process that prevents a person from praying in addition to chemotherapy and/or operating.
Of course, in such an extreme cases, I am sure those that will be reading this blog agree with me. Yet, it points out the extremity of faith. The lack of a need for proof and it doesn't have to involve a strict religious setting. Of course, this example uses such a vehicle, but there are examples where faith misleads a person, and it has little if anything to do with organized religion.
Michael Crichton, yes, of Jurassic Park fame, spoke of such an example. He has become quite the philosopher of late and in particular, he speaks of environmentalism. Somewhat unfortunately, he does so from an anthropologists point of view and has used the anthropological definitions of what constitutes a religion. By this account, he decrees environmentalism to be a religion. I am not going to debate the merits of this point of view, since, as I have spoken in previous posts, one can make a definition as they see fit and mold it to their own ends. I will employ Potter Stewart's archetype for a definition in that I cannot fully define what a religion is to consist of, but I know it when I see it, and I am a long way off from counting environmentalism as a religion. More abstractly, I have no doubt that you can define an apparent religion from anything that involves faith.
I digress; How does one observe issues of faith in environmentalism? The simple truth is that most environmentalist "facts" are nothing more than observations that make sense to the average person. Let's start at the top: Global warming. There really is only one fact that we know about global warming and that is the observation that the earth is warming up. Without wasting the time to look up the precise numbers, I believe the average rate of increase is in the neighborhood of 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit per century. I could be wrong. Feel free to correct me, but whatever the proper figure, it is not anything anyone would notice in their lifetime.
Of course, since my childhood, third grade in fact, I have endured theories in the news and the classroom about greenhouse gases and other sorts of speculations. Quite simply, they are all theories that try to explain why the earth is warming up. Like many boys, I had a curiosity in dinosaurs and read about ice ages and other natural disasters that eventually wiped them out. As I got older, I managed to correlate the two phenomena and form an opinion of my own. In particular, we know the earth has undergone four ice ages in the last million years. The last one ended about 10,000 years ago. To my thinking, the ending of an ice age must be defined by a warming trend. In short, we are obviously still in the warming trend of the last ice age.
Thus, any discussion or theory about global warming must take this into account, but they do not. People concerned about the environment, and for the record I don't blame them for I am concerned myself, have sought modern causes for something that started quite naturally 10,000 years ago.
Quite frankly, there is little evidence of man's impact on the environment because it does not suit those with the proper resources to look for it. There is no funding from big business because they would be wasting resources to shoot themselves in the foot. There is little funding from governmental resources because our government is run by big business. Worse yet, people still have the power to influence don't want to pay for it in the form of taxes, so they let the science pass them by in hopes that they won't have to deal with the environmental fallout in their lifetimes. Of course, that's not faith. That's sticking ones head in the sand.
Where does the faith come in? Environmentalists accept certain things on faith. They accept without proof, the greenhouse gas nonsense. Not so much because it makes sense, but because they need to believe that this our fault. Obviously, they feel the need to protect the environment and are willing to accept unproven statements to back their belief that we need to change our ways. Again, I couldn't agree more. I am not debating the merits of their position, merely, what causes them to accept that position. They attempt to grasp at science to prove their claims about the degradation of the environment, but in reality, science doesn't have their back.
I could go on, but I am kind of running long. It is perhaps best that I simply link the speech Michael Crichton gave in regards to environmentalism as a religion. He makes the point far more eloquently that I could. I highly recommend it.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
It Stands to Reason
A phrase that I simply cannot stand is, "Anything is possible."
As a logician, it pains me when people say such stupid things. This statement is OBVIOUSLY self-contradictory. It takes about 0.02 seconds to come up with an example of something that is not possible. For instance, I cannot physically be both 5 years old and 55 years old at the same time. I could continue with examples, but you have already come up with examples of your own no doubt.
I have not written the past few days. It is the crash I inevitably go through once I accomplish a goal. I need to take a little time to recover and set new goals. I have also not allowed myself to set any time consuming projects. If I am to do that, it will be a writing project. Specifically, the second novel.
As a result, I have been doing a lot of thinking. These thoughts do have a catalyst. As strange as it may seem, the Stargate episodes I have been watching have finally gotten good. It took until its ninth season for it to start asking really deep questions about life and death. The first eight seasons were your standard TV bullshit. Every episode its own little story and at the end it was concluded with a pretty bow slapped on top. It seems this candy is what endures on television, because any show I have ever seen that has an intelligent, well crafted, story arc continuing from episode to episode, dies a quick death.
In the ninth season, the show begins to have a serious continuing arc that allows one to go into some serious theological and philosophical debates. So what happens? The show becomes so cerebral that, after changing it's formula, it is canceled by the end of the second season under this new format. I am not here to discuss or debate the stupidity of the average television viewer. I understand that most people cannot handle discussions any deeper than what lies in their tissues after they blow their nose. I typically put these people in the "Cows just chewing away at their cud" category and move on. If you're reading this, you're unlikely to be one of those people.
Since I have been thinking away at these deep issues for a few days, I will likely talk about them in my posts for a few days. We shall see. Anyway, getting back to my initial comment and tying it in with Stargate episodes. In short, the show begs the objective question, "what is God?" or "what is a god?" I think I'll get into those questions at a later date. For now, I will discuss my views, and get into more tomorrow.
First off, I do believe in God as a creator, however, I am not a Christian. Naturally, I believe in many of the Christian principles of the Bible, and some of the principles, I do not. Simply put, I am not a Christian because I do not accept that Christ was the direct Son of God. I believe he was the son of God in the same way that we are all children of God.
That said, I do not believe in an all knowing, all powerful creator. If such a thing existed, anything would be possible and we all agreed at the beginning that that was a self contradictory statement. Feel free to reassess your opinions that you carved out of the first paragraph. I am not here to convince you my thoughts are correct. I am simply expressing my thoughts.
Back in the days when I was learning and teaching fencing, one of the students was a Presbyterian Minister. She and I became good friends, mostly, because I did not treat her as a Minister. I treated her like anyone else. She found it refreshing to have a friend who was not associated with her religion, but that is not to say we never discussed theological matters. Naturally, I proposed the age old question, "Can God create a stone that he himself cannot move?"
Obviously, the question is self-referential intentionally. In logic, it well known that the cause of many many paradoxes are due to self-referential statements. The obvious verbal paradox created here is that we have set the stage for something that God cannot hope to accomplish. Either God cannot create such a stone, or it is possible for there to exist stones that God cannot move.
My friend countered with, "Why would he want to?" A valid point, although, not a logically valid point. We can all see the sensibility of her statement, but it evades the argument without addressing it. If you go back to one of the logical fallacy pages I offered last month in my Slip Sliding Away post, this type of counterargument is called an irrelevant appeal.
The above discussion is a funny thing that is a cousin to faith itself. The question is not illogical to ask, but the answer, either way, is irrelevant. It is a curious thing that it is up to the individual as to how much logical self-contradiction we allow our perception of God to have. If you choose to accept God as an all knowing, anything is possible, type of God, then you are allowing your universe to make as little sense as is logically possible. Contrariwise, if you accept that God has limits. That is, there exists things that even God cannot accomplish, your universe can actually be made logically consistent.
Again, this is just the logician throwing out my thoughts, my but this makes sense to me. I have no problems in believing in a creator that has flaws and is even capable of failure. My universe is not consistent otherwise and that is unacceptable to me because God did not create the universe to be so messy. I used to tell my calculus students that if I didn't make five mistakes by lunchtime, I wasn't trying hard enough. If I was truly made in God's image and I am but a shadow of that likeness, I hesitate to imagine how many mistakes God sets out to make by lunchtime.
As a logician, it pains me when people say such stupid things. This statement is OBVIOUSLY self-contradictory. It takes about 0.02 seconds to come up with an example of something that is not possible. For instance, I cannot physically be both 5 years old and 55 years old at the same time. I could continue with examples, but you have already come up with examples of your own no doubt.
I have not written the past few days. It is the crash I inevitably go through once I accomplish a goal. I need to take a little time to recover and set new goals. I have also not allowed myself to set any time consuming projects. If I am to do that, it will be a writing project. Specifically, the second novel.
As a result, I have been doing a lot of thinking. These thoughts do have a catalyst. As strange as it may seem, the Stargate episodes I have been watching have finally gotten good. It took until its ninth season for it to start asking really deep questions about life and death. The first eight seasons were your standard TV bullshit. Every episode its own little story and at the end it was concluded with a pretty bow slapped on top. It seems this candy is what endures on television, because any show I have ever seen that has an intelligent, well crafted, story arc continuing from episode to episode, dies a quick death.
In the ninth season, the show begins to have a serious continuing arc that allows one to go into some serious theological and philosophical debates. So what happens? The show becomes so cerebral that, after changing it's formula, it is canceled by the end of the second season under this new format. I am not here to discuss or debate the stupidity of the average television viewer. I understand that most people cannot handle discussions any deeper than what lies in their tissues after they blow their nose. I typically put these people in the "Cows just chewing away at their cud" category and move on. If you're reading this, you're unlikely to be one of those people.
Since I have been thinking away at these deep issues for a few days, I will likely talk about them in my posts for a few days. We shall see. Anyway, getting back to my initial comment and tying it in with Stargate episodes. In short, the show begs the objective question, "what is God?" or "what is a god?" I think I'll get into those questions at a later date. For now, I will discuss my views, and get into more tomorrow.
First off, I do believe in God as a creator, however, I am not a Christian. Naturally, I believe in many of the Christian principles of the Bible, and some of the principles, I do not. Simply put, I am not a Christian because I do not accept that Christ was the direct Son of God. I believe he was the son of God in the same way that we are all children of God.
That said, I do not believe in an all knowing, all powerful creator. If such a thing existed, anything would be possible and we all agreed at the beginning that that was a self contradictory statement. Feel free to reassess your opinions that you carved out of the first paragraph. I am not here to convince you my thoughts are correct. I am simply expressing my thoughts.
Back in the days when I was learning and teaching fencing, one of the students was a Presbyterian Minister. She and I became good friends, mostly, because I did not treat her as a Minister. I treated her like anyone else. She found it refreshing to have a friend who was not associated with her religion, but that is not to say we never discussed theological matters. Naturally, I proposed the age old question, "Can God create a stone that he himself cannot move?"
Obviously, the question is self-referential intentionally. In logic, it well known that the cause of many many paradoxes are due to self-referential statements. The obvious verbal paradox created here is that we have set the stage for something that God cannot hope to accomplish. Either God cannot create such a stone, or it is possible for there to exist stones that God cannot move.
My friend countered with, "Why would he want to?" A valid point, although, not a logically valid point. We can all see the sensibility of her statement, but it evades the argument without addressing it. If you go back to one of the logical fallacy pages I offered last month in my Slip Sliding Away post, this type of counterargument is called an irrelevant appeal.
The above discussion is a funny thing that is a cousin to faith itself. The question is not illogical to ask, but the answer, either way, is irrelevant. It is a curious thing that it is up to the individual as to how much logical self-contradiction we allow our perception of God to have. If you choose to accept God as an all knowing, anything is possible, type of God, then you are allowing your universe to make as little sense as is logically possible. Contrariwise, if you accept that God has limits. That is, there exists things that even God cannot accomplish, your universe can actually be made logically consistent.
Again, this is just the logician throwing out my thoughts, my but this makes sense to me. I have no problems in believing in a creator that has flaws and is even capable of failure. My universe is not consistent otherwise and that is unacceptable to me because God did not create the universe to be so messy. I used to tell my calculus students that if I didn't make five mistakes by lunchtime, I wasn't trying hard enough. If I was truly made in God's image and I am but a shadow of that likeness, I hesitate to imagine how many mistakes God sets out to make by lunchtime.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Another Kind of Love
One thing Gloria, may she be resting in peace, always told me was that I always seem to have a great number of irons in the fire. I never did like just working on one thing at a time. Certainly I have my main project at any given time, just like the novel is now, but I always seem to have smaller projects on the side.
For instance, I spent a few days working on math. Granted, that was a couple of weeks ago and I didn't expect to make any real progress on the problem, but it is always good to revisit such things from time to time. I have also been working on watching all those Stargate episodes. They are getting cumbersome, but I am beginning to see daylight in the stack. I am getting close to the end of the 8th season. That makes a little better than two to go.
Last night,I couldn't watch anymore Stargate, so I started another new side project. It has kept me from getting any writing done for close to two days, so this week will undoubtedly look bad on paper. That is, if one considers just raw numbers. But I am giving myself a little leeway since the first novel was just completed. Knowing myself, I will likely lolly-gag until after Kim leaves from her visit next week. I'm okay with this. Hopefully you guys are too.
Anyway, one of the topics I come back to time and again is programming. I find that it amuses me to work my problem solving skills in a different formal language other than mathematics (or English for that matter). I don't usually give it top project status, but the last time I dabbled in Java was about three years ago. I programmed a board game that I had played in an arcade when I was in high school. Yes, they actually had arcade board games. It was a relatively simple game and I had previously programmed a version just after I finished a programming class while still attending Hobart College. Yes, that means I did it for fun and not as a class project. The class project, I programmed a Tic Tac Toe game that my friend John claims to have beaten, but the only way that could be possible was if he was using an outdated or corrupted version of Java. I programmed it to be unbeatable.
Anyway, I called the game Complexity and I was never happy with the original version, so after breaking up with Rebecca, I programmed a new version from scratch. (I used it as a tool to take my mind off the break-up. It didn't work very well.) It had been seven years since the last time I had done any programming, so I had to reteach myself everything. The new version kicked butt if I do say so myself. I spent about 10 days on it. Working anywhere from 10 to 18 hours a day. I can email it to anyone who wants it, since I used a tool to make it into an executable. The artificial intelligence (AI) I made for it, will beat me more than half the time. Of course, in studying the game to create the AI, I believe that if I ever try to program the game a third time, I will be able to make an AI that I would have no hope of beating. Strange how that algorithm is still in my head and I have continued to work on it these past three years.
I continued working on that project for more than three weeks. I took the game up a notch in the next iteration so that each time you beat the game, a new rule was added, and the game would get more complex. One of the reasons I named it complexity. The most interesting thing about that project was that I used the same AI algorithm for all the levels. In other words, the computer never considered the new rules when it computed its moves. It played as though it were still playing the base game. At the higher levels, the AI was just as tough. I found it an intriguing experiment in game theory. Basically, the lesson I learned from studying these types of games along with the AI, was to determine the main focus of the game, make your strategy, and then keep your eyes on the prize. That is, most rules are often there to distract you. A lesson I try to carry on in my day to day life.
That's a bit more of tangent than I wanted. Basically, I wanted to teach myself how to create macros for my computer, but I didn't want to spend 5 weeks on it. So last night, I picked up a tool that would allow me to make some simple macros. A macro is a small program that does nothing more than perform a simple task at the push of a button (or click as the case may be). Basically, they are made to do repetitive annoying tasks on your computer, so you don't have to.
I doubt I'll spend too much time on them since there is very little I can use them for, but I am sure they'll be most useful in making things go smoother in my internet browser. I use Firefox to surf the net and the program I am using has a special plug-in with this browser. I am sure I'll get tons of joy making little programs here and there. More likely, I'll hardly use them at all. But it is another iron in the fire.
For instance, I spent a few days working on math. Granted, that was a couple of weeks ago and I didn't expect to make any real progress on the problem, but it is always good to revisit such things from time to time. I have also been working on watching all those Stargate episodes. They are getting cumbersome, but I am beginning to see daylight in the stack. I am getting close to the end of the 8th season. That makes a little better than two to go.
Last night,I couldn't watch anymore Stargate, so I started another new side project. It has kept me from getting any writing done for close to two days, so this week will undoubtedly look bad on paper. That is, if one considers just raw numbers. But I am giving myself a little leeway since the first novel was just completed. Knowing myself, I will likely lolly-gag until after Kim leaves from her visit next week. I'm okay with this. Hopefully you guys are too.
Anyway, one of the topics I come back to time and again is programming. I find that it amuses me to work my problem solving skills in a different formal language other than mathematics (or English for that matter). I don't usually give it top project status, but the last time I dabbled in Java was about three years ago. I programmed a board game that I had played in an arcade when I was in high school. Yes, they actually had arcade board games. It was a relatively simple game and I had previously programmed a version just after I finished a programming class while still attending Hobart College. Yes, that means I did it for fun and not as a class project. The class project, I programmed a Tic Tac Toe game that my friend John claims to have beaten, but the only way that could be possible was if he was using an outdated or corrupted version of Java. I programmed it to be unbeatable.
Anyway, I called the game Complexity and I was never happy with the original version, so after breaking up with Rebecca, I programmed a new version from scratch. (I used it as a tool to take my mind off the break-up. It didn't work very well.) It had been seven years since the last time I had done any programming, so I had to reteach myself everything. The new version kicked butt if I do say so myself. I spent about 10 days on it. Working anywhere from 10 to 18 hours a day. I can email it to anyone who wants it, since I used a tool to make it into an executable. The artificial intelligence (AI) I made for it, will beat me more than half the time. Of course, in studying the game to create the AI, I believe that if I ever try to program the game a third time, I will be able to make an AI that I would have no hope of beating. Strange how that algorithm is still in my head and I have continued to work on it these past three years.
I continued working on that project for more than three weeks. I took the game up a notch in the next iteration so that each time you beat the game, a new rule was added, and the game would get more complex. One of the reasons I named it complexity. The most interesting thing about that project was that I used the same AI algorithm for all the levels. In other words, the computer never considered the new rules when it computed its moves. It played as though it were still playing the base game. At the higher levels, the AI was just as tough. I found it an intriguing experiment in game theory. Basically, the lesson I learned from studying these types of games along with the AI, was to determine the main focus of the game, make your strategy, and then keep your eyes on the prize. That is, most rules are often there to distract you. A lesson I try to carry on in my day to day life.
That's a bit more of tangent than I wanted. Basically, I wanted to teach myself how to create macros for my computer, but I didn't want to spend 5 weeks on it. So last night, I picked up a tool that would allow me to make some simple macros. A macro is a small program that does nothing more than perform a simple task at the push of a button (or click as the case may be). Basically, they are made to do repetitive annoying tasks on your computer, so you don't have to.
I doubt I'll spend too much time on them since there is very little I can use them for, but I am sure they'll be most useful in making things go smoother in my internet browser. I use Firefox to surf the net and the program I am using has a special plug-in with this browser. I am sure I'll get tons of joy making little programs here and there. More likely, I'll hardly use them at all. But it is another iron in the fire.
Friday, May 23, 2008
It's Raining, It's Pouring
It's funny. In a week where I have overly accounted the weather, today's temp has maxed out at 56 degrees. In the course of five days, the temperature has almost been cut in half (relative to zero, which is a rather arbitrary starting point in the Fahrenheit scale, so the observation is merely a numerical aesthetic). Obviously from the title, you can tell the cool temperatures are due to it raining. As much as I have been enjoying the sun, this change is also refreshing.
Since it's raining and pouring, the old man, namely me, has been snoring. I slept a good portion of today, but I will get back to that later. I went to the Hilton to watch a basketball game last night. This is the first time in a couple of weeks that I have done this, mostly because having the long term bets on the line, I generally opt to avoid watching the games involved. Watching a game where I have $3000 on the line is a little more stressful than I want to deal with. I'd much rather check in later to see how the bet settled.
Anyway, most of my closer friends know that I have been complaining about a semi-long term ear issue. I have been assuming that it is an infection that won't quite go away. Most ear infections will go away on their own and this one seems to clear up for a couple of days or weeks and then returns. I have been trying to figure out when exactly the pain kicks in and why and I think I am getting to some of the triggers.
The last couple of weeks I have spent huddled in my apartment, forcing the daytime schedule on myself. I've gone out mostly to go to the grocery store and a few other nearby establishments (like one place to make a bet or two). Mostly, I've just gone out and have come right back. As I've blogged, it's been pleasantly quiet for myself.
Last night, after hanging out at the Hilton for a couple of hours my ear started bothering me for the first time in several weeks. By the end of the game I was on the verge of a migraine and I knew it was imminent. I came home and went to bed a bit early, but after sleeping for a few hours I awoke with the migraine intact and couldn't get back to sleep. I consumed 4-5 ibuprofin tablets and watched some more Stargate to pass the time. Eventually, as in five hours later, the headache had dulled enough and I went back to bed.
That was around 8am, and I slept until 1:45 this afternoon. I somehow doubt my precious daytime sleep schedule will survive after 3 weeks of continuity. Oh well, I was kind of getting bored with only be awake during the days. I guess.
Getting back to my ear, I am pretty much convinced my problem is not an infection. I think I may have incurred some damage to my ear drum. Perhaps, I blow my nose too hard. Actually, I think that likely. I have been improving my technique over the past few weeks. It was obvious to me that sitting next to those loud, repetitively noisy slot machines very quickly aggravated my ear last night and after getting some rest and enjoying the peace in my apartment, all signs have gone away.
The best I can do is to continue to self diagnose it. I don't have medical insurance to get it checked out properly and will just have to suck it up, much like I did when I first blew out my knee and had to forgo physical therapy. Much like the time I crashed on my bike and broke my wrist. That wasn't so bad. It healed in about six months and I suppose if I couldn't function I would have gone to the doctor's to have it fixed properly. Then there's the second and third time I blew out the same knee. I didn't even bother to go to the doctor's for a diagnosis on these occasions. As long as I listing ailments, there is the plantar fasciitis I have been complaining about in my heel for more than a year.
Well, no need to go on. I have been old for well over 12 years now and since my life is likely half over, there's no need to dwell on the things out of my control. All I can say is, thank goodness we don't have free health care in our country. I am so proud that we attempt to commodify everything. With any luck, some pleasantly international corporation will start charging me for rainwater like they do in Selangor, Malaysia. Or better yet, force me to apply for a permit to collect rainwater, like the World Bank tried to Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Excuse me, I have to run outside and get some of this rainwater while it's free. Hopefully, my ears, wrists, and knees hold out while I'm at it.
Since it's raining and pouring, the old man, namely me, has been snoring. I slept a good portion of today, but I will get back to that later. I went to the Hilton to watch a basketball game last night. This is the first time in a couple of weeks that I have done this, mostly because having the long term bets on the line, I generally opt to avoid watching the games involved. Watching a game where I have $3000 on the line is a little more stressful than I want to deal with. I'd much rather check in later to see how the bet settled.
Anyway, most of my closer friends know that I have been complaining about a semi-long term ear issue. I have been assuming that it is an infection that won't quite go away. Most ear infections will go away on their own and this one seems to clear up for a couple of days or weeks and then returns. I have been trying to figure out when exactly the pain kicks in and why and I think I am getting to some of the triggers.
The last couple of weeks I have spent huddled in my apartment, forcing the daytime schedule on myself. I've gone out mostly to go to the grocery store and a few other nearby establishments (like one place to make a bet or two). Mostly, I've just gone out and have come right back. As I've blogged, it's been pleasantly quiet for myself.
Last night, after hanging out at the Hilton for a couple of hours my ear started bothering me for the first time in several weeks. By the end of the game I was on the verge of a migraine and I knew it was imminent. I came home and went to bed a bit early, but after sleeping for a few hours I awoke with the migraine intact and couldn't get back to sleep. I consumed 4-5 ibuprofin tablets and watched some more Stargate to pass the time. Eventually, as in five hours later, the headache had dulled enough and I went back to bed.
That was around 8am, and I slept until 1:45 this afternoon. I somehow doubt my precious daytime sleep schedule will survive after 3 weeks of continuity. Oh well, I was kind of getting bored with only be awake during the days. I guess.
Getting back to my ear, I am pretty much convinced my problem is not an infection. I think I may have incurred some damage to my ear drum. Perhaps, I blow my nose too hard. Actually, I think that likely. I have been improving my technique over the past few weeks. It was obvious to me that sitting next to those loud, repetitively noisy slot machines very quickly aggravated my ear last night and after getting some rest and enjoying the peace in my apartment, all signs have gone away.
The best I can do is to continue to self diagnose it. I don't have medical insurance to get it checked out properly and will just have to suck it up, much like I did when I first blew out my knee and had to forgo physical therapy. Much like the time I crashed on my bike and broke my wrist. That wasn't so bad. It healed in about six months and I suppose if I couldn't function I would have gone to the doctor's to have it fixed properly. Then there's the second and third time I blew out the same knee. I didn't even bother to go to the doctor's for a diagnosis on these occasions. As long as I listing ailments, there is the plantar fasciitis I have been complaining about in my heel for more than a year.
Well, no need to go on. I have been old for well over 12 years now and since my life is likely half over, there's no need to dwell on the things out of my control. All I can say is, thank goodness we don't have free health care in our country. I am so proud that we attempt to commodify everything. With any luck, some pleasantly international corporation will start charging me for rainwater like they do in Selangor, Malaysia. Or better yet, force me to apply for a permit to collect rainwater, like the World Bank tried to Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Excuse me, I have to run outside and get some of this rainwater while it's free. Hopefully, my ears, wrists, and knees hold out while I'm at it.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Time to go to Work, Work all Day,...
Props to those of you who know the next line to the title is, "We need underpants. Hey!"
Anyway, I guess that title doesn't exactly describe me. It seemed I enjoyed my Monday/loaf-day so much I did the same thing on Tuesday, so nothing new to report on that day.
I decided yesterday (Wednesday) that I had to get a move on and get back to writing, but when I woke up, It seemed my internet had been shut off. It seems I received my first DMCA warning. After yawning, I decided it was a good excuse to write first rather than waste a half hour perusing the weather and other equally useless websites. I'm not sure why I check the weather every day here. Especially since it never changes, unless you consider "Sunny and beautiful" a significant change over "Sunny and hot". I never checked the weather in Albany.
Monday and Tuesday was "Sunny and hot", so I could pretend that that was my excuse for my period of sloth. Yesterday was "Sunny and beautiful" with a high of about 82 and today, the high is supposed to be about 73-75. (Yes, this is in degrees Fahrenheit.) It does not appear today could be more perfect.
So anyway, after getting in a session with a nominal bit of writing, I called Cox Communications about restoring my internet access. It was truly painless procedure and it appears my downloading of an episode of the "The Simpson's" was the cause. I have never heard of a TV episode causing a DMCA flag, so I assume it was because of the Simpson's movie that was released last summer.
For those of you that don't know what a DMCA warning is, DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act. A law passed about the turn of the millennium to supposedly protect people's copyrights. Unfortunately, it a basically a stop gap measure pushed through by corporate interests in hopes of them having to delay making changes in their economic advertising model. Which, of course, is in dire need of being updated to accommodate for the new mediums provided by the internet and other technologies. So rather than grow with the times, they are trying to punish people like me who are capable of circumventing their advertising. At the moment a DMCA warning is nothing more than a corporate finger wagging asking me to play ball.
Technically, they have civil recourses. They could sue me for copyright infringement, but it would cost them more to sue me than they would ever be able to get out of me. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has attempted to target a small number of people to sue for this infringement, but they have mostly targeted poor people, who cannot afford a lawyer and can be bullied to settle out of court for a few thousand dollars. As far as I know, they have lost or backed down in almost every case that has actually gone to civil court.
The DMCA warning I recieved was from the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). The MPAA serves many more DMCA warnings and as far as I know, they are yet to even sue an individual, though I know they have gone after a few piracy rings. I am not opposed to them going after those who attempt to profit from their work, but trying to scare people like me who profit nothing, is a waste of my time and theirs. We both know they aren't going to waste their time suing me. And thanks to the Safe Harbor addendums to the DMCA, those who provide internet access cannot be sued for the acts of those who use the service, so Cox Communcations is safe from my actions. They are only required to pass on the DMCA warning on to me. One can only hope that Kim and Charles have been paying attention to the last couple of sentences should they ever seek to protect themselves from litigation.
The real problem is that copyrights and patents are an archaic concept that have never been adequately updated, more correctly, they have been too slow to adjust to the quickly changing media of the last ten and fifteen years. They were originally created four and five hundred years ago not to protect the author/creator of a work, but more so the publisher. So even in those "ancient times" they were a byproduct of "big business". If they actually protected the creator of a work, I'd probably be much more respectful.
Despite the corporate tsk-tsking I received, my internet was restored in minutes. The representative even said I did not have to delete the file. I merely had to remove it from my BitTorrent queue. It appears the only downside is that Cox Communications has a three strike policy. After a third DMCA warning, they will drop me as a customer. I suppose that is fair enough, considering they have to pay for the resources to slap my hand and tell me, "No!"
After being booted, I suppose I can switch to Verizon DSL, where I'll have free access to the services of ESPN360.com. Cox Communications doesn't offer this service. I won't even have to go to the Hilton to watch my basketball games. I guess I better get downloading....
Anyway, I guess that title doesn't exactly describe me. It seemed I enjoyed my Monday/loaf-day so much I did the same thing on Tuesday, so nothing new to report on that day.
I decided yesterday (Wednesday) that I had to get a move on and get back to writing, but when I woke up, It seemed my internet had been shut off. It seems I received my first DMCA warning. After yawning, I decided it was a good excuse to write first rather than waste a half hour perusing the weather and other equally useless websites. I'm not sure why I check the weather every day here. Especially since it never changes, unless you consider "Sunny and beautiful" a significant change over "Sunny and hot". I never checked the weather in Albany.
Monday and Tuesday was "Sunny and hot", so I could pretend that that was my excuse for my period of sloth. Yesterday was "Sunny and beautiful" with a high of about 82 and today, the high is supposed to be about 73-75. (Yes, this is in degrees Fahrenheit.) It does not appear today could be more perfect.
So anyway, after getting in a session with a nominal bit of writing, I called Cox Communications about restoring my internet access. It was truly painless procedure and it appears my downloading of an episode of the "The Simpson's" was the cause. I have never heard of a TV episode causing a DMCA flag, so I assume it was because of the Simpson's movie that was released last summer.
For those of you that don't know what a DMCA warning is, DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act. A law passed about the turn of the millennium to supposedly protect people's copyrights. Unfortunately, it a basically a stop gap measure pushed through by corporate interests in hopes of them having to delay making changes in their economic advertising model. Which, of course, is in dire need of being updated to accommodate for the new mediums provided by the internet and other technologies. So rather than grow with the times, they are trying to punish people like me who are capable of circumventing their advertising. At the moment a DMCA warning is nothing more than a corporate finger wagging asking me to play ball.
Technically, they have civil recourses. They could sue me for copyright infringement, but it would cost them more to sue me than they would ever be able to get out of me. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has attempted to target a small number of people to sue for this infringement, but they have mostly targeted poor people, who cannot afford a lawyer and can be bullied to settle out of court for a few thousand dollars. As far as I know, they have lost or backed down in almost every case that has actually gone to civil court.
The DMCA warning I recieved was from the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). The MPAA serves many more DMCA warnings and as far as I know, they are yet to even sue an individual, though I know they have gone after a few piracy rings. I am not opposed to them going after those who attempt to profit from their work, but trying to scare people like me who profit nothing, is a waste of my time and theirs. We both know they aren't going to waste their time suing me. And thanks to the Safe Harbor addendums to the DMCA, those who provide internet access cannot be sued for the acts of those who use the service, so Cox Communcations is safe from my actions. They are only required to pass on the DMCA warning on to me. One can only hope that Kim and Charles have been paying attention to the last couple of sentences should they ever seek to protect themselves from litigation.
The real problem is that copyrights and patents are an archaic concept that have never been adequately updated, more correctly, they have been too slow to adjust to the quickly changing media of the last ten and fifteen years. They were originally created four and five hundred years ago not to protect the author/creator of a work, but more so the publisher. So even in those "ancient times" they were a byproduct of "big business". If they actually protected the creator of a work, I'd probably be much more respectful.
Despite the corporate tsk-tsking I received, my internet was restored in minutes. The representative even said I did not have to delete the file. I merely had to remove it from my BitTorrent queue. It appears the only downside is that Cox Communications has a three strike policy. After a third DMCA warning, they will drop me as a customer. I suppose that is fair enough, considering they have to pay for the resources to slap my hand and tell me, "No!"
After being booted, I suppose I can switch to Verizon DSL, where I'll have free access to the services of ESPN360.com. Cox Communications doesn't offer this service. I won't even have to go to the Hilton to watch my basketball games. I guess I better get downloading....
Monday, May 19, 2008
So, Today was the Day
In a stretch of days where I have managed to accomplish a number of small goals, not the least of which among them was to remain financially uncrippled, I managed to accomplish yet another goal today. Of all days, no less.
Today was one of those "lost" days. I didn't really do much of anything. With the temp getting up so high, I wasn't too interested in seeing if I wouldn't melt, or more likely, evaporate. I chilled out in my apartment all day, though chill is an inept word since it wasn't until 7pm until I turned the air conditioner on. My apartment was not unbearable, but eventually, it got hot enough that I started to sweat while sitting. A fine sign that things are too hot and it's time to cool off.
As I said, I did nothing. No writing or anything of value to myself or society. Played my alien game online for a bit. I watched a number of Stargate episodes. A TV show that I can only say was done competently. It's not bad for a TV show, but like anything it allowed itself to get a little too formulaic and I can see through an episode in the first 10 minutes. Thus with 35 minutes remaining, the rest of the episode gets a little cumbersome to watch.
I suppose I continue to watch them merely to see how things turn out. Besides, when I talk to Moose, I can complain while he tries to defend the show. Though he has his issues with the show, he appears to like it much better than I. Sadly, we discuss it at length and even tie concepts into the books I/we are writing. There is merit for me in practicing these critiquing skills at the very least, so I will press on. Who knows, maybe they'll come up with some stuff to surprise me.
Naturally, watching these episodes was not the goal I was talking about when I started this post. That was a tangent. Mere filler, which I guess describes the entirety of this post seeing as I really did nothing at all today. It can be therapeutic to do this from time to time. I wish more of my friends could take a day off to sit around and be completely devoid of any human contact for a full 24 hours. If only to just recharge a bit.
Anyway, the goal met for today, after seven or so weeks, was that I finally finished the Easter candy Kim sent me.
Today was one of those "lost" days. I didn't really do much of anything. With the temp getting up so high, I wasn't too interested in seeing if I wouldn't melt, or more likely, evaporate. I chilled out in my apartment all day, though chill is an inept word since it wasn't until 7pm until I turned the air conditioner on. My apartment was not unbearable, but eventually, it got hot enough that I started to sweat while sitting. A fine sign that things are too hot and it's time to cool off.
As I said, I did nothing. No writing or anything of value to myself or society. Played my alien game online for a bit. I watched a number of Stargate episodes. A TV show that I can only say was done competently. It's not bad for a TV show, but like anything it allowed itself to get a little too formulaic and I can see through an episode in the first 10 minutes. Thus with 35 minutes remaining, the rest of the episode gets a little cumbersome to watch.
I suppose I continue to watch them merely to see how things turn out. Besides, when I talk to Moose, I can complain while he tries to defend the show. Though he has his issues with the show, he appears to like it much better than I. Sadly, we discuss it at length and even tie concepts into the books I/we are writing. There is merit for me in practicing these critiquing skills at the very least, so I will press on. Who knows, maybe they'll come up with some stuff to surprise me.
Naturally, watching these episodes was not the goal I was talking about when I started this post. That was a tangent. Mere filler, which I guess describes the entirety of this post seeing as I really did nothing at all today. It can be therapeutic to do this from time to time. I wish more of my friends could take a day off to sit around and be completely devoid of any human contact for a full 24 hours. If only to just recharge a bit.
Anyway, the goal met for today, after seven or so weeks, was that I finally finished the Easter candy Kim sent me.
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