A Viking by Any Other Name

Ever sent a text message that read "k"? If so, you paid $234/KB for that.

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:53:04 GMT

The data rate (typically web browsing) set by cell phone company Verizon Wireless is 1.5 cents per kilobyte here in California. The text messaging rate is 20 cents per message, regardless of actual message length. Since an SMS text message has a maximum size of 160 characters and one SMS character equals seven bits (7/8 byte) of information, the cost per byte of a text message ranges from 0.143 cents per byte for a full message, to 22.857 cents per byte for a one-character message. Expanded to kilobytes, that's $1.46-$234.06 to send a kilobyte of SMS messages. How in the world does this company continue to sell text messages at a rate that's 97 to 15,600 times(!!) what they charge for the identical transfer of data?

(1.5 cents/KB) / (1024 B/KB * 8 b/B)              = 0.000183 cents/bit (data rate)
(20 cents/(160 7-bit chars)) = 20 cents/1120 bits = 0.01786  cents/bit (lowest msg rate)
(20 cents/(1 7-bit char)) = 20 cents/7 bits       = 2.857    cents/bit (highest msg rate)

Notes: I don't know if this rate differs across the U.S., and I'm sure it's different when you get to other countries. I know there are plans that offer unlimited free text messages to other Verizon customers, but my point still stands for other users. SMS usually uses the GSM 7-bit alphabet, though it can also use 8-bit encoding with 140 character messages or 16-bit with 70 characters - they all carry the same amount of data.

ze frank

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:56:42 GMT

Tomorrow, March 17, marks the second anniversary of the start of The Show, a cult hit video podcast by Ze Frank. The show ran five days a week for one year, as scheduled from the start. Most episodes of the show are two to five minutes long and focus on quickfire news, social or political commentary, a monologue to the viewer, or some form of ridiculous humor. The newsy episodes can aptly be compared to Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. Some episodes have singing, some episodes have ducks.

Here are a few samples I grabbed if you want to check out the show. I don't know the best way to put into words how funny I find Ze, without sounding like a baseless advertising pitch. Hopefully the samples will do him justice.

I should mention that The Show isn't really intended for young children. Most of the episodes have some kind of vulgarity in them.

03-22-06 News: metabolite, q-tips, superheroes
09-13-06 Picking a major
02-22-07 Phobias

Fish War

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 05:03:12 GMT

A regular expression

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:06:49 GMT

Regular expressions are a string-matching tool used in programming. They can be used to find patterns of text in a larger body, or to break down a line of text into component parts.

/^(\d{1,2})?[dD](\d+)((\s?\+\s?)(\d+))?/

The slashes at the outside simply mean that this is a regular expression. The programming language interpreter or compiler will look at these and know where the expression starts and ends.

/^(\d{1,2})?[dD](\d+)((\s?\+\s?)(\d+))?/

The caret means that this phrase occurs at the start of a line. If there are any letters, numbers or words before it, it won't match. Only the start.

/^(\d{1,2})?[dD](\d+)((\s?\+\s?)(\d+))?/

Okay, let's break this part down further.

(\d{1,2})?

The parentheses declare this as a set. One important feature this has is allowing us to refer back to it later. If the text we're testing matches the regular expression, the part that fits this set will be stored in its own variable.

The question mark at the end means that there can be zero or one of these sets in this position. So it can be there or not be there, and still match the expression. A common example of where you might see this is in words that have different US and UK spellings. colo u? r matches whether the u is there or not, so it works for color and colour.

(\d{1,2})?

\d is a decimal number, 0 to 9. The {1,2} next to it means 1 digit or 2. So this part matches a number from 0 to 99.

/^(\d{1,2})?[dD](\d+)((\s?\+\s?)(\d+))?/

Square brackets mean a literal match. No variables, no funny business; This matches a lowercase d or a capital D. Since there are no modifiers after the set, it matches only one letter. (Modifiers like the ? you saw, and also the + coming up.)

/^(\d{1,2})?[dD](\d+)((\s?\+\s?)(\d+))?/

We've got another set and another decimal inside. But this decimal has a "+" after it instead of a {1,2} notation. The + means at least 1 digit and no maximum. This number can be as large as you want.

/^(\d{1,2})?[dD](\d+)((\s?\+\s?)(\d+))?/

We'll break this down again.

((\s?\+\s?)(\d+))?

This is another set that can be there or not be there, and still match the expression.

((\s?\+\s?)(\d+))?

Set inside of a set. Okay, so what have we got here? \s means whitespace. That can be a space, a tab or a new line. (Usually a space.) And there's a question mark after it, so it'll still match if there's no space. Next is \+. \+ is just the plus sign, but + is a common operation in regular expressions, so the backslash tells it you're talking about the character + and not the operation. And next is another maybe-space. So what the matches is [+], [+ ], [ +], or [ + ].

((\s?\+\s?)(\d+))?

This is just like the one you saw before. Number with any amount of digits.

When you put it all together, you get: (optional starting number from 0 and 99)(letter d or D)(number of any size)(optional addition, should have + sign followed by number of any size. spaces are allowed)

Example matches:
4d6+1
d20 +100
10d2 + 3
d20

Non-matches:
55000d20
10fluorine100
50 + 50 + 50

Partial matches:
5d10+1+1+1
d6 puppies + 5 puppies
3d4 + your mom

Ray Gun

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:10:52 GMT

Ruralvirus

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:47:43 GMT

This is a 30-minute comic. I really like how it came out.

This picture raises more questions than it answers...

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:27:53 GMT

491 things

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:28:33 GMT

Basic About you:

Name: Kevin
Gender: Male.
Height: 5'9"
Eye color: Blue with a yellow ring in the center.
Hair Color: Brown.
Age: 20 years.
Birthday: March 23, '87
Lefty/righty/ambidextrous: Right-handed.
Piercings: Have none.
Tattoos: Also none.
Zodiac Sign: Umm, Aries.
Ring Size: My middle finger is a 10, not sure about my ring finger.
Grade: College junior.

More about you:

Are you named after anyone? Nope. Not that I know of.
Do you consider yourself tolerant to others? Extremely.
Do you have any secrets? Sure.
Do you hate yourself? No.
Do you like your handwriting? Yes. It's a bit messy.
Do you have any bad habits? Hmmm. I couldn't say 'no' to this without feeling arrogant, so my answer is probably.
If you were another person, would you be friends with you? I have friends that match my personality exactly, so yes.
Any regrets? Yeah.
Do you think life has been good so far? Extremely.
Are you confident? Not in a social way, but I have confidence in myself.
How long does it take you to shower? To shave, shower and get dressed usually takes 40 minutes these days.
What color is your room? Shades of off-white.
Where do you want to attend college? Hmm. I'm not a big college type, so I don't have a favorite. Just somewhere that'll teach me well.

Do you...?

Smoke? No.
Do drugs? No.
Drink? No.
Go to church? No.
Sleep with stuffed animals? I do have a porcupine.
Take walks in the rain? Sometimes!
Talk to people even if you hate them? It has happened.
Drive? Yes.
Want to get married? Yeah.
Want to go to college? Yes.
Want to have children? Not at the moment, but I probably will eventually.
Sing in the shower? Nah.
Get along with you parents? Get along.
Get along with your sibling/s? Oh yeah.
Color/highlight your hair? Nope.
Like coffee? Ehh. Sometimes. I like the smell of it though.
Wear makeup everytime you go out? No, but I am a guy.
Love roller coasters? Ehh...
Like to cook? I can't cook much, but I enjoy doing it.

Have you ever...?

Hurt yourself? Can you go through life without hurting yourself?
Been out of the country? Not yet.
Been in love? No.
Gone skinny dipping? Nah.
Had surgery? Umm, nope.
Been on stage? Yes! I used to lead in school plays, up until about fifth grade.
Pulled an all nighter? All the time.
Gone one day without food? Probably, yeah.
Slept all day? I don't know what counts as all day. I sleep 12-14 hours sometimes, if I was up a very long time before.
Kissed a stranger? No.
Had a dream that came true? Yes. It was weird. I don't remember the dream now, though...
Broken the law? Yeah. Nothing big.
Stolen anything? Oh, sure.
Been on radio/tv? Hmmm. No.
Been in a mosh-pit? Nope.
Bungee jumped? Haha, no.
Had a dream that kept coming back? Yes.
Gone out of state? Yeah. Only to Arizona and Nevada so far.
Live in other states? Nope.
Spun until you were immensely dizzy? When I was little. I can't enjoy that anymore. >_<
Been on a plane? Nah.
Ran into a wall? Yes. Of course.
Been rejected by a crush? Yeah.
Cried over a movie? When I was younger.
Shopped at Abercrombie and Fitch? At what?
Broken a bone? Nope.
Fallen from a tree? Hmmm. Nah. I was good at climbing them.
Passed out? Actually, yes. This year. At school. o_O
Been to a theme park? Has anyone not been to a theme park?
Eaten sushi? Just California rolls, which have vegetables and no fish.

This or That

Pepsi or Coke: Coke.
McDonalds or Burger King: Umm.
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate. All the way.
Black or White: I feel like black is too cliche to choose...
Boxers or breifs: o_o
TV or radio: Ew, radio is bleh. TV.
Is the glass half empty or half full: I am not answering this question!
Sun or moon: Sun! It's full of plasmoid iron and nuclear fission! The moon is just cheese.
Hot or cold: The cold didn't bother me this year, so I pick cold.
Romantic comedy or thriller: Really depends on the movie. Or better yet, make it both like Shaun of the Dead.
Waffles or pancakes: Pancakes. Toast < Waffles < Pancakes < French toast
Florida or California: California!
Black and white or color photos: Color usually. B&W has its moments.
The city, the beach, OR the country: City, probably.
Tennis shoes or sandals: Tennis shoes. Sandals are the worst.
Cappuccino or coffee: No preference?
English or history: English. History is a dumb.
Science or math: Don't make me choose. ;_;

Do you believe ...?

in magic? Just tonight, I saw a level 9 wizard cast fireball on a bunch of unsuspecting thieves.
in God? Agnostic.
in Satan? No.
in ghosts? No.
in luck? Well, I define a person's luck after the fact. If good things happened to him, he was lucky. It's no guarantee of future success.
in love at first sight? Yes, sure.
in Santa? Just tonight, I saw a level 9 Santa cast fireball on a bunch of unsuspecting thieves.
in witches? People who follow the Wiccan religion are called witches, I believe. But I don't believe they have magical abilities.
that it's possible to remain faithful forever? I could remain faithful forever. So yes.
in wishing on shooting stars? Sure. Why not?
that cussing is a necessity in life? Haha. I get on fine without it.
yourself? Whoooa, weird question. "Do you believe yourself?" If you say no and believe your answer, it creates a paradox.
Love and all that? I do.

More..

Do you consider love a mistake? Nah. It can be, but anything you do can be a mistake.
If someone you had no interest in had interest in dating you how would you? I feel like part of that question is missing. "If someone you didn't like wanted to date you, how would--?" *shrug*
Do you prefer knowing someone before dating them? I think the easiest people to date are ones you meet and start dating within a few weeks.
What is worst about the opposite sex? Their shoes are all so tiny.
Who and when was your first crush? Like, first grade. I think she had longish, dark hair.
First thing you notice about the opposite sex? It's hard to answer questions like this, knowing that people almost exclusively notice hair first in strangers.

Right this moment...

What are you wearing? EVERYTHING
What are you worried about? Girls. Their shoes are all so tiny.
What book are you reading? Dungeon Master's Guide. u_u
What time is it? 7 AM PST. Almost 3 on my 10-hour clock.
Are you bored? Nope.
Are you tired? Slightly.
Are you talking to anyone online or on the phone? Nope.
Are you lonely or content? Right now, content.
Are you listening to music, if so then what? Nothing at the moment. First random song on my playlist is by Dead Can Dance.

---

Do your jeans have rips, tears, and holes in them? Oh, the feet do. I wear them loose so they sag down and I step on them all day.
What are you dreading right now? Oatmeal.
Were you the shooter on the grassy gnoll that fateful day? =o I don't think I was alive. (Or that's what I want you to think.)
When is the last time you saw the person you like? Well if I said that, and she reads this, she'll know who she is. And that simply cannot happen.
Whorelocks: yay or nay? why? I don't play, sorry. u_u
Did you understand the previous question? Only because of Gabby.
Do you get the full 8 hours of sleep a night? The way you phrased your question, no. But I get 8 hours a day one way or another.
If you had/have a penguin, is/would it be big? I think I'd rather have a few smaller penguins. One penguin would get lonely.
What scares you more; clowns or Michael Jackson? Michael Jackson is approaching uncanny valley territory. (The rule that says something is creepy if it looks very much like a person, but isn't quite right. The same way dolls and androids can be creepy.)
Think of all your exes. Would you take any of them back? Actually.. Maybe one. Almost. Except that she's a mom now, and babies scare me so.
If anyone came to your house on your "lazy days" what are you wearing? I wear the same no matter what.
If you had to sum up your life philosophy with a slogan, what would it be? I already have. "I'm here for the free food."
Freakazoid or The Tick? ANIMANIACS
How do you feel about harmonicas? I have one on my desk in front of me. See? FMMMMMMMMM. ... FMMMMMMMMMM.
Do you do the dew? I wish.
Complete the sentence: Peanuts ______ the world. defenestrate?
Are there skeletons in your closet? I remember seeing a box in a closet labelled "Kevin's Bones" once. Seriously. So it's possible. I don't remember what was in it now.
Have you ever stayed online for a very long time waiting for someone? Yes.
Are you cocky? Nah.
Damn, I'm getting tired of coming up with these questions. I'm... sorry? Take a break and come back to the questions later? Maybe go out for a blended fruit drink?
To be, or not to be? Iambic triameter... Hmm.
"'To be or not to be' - Is that the question you bestow?
To course through life in the veins we carve to places we don't know,
To gather fortunes, family, friends, and all we have to show
To the children, fresh and spotless minds, their faces all aglow.
To be or not to be, you say? How could I say no.
Do you own a car? I do have a car.
What would your ideal pet be? A periscope. Wait, is that a pet? Maybe I just want a periscope.
Could you live without a computer? Sure, people have done it for millenia. But I like my computer.
Do you wear your shoes in the house? Not really. I always wear socks though.
At what age did you find out that Santa wasn't real? Level 9 Santa, fireball, yadda yadda.
What do you do when you're sad? Kevin has the ability to inflate his body by swallowing water (or air) to become round like a ball. This increase in size (almost double vertically) reduces the range of potential predators to those with much bigger mouths. A second defense mechanism is provided by the sharp spines, which radiate outwards when he is inflated. As a result, Kevin has few predators: rarely, except by sharks and orcas.
Who would you call first if you won the lottery? Well, I would probably send IMs, text messages, etc. but the first person besides my family would be... Matt. For sure.
Last time you saw your best friend? Few hours ago?
What's your favorite animated show? Well, Futurama probably.
Fruit, Vegetables, or Poultry? Odd mix... I have to pick poultry. But I am allergic to some pretty awesome fruits, so they have a natural disadvantage.
Who or what sleeps with you? A horse. Like, a real horse. I don't even know whose horse it is, but it takes up more than its half of the bed. :(
People often think of you as ______. A behind-the-scenes guy.
Do you often threaten people with violence? Nope. I am very non-violent.
What's the first thing you do when you get online? Your mom. OH. Um. I check blogs and news sites.
Do you tell little white lies? Hmm. Probably.
How do most people spell your name? Kevin. Every once in a while, I get a Keven.
Would you wear a boy/girlfriends clothes? You know it! 100% cotton in all the right places.
Have you ever had to be hospitalized? Well, I've had a few CAT scans and X-rays. No more than that.
Do you have any tattoos? I suddenly want a cookie... Hm. And no, no tattoos.
Ketchup, Mustard, or Mayonnaise? Ketchup.
How do you like your pizza? I'll eat anything, but I get pepperoni most of the time.
What is your favorite color? Blue. Also electric lime.
Favorite name for a girl? Speaking of girl's names, did you know Molly is short for Margaret? I just learned that about two months ago.
Favorite name for a boy? Oh, I forgot to answer the other question. Hm, well. I guess you couldn't call it forgetting. Not at this point.
What's your favorite Disney movie? Hmmm. I'd really have to watch some again to choose. Fantasia comes to mind, but I could be easily swayed.
When is the last time you left your house? I went out driving early this morning.
Fruit at the bottom or stirred? Like, yogurt? 'Cause I don't have that much.
Name a movie you wish you'd never seen. Cat in the freaking Hat.
Do you return your cart? I don't get carts when I shop. But I do return other people's carts.
What's your favorite "naughty" song? F- the Pain Away by Peaches has a good sound.
Do you have a dishwasher? Nope.
What noise do you hear? Song I just mentioned by Peaches. I wanted to hear it after I posted. Oh, Moldy Peaches have a few songs I guess you could call naughty. And Neutral Milk Hotel even.
Would you survive in prison? It's not like I'd end up in a maximum security, scary kind of prison. I could survive, I'm sure.
Do aliens exist? Yes, 100% yes.
Have you seen the new Transformers movie? Yeah. I don't like that Shia Leboeuf kid outside of Even Stevens.
Have you ever committed a felony? Felony? Haha. You know I can't answer that.
Who is the youngest in your family? In my close family, my sister. She's, um.. 2007 minus 1991.. She's 16.
If all of your friends were going on a road trip, would you? Mos Def.
Do you know anyone with the same name as you? Same first name. Kevin's not very uncommon.
How many pairs of shoes do you own? One, always. I've owned three pairs of shoes in the last ten years.
Paper or plastic? Paper.
Taco, enchilada, burrito, or chimichanga? Hmm. Any of the above. I could go for a taco right now.
What's the last thing you purchased? Besides gas in my car? Hmm. Blank t-shirts?
What's your favorite board game? Clue, all the way.
Where is your cell phone? On the desk next to my bed.
Is your phone on vibrate or ring? Vibrate because it's not charging. If it was charging, it would ring.
What brand are your pants right now? Structure? I've never heard of that brand. I think this is the first time I've looked at the brand that these pants are. And I've had these pants for almost three years...
Ever been to Georgia? Nope.
How about Mexico? Nope. Close to it.
What irritates you most on the internet? The people on Wikipedia who keep listing Angels & Airwaves as prog rock.
Do you watch movies with your parents? Nah. Sometimes in theaters, but I haven't been there in some time.
Reality T.V.? Pass.
What did you want to be when you were little? Hmm, don't remember. Probably a scientist. I remember watching Bill Nye and the other shows like it.
What do you want to be now? Bill Nye.
What song best describes your life right now? Voxtrot's Fast Asleep?
Do you own expensive perfume/cologne, if so, what? Nope.
Are you taking college classes? School's out right now.
Have you ever been addicted to anything? Nah. I mean, heroin, yeah. But that hardly counts.
Do you like sushi? I don't like the stupid shrimp things. Stupid shrimp. But I haven't tried enough sushi to know.
Do you get your hair cut every month? Haha, every semester maybe.
Do you go online every day? Pretty much.
Why did you take this survey? Well, I'm doing a bunch of them because it's been so long. I figure this should cover everything that strangers might ever want to know about me.

---

Been arrested? Nope.
Torn the label off of a matress? Umm, possibly.
Do you like someone? A couple someones!
Do they know? No!
Where were you 6 hours ago? In bed. Watching a movie about.. dragons? Cheesy sci-fi flick.
Who will be your next kiss? Oh, she knows.
Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Nope!
When is the last time you went to the mall? Hmm. I think it was recently. I seem to remember checking Radioshack for something.
What was the last thing you had to drink? Water.
What are you wearing right now? Rocketship t-shirt.
When do you think the world will end? Depends on what you mean by that. End of humanity, end of life on Earth, end of the planet itself? Hopefully millions of years no matter what.
Last food you ate Ummm. Cheeseburger.
When was the last time you were upset? During the night. I couldn't sleep.
Do you have a pet? Yes, and she is a fluffy cat.
What's the last sporting event you watched? All the way through? Might have been a few years ago...
What classes are you taking? Engineering and computer science classes. Plus general English, science, etc. because I like to learn.
If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be? Oh, she knows.
What is the last thing you purchased online? Pen for my Wacom tablet? Over a year ago.
Do you miss anyone? Nah, not right now.
What are your plans for tomorrow? Run a D&D game.
Who is the last person you messaged on myspace? Gabby.
Ever go to camp? Nah.
Were you an honor roll student in school? Yeah. Probably still am, what counts as honor roll?
What do you know about the future? I know that I'm not going to plan nearly enough for this D&D game. But I improvise the games pretty well, so it's all good. If all else fails, make 'em fight rats.
Where are your best friend(s) located? Uhh, Colorado, West Virginia, Oregon, California.. Montana, Connecticut.. Bahrain. Australia is a big one.
Do you have a tan? No, no. No. ... No. Um. No.
Do people hate you? Nope. No one hates me.
Have you ever drank your soda from a straw? Of course?
How do you like your coke? I'm not picky. Not a fan of Diet Coke, though. Or Vanilla. I'd rather have water in those cases.
Who do you like? Okay, okay. I'll give you a clue. She has black hair.
Do they like you? I am very likeable.
What's the last TV show you watched? I watched the start of Sci-Fi's new Battlestar Galactica, but then I stopped. It was all art-y. Maybe too art-y.
Ever talk to your shadow? I play with shadows sometimes. Shadows are interesting. But I haven't talked to one.
Slept in until 5 PM? Well, I've slept at every time of day.
Been suspended from school? Nah.
Been fired from a job? Nope.
Laughed until you started crying? Often. I'm all about humor.
Laughed until a beverage came out of your nose? Nope. Never experienced that.
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes.
Kissed in the rain? Yeah.
Sang in the shower? Nah.
Watched a documentary on the Loch Ness Monster? Hah. Yeah...
Tried every one of Baskin-Robin's 31 flavors? Nope. Who needs 31 when you've got RAINBOW SHERBET?
Ordered anchovies on your pizza? Nope.
Sat on a roof top? Yeah.
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? I don't like pools.
Been pushed into a pool with no clothes on? Hmm. No, not yet.
Have/Had stitches? Hmm. Hmmmm. Maybe. But, like, stitches aren't even a big thing.
Shaved your head? Nah.
Shot a gun? Actually, I haven't.
Ever been hit by a paintball? Nah.
Donated Blood? Nope. Not yet.
Broken someone's heart? Nah.
Any pets? Yes, kitty. Her name is Possum. I tend to name my animals after other animals. I had a cat named Gerbils once, and a hamster named Mouse.
Ever seen a llama? Yes, at a petting zoo.
Swam in the ocean? Yes.
Rode a surf board? Nope.
Rode in a limo? Hmm. No. I have been in the Flintstones mobile, though. So that counts for something.
Where were you when the ball dropped for 2007? The family had just moved into this new house then. Honestly, we were probably moving stuff in and around when midnight passed.
How did you get the idea for your myspace name? Oh, um, it's my name. It's always been my name. Also, I think it's a quote from a book.
Do you love anyone? I love my friends.
Have you ever been to the zoo? Yes. The bears were so small, they were adorable.
Do you live in a zoo? Haha. I.. Oh. No.
What did you eat this morning? Hmm. It's morning now, and I haven't eaten anything. In fact, I'm not going to.
Who is more complicated: guys or girls? Guys who act like girls.
Have you ever done something malicious to someone as a revenge? Haha, yeah...
Have you ever been cheated on? I shouldn't say.
What are the last two digits of your phone number? 06. I had to think about it a minute.
What is the last movie you watched? Juno. Which I LOVE, OMG.
What/who do you dislike at the moment? I shouldn't say.
What food do you crave right now? I'm not hungry. I said I wasn't going to eat, I'd get food if I wanted something.
Did you dream last night? I had an awesome dream a few nights ago. But you didn't ask about that one, so I won't go into it.
What is your favorite piece of jewelry? Ones that are made of cursed monkey paws.
Name someone on your Top Friends who is just like you? Gab-wah. But also Kablizzy, because we are living the same life. Exactly the same. We are clones.
Are you on any medication? Nope.
What side of the bed do you sleep on? Um, the middle. It's only a twin-size bed, so it hardly even has sides.
What color shirt are you wearing? Grayish. Crayfish? Grayfish.
What color is your razor? I have a few. Some are black and blue, some black and light gray, and one is like metallic silver and some other color.
What is your favorite frozen treat? I'm a big fan of Dairy Queen's chocolate-dipped cones.
What's your favorite store? The 99 Cent Store probably gets most of my business. But I'll browse any store.
Are you thirsty right now? My water bottle is empty. :( Although, that might just mean that I used to be thirsty... I'll have to think on it.
Can you imagine yourself ever getting married? I'm a lovey type, I'll definitely get married eventually.
Who's someone you haven't seen in a while and miss? Brian, from high school. He's always so happy to see me.
What did you do last night? Played some guitar?
Do you care what people think about you? Subconsciously I probably do. But not consciously, I don't.
Do you like your nose? I don't really think about it. So I guess yes, since I don't hate it.
Do you like giving or getting massages more? Oh, giving. I even massage myself if my back is sore, so I don't really ever get massages.
Have you ever snooped around your parents room before? Nah. There was one time when our mother cat kept her litter in my mom's closet, so we had to kind of snoop to see the kitties. But yeah.
Where do you live? Mojave Desert, California.
Who do you have a crush on? See, she's probably reading this.
Do you like the person who posted this last? Oh, I got this from Whitney. So definitely not. (She likes Scorpion more than Sub-Zero. I mean, wtf?)
Do you know their birthday? Yes, yes I do.
What is your favorite thing to do on a Friday night? Friday's always game night. It's been Dungeons & Dragons lately. Worms Armageddon is a popular one too. And Unreal Tournament.
What do you smell like right now? Probably like your mom's perfume. (OH. OH!)
What do you tell yourself when times get hard? Just go with the flow. Things get better.
Would you ever sky dive? Sure. It seems like such a short experience though...
What size bed do you sleep on? Twin size. Or, Twin XL, which is 3 inches longer than a twin.
Do old people scare you or creep you out? No? Why would they?
Have you ever bid for something on ebay? Yeah. And I won too!
What do you think of Angelina Jolie being pregnant? I don't think she's pregnant anymore. But I don't care about celebrity relationships.
Do you enjoy giving hugs? YES. I can be quite huggy.
Does it annoy you when someone says they'll call but never do? Nope. Not at all.
Do you ever feel guilty after eating meat? When I'm eating chicken and I can see its ribs... then it all becomes too real.
Do you own movies on DVD? Yes. I'm into movies.

---

what is your favorite animal? Birds. Bird flight fascinates me.
what was the highlight of your weekend? It's the weekend now. If you ask me, it'll probably be something to do with tying dead snakes together to form a rope.
how long have you been friends with your best friend(s)? Hmm, depends. For -best- friends, I'd say four years. For good friends, I could go back to eight years.
What's on your mind right now? Oh, I was thinking about my high school teachers. I really had the best teachers ever.
last funny thing you saw? Lobster magnet. It was funny because it brought up old memories.
when was the last time you smiled/laughed? Lobster magnet.
what did you say last? Possibly "Later, guys."
what color are your eyes? Yellow with a blue ring around the outside. Also, I have ten white eyelashes.
name the last three things you have bought in the past 3 days? Have I bought -anything- in the past three days? Three weeks? I mean, the only answer I can give is: quill of arrows, scroll of teleport, anti-magic field.
who/what do you hate currently? I shouldn't say.
what are you listening to? Volcano: Disaster in New York!
what makes you happy? Sunny days and bunny rabbits.
does someone have a crush on you? No.
what was the first thing you said when you woke up? Hmm. I said a joke of some kind just after I woke up. I don't remember it now, though.
what are your plans for tomorrow? Oh, tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday. So... I have no plans.
What woke you up this morning? I just woke up. I had a cool zombie dream, and I was satisfied with how that went.
Where are you? In my room. Where else?
Is tomorrow going to be a good day? It'll be an average day.
Did you kiss or hug anyone today? Nope.
When is the last time you cried? Like, a decade ago.
Ever thrown up in public? Yeah.
Passed out because of alcohol? No.
What's on your mind RIGHT NOW? Well, the questions. Of course. And my throat is kind of sore, so that's on my mind. Oh, oh, and now I'm thinking about finding boxes for a pair of late Christmas presents.
Would you take a bullet for anyone? Hmm. Sure. Not in most cases, but if I can save a child from being shot or something, I'd do everything I could.
Where would you like to live? -Everywhere-. San Francisco, Portland, Toronto, New York, Illinois, Europe, Iceland, Australia. I'd like to travel in my life.
What kind of home would you like? Modest-sized.
What do you want to be when you grow up? In a general sense, I'm into computer science.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Man, I'll be almost 26 then. Probably in a house with some guys living a decent life.
Who is your number one? My favorite dude, Matt.
Have you kissed your number one? Nope. (Not yet.)
Who was the last person that left you a comment? Gabbinator.
How often do you log in to myspace? Once a day? Maybe every other day?
Do you like candy necklaces? Hm. I'm not against them.
When was the last time you fell over or ran into something? Hmm. Probably just a chair in the living room. I head to the kitchen in pitch black a lot, and there's this chair that juts out a bit.
Do you listen to music every day? Yes, everyday.
About how many people have you liked? Well, a few people a year usually. Probably about 30-40. Maybe 5 really seriously.
What are you doing this weekend? That's the last weekend before school starts again, so probably just get ready for school.
Have you ever moved? *counts on fingers* At least nine times.
Have you ever won an award? Yeah. Lots of honor rolls, some perfect attendance and cheesy achievement awards. Some high test score awards.
What do you want to do right now? Go out. But it's late and I should probably sleep instead.
Whats a word or phrase that you love? Callipygous. It's a compliment.
How long 'til your birthday? Two months.
When were you the saddest in your whole life? I've had bouts of depression before. I'm fine now, though.
What makes you mad? Intolerance?
Have you ever had a song written about you? Yes! It was written to the tune of the Spiderman theme. The song rhymed "LittleViking" with "infant biking." It was very creative.
What song makes you cry? Hmm. No songs make me cry. Red Right Ankle by The Decemberists probably comes the closest.
What songs make you happy? The Start of Something by Voxtrot. Also lots of others.
What does your CD player have in it right now? My what player? CD player? Do people still have CD players?
If you were a crayon what color would you be? Burnt Sienna. Because, like me, it is the coolest one of the bunch.
What makes you happy? Being with people. It's way better than being alone.
Whats the next CD you're gonna get? Next what? CD? Do people still get CDs?
a word to describe 2007? 2007 was good. I had a turn-around in 2007 toward optimism.
something i don't want to happen in 2007? Hm. The year already passed, kind of. I hope I didn't make life harder for anyone else?
favorite color in 2006? Green. For ages, my favorite color was a toss-up between blue and green, but recently, I realized that the green was just for show. I was a fan of blue all along.
summer 2006: Spent the season trying to save a doomed relationship.
My best friends in 2006: Same friends I have now.
Honestly, will you miss 2006? If there's one year I won't ever miss, it's 2006.

---

Are you in a complicated relationship? Nope.
Do you hate more than 3 people? Hmmm. No.
How many houses have you lived in? At least eight.
Favorite candy? Umm. Are brownies considered candy? Snickers bars are nice. Reese's cups are awesome. And peanut butter M&M's.
Do you own a Britney Spears CD? No. No, no. I mean.. no. No. N... No..
have you ever been on a beer run, and, if so, how many? I don't drink. I've driven friends to liquor stores before, but none for me.
Name one thing that is always on your mind. Okay, I did. I named it Helga.
Favorite genre of music? I like quite a variety of music. You could say I like rock in general, but it ranges all the way from folk to heavy metal. And of course, I'm open to other genres if the music is good.
Who are you, and why should anyone care? I am Kevin. I can be very funny, and creative, good company in general. I'm willing to help with whatever you need. I'll do your tech suport, and host your website.
Summer or winter? Winter. It's got Christmas in it.
How many lamps are in your bedroom? Two.
How many video games do you own? ALL OF THEM!
Do looks matter? Not much. I'm often more attracted to nerd-girl types anyway.
Name 3 teachers: Mr. Shahin for math, Mr. Adell for English, umm. Steve B. from high school.
Are you too forgiving? Not -too- forgiving. I am pretty forgiving though.
Do you own something from Hot Topic? Don't think so.
Last time you've been to Olive Garden? Olive Garden? Never.
Are you thinking about somebody right now? I am now.
Do you own a diamond ring? No. I don't like diamonds. Diamonds have an interesting history. See, centuries ago, diamonds were extremely rare. They were only found by chance in the riverbeds of amazon streams and remote places like that. They were expensive because they were hard to find. In recent history, though, diamond mines have been uncovered in places like Canada, Siberia and Africa. These mines have huge amounts of diamonds. Enough to make diamonds as common as sapphires and emeralds. So why does a diamond ring cost $1000 and a sapphire ring cost $100? Well, one company controls the diamond trade. DeBeers holds a near-monopoly on the gem. Almost every diamond you can buy today passes through their dealers. So diamond prices are artificially inflated, and for that reason, I do not like them. There is hope for the future though: Artificial diamonds - diamonds created in a lab that are just as good if not better than natural ones - are coming down in price and becoming more feasible to work with. Laboratory diamonds cost $5 a carat, more or less.
Do you like yourself? Yes.
Favorite physical feature of the preferred sex? Oh, definitely the butt.
Are you afraid of the dark? Nope. I've noticed it gets me a little anxious lately, but it's more about being alone with my thoughts in silent darkness than the darkness or anything about it.
Do you own a webcam? I do. I play Risk over it.
Ever broke a bone? No.
Are you religious? No, not very. I have my beliefs.
Do you chat on AIM often? Yes.
Pringles or Lays? They're not even comparable really. But Pringles.
do you like naruto? No. Not into anime really.
Did you like your high school guidance counselor? Yes. He was the school's football coach.
Has anyone ever called you a tease? No, no.
3 things that annoy you? MacBook Air, mismatched socks, running out of tape
Do you text message often? Nah, not anymore. I used to.
Money or love? Love.
Do you have any scars? Yes. Mostly from cats.
What do you want more than anything right now? Make food to eat. In fact, wait here, I'll be right back.
What kind of mood are you in? An incredibly average one.
Relationships or one night stands? Relationships, of course. I'm in it for the cuddling. u_u
Have you seen all the Rocky movies? Nope. I saw one of them... Can't remember which.
Do you own a box of crayons? Hmmm, no.
Who was the last person that made you laugh? Matt, no doubt. But he's the last person I talked to.
Who was the last person that texted you? Whitney... some time ago.
Who was the last person that called you? Oh, Steve called me tonight. From Colorado.

---

in 2008 have you

Have you had a gf/bf? No.
Have you had your birthday? Nope.
Been to church? Been to -a- church.
Had someone close to you pass away? No. I actually haven't ever had many people close to me pass away. My dad's mom did last summer, but that's all I've ever experienced.
Pulled an all nighter? I do all the time.
Drank starbucks? I have actually never purchased anything from Starbucks.
Gone shopping? No.
Gone to the movies? I was taken to the movies.
Been to the beach? Nah.
Bought something for over $200? No.
Met someone new? I meet new people constantly.
got in a fight? No. I'm not a fighter.
Been out of your home state? Hmmm. No, not yet.

Babe or Baby? Baby.
Sweetie or Honey? Sweetie.
Darling or Hun? Darling.
is your hair wet? Um, no.
are you watching tv? I have the morning news on. They just segued from speed dating to traffic speeders. Impressive.
are you wearing pajamas? Nope.
Today, have you cursed? No.
Today, have you yelled at someone? No.
Today, have you gotten mad at someone? Nope.
Today, have you cried? No.
Today, have you called more than 3 people? Nah. I don't really call people.
Today, have you IM'd more than 3 people? Hmm. Oh, I'm in an IRC channel, so there are 30 people right there.
do you have any siblings? Older brother, younger sister.
do you smile often? Hmmm. A little bit? More so when I'm with people who make me laugh.
do you think that someone is thinking about you right now? Nah, it's too early for that. Ask again in 7 hours when everyone's awake.
do you untie your shoes every time you take them off? No.
are you a friendly person? Yes, very. But also shy.
who's bed did you sleep in last night? No no no, you wanted to use "whose." "Who's" is strictly a contraction - it always means "who is."
what is the color of your bedsheets? They are dark blue.
i can't wait until... I SEE GAB AND WHITNEY TODAY.
is tom on your friends list? No, I removed him years ago.
look to your right. what's there? Chest of drawers, old TV, printer, some stuff. It took me a minute to remember which way was right.
has anyone ever said 'i love you' to you, not including family or friends? yes.
talking to online? Just Alex and AF.
When was the last time you walked/ran over a mile? I probably walked over a mile on Monday. It is now Thursday.
Who was the last person you watched a movie with? My sister. I was way tired, so I fell asleep for the last 15-20 minutes of the movie. But I got the gist of it.
Who did you last yell at? I... don't yell. I can't yell. I mean, I've tried before.
Water or milk? Water.
Tea or Coffee? Um, either.
What did you do yesterday? School has started, so I am in school. (I think I said earlier that school was out, but it's in now. I did half of this a couple weeks ago.)
Have you dated someone older than you? No.
Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? Depends on the situation. Unless it's a luck-based endeavor, the person has to change for the better before they earn the right to try again.
Ever been given an engagement ring? No?
Has anyone ever told you they wanted to marry you? Maybe.
Ever liked someone else's boyfriend or girlfriend? I've had crushes on girls in relationships. But I don't try to wriggle in or anything.
Does heartbreak really feel as bad as it sounds? It's more lasting than it sounds.
Have any of your ex's told you they regret breaking up with you? Yes.
Would you believe your ex if she/he said they love you? Depends on who you're talking about.
Would you date your best male/female friend? I WISH I had a male-slash-female friend.
Have any of your exes called you by a nickname after the break up? A nickname? I don't know if I've been given nicknames.
If your best friend of the opposite sex went out with someone you knew was wrong for them would you speak on it? Nah. That's not for me to decide.
You have ten bucks at a gas station to buy some snacks, what do you get? Salsa verde Doritos. Hmm. Nachos. Maybe a Mountain Dew. Mini-donuts.
If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you be? Squid.
Who's your favorite redhead? Uhhh. Oh, oh, AF is a redhead. I pick AF.
What do you order when you're at IHOP? I don't go to IHOP, but I would get french toast with eggs over-easy and bacon. (Half-bacon, half-sausage if they offer it.)
Have you made out with anybody on your friends list? Not yet, sadly. Sadly.
Describe your favorite pair of underwear! Two words: googly eyes.
Of all your friends, with whom would you want to be stuck in a well with? Gabby, Whitney, Alex. One of those. I feel like.. it wouldn't be awkward to be stuck in a well with them?
Rock concert or symphony? Rock concert, although I'd be open to a symphony.
What is the wallpaper on your cellphone? There's only one wallpaper that shows a clock, so it's that one. It's red.
Favorite pudding? Chocolate.
What type of shirt are you wearing? It's a medium shirt, so it's a bit small on me, but I like it. I usually wear large, but the tight fit is flattering to my emaciated figure.
Prescription medication? Not on any.
If you could only use one form of transportation for the rest of your life what would it be? Train?
How many people are on your friends list? I assume you mean on MySpace. I have 23.
How many of them do you know in real life? I'd say 15.
What are you listening to right now? Morning news. They're reporting for Valentine's Day from the Hornblower yacht. ...From the /Hornblower yacht/
If you could invent one thing, what would it be? I like the idea of making musical instruments. When I was younger, I made a machine that triggered hammers based on pegs in a rotating cylinder. I later found out that this already existed. I invented a form of the music box.
What's your favorite kind of cake? Chocolate, definitely. I'm not usually a big cake fan, but chocolate cake is awesome.
What's the first word that comes to mind right now? Avacado.
When was the last time you saw your mom in person? Last night. Just before I left to go see your mom in person. OH.
Who got you to join MySpace? Cady.
What did you have for dinner last night? Umm, cheeseburger.
How do you feel about the number 30? It's a very average number. Nothing at all stands out about it. Prime factors are 2, 3, 5. Five months of the year have 30 days. Jesus was crucified around year 30. Roman numeral for 30 is XXX. I saw a 30-sided polyhedron recently. There was a Thirty Years War in Europe in the 1600's.
Look to your left, what do you see? My bed.
Who was the last person that spent $100 on you? My parents, at Christmas.

Grain of sand. Also Cookies

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:04:30 GMT

[Kashkin] Huh. I have to FTP files larger than 20 MB to my web host.
[LittleViking] Really? What files are that big?
[Kashkin] My penis.
[LittleViking] Hm. You realize hard drives store some 100+ GB per square inch these days.
[Kashkin] That's pretty large.
[LittleViking] 0.0002 square inch penis?
[Kashkin] Yup.
[LittleViking] Wow, that's about a third of a millimeter, squared. That's visible. That's like a grain of sand. 20 MB on a hard drive is the size of a grain of sand.
[Kashkin] Wow.
[Kashkin] I want a beach-sized array.
[LittleViking] I have a beach sized array.
[LittleViking] I keep it in my pants.
* LittleViking brings it full circle.
[Kashkin] Hahaha.
[Kashkin] Nicely done.

---

[FlyingOxWall] A fortune cookie told me it was destiny to talk on AIM for like 20 minutes this morning despite my hangover.
[LittleViking] A fortune cookie did?
[LittleViking] I like that cookie.
[FlyingOxWall] I do too, but it just hasn't been a very good friend lately.
[FlyingOxWall] Everytime I talk about it, it gets on the whole, "hard to be your friend when I know the entire future in short cathartic phrases..." deal.

Free Portal demo for Nvidia owners

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:13:05 GMT

http://www.steampowered.com/nvidia

The best part of the game is really at the end, so I don't know how good a demo would be. But if you want to try out some of the puzzles Portal has to offer and you happen to own an Nvidia video card, go ahead and check it out.

New Giuliani ad scapegoats Islam and the Middle East

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 05:26:34 GMT

Link

The ad declares, "An enemy without borders. Hate without boundries. People perverted. A religion betrayed. A nuclear power in chaos. Madmen bent on creating it. Leaders assassinated. Democracy attacked. And Osama bin Laden still making threats. In a world where the next crisis is a moment away, America needs a leader who is ready."

Throughout the ad, we're shown video of Muslims in the Middle East. There's one shot of a crowd burning a flag (not an American flag, mind you), one shot with a few people waving AK-47's in the air, and a few shots of fires, but the rest of the video was just average Middle-Eastern life. I think he's targeting voters who aren't afraid simply of terrorists, but afraid of anyone from the Middle East or of Islamic faith.

Holy Cow

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 07:48:24 GMT

Earlier tonight, just by chance, I happened to hear Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun played at 70% of its original speed. That means it played back slower and at a lower pitch. And, oddly, Cyndi Lauper sounds exactly like a reggae singer under these conditions.

Check it out. (If you don't hear it at first, keep listening. It really picks up after the first minute passes.)

Download Link (5 MB)

Is it Christmas?

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 14:51:38 GMT

http://isitchristmas.com/

Don't forget to check Is it Christmas? this year. isitchristmas.com is online 365 days a year, displaying only a "NO" message on every day except for Christmas (when it presumably says "YES?" I haven't ever actually seen it).

Another Comic!

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:15:33 GMT

I don't know if I'll post these constantly, but for now, you get two in a row.

Quick Comic

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 04:03:17 GMT

Imperial Units

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:09:56 GMT

Who needs metric?

It's a good week to be a nerd

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:37:39 GMT

What is widely considered to be the best meteor shower of the year, the Geminid shower, falls on Thursday night this week. In the US, you might see some early meteors as soon as it's dark out, and the meteors will become more visible by 10 PM, but the best views come after 2 AM. In areas with low light pollution, you should be able to see as many as 1-2 meteors every minute. So check it out if you can bear the cold.

Firefly marathon this weekend

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:04:41 GMT

Sci-Fi Channel, Friday night, 7 PM - 3 AM

If you don't know what Firefly is, it was an award-winning sci-fi "space western" that aired on Fox for a very short time. Fourteen episodes were produced, but the series was cancelled after 11 aired. Since then, it has seen great success in DVD sales, has gained a dedicated following in the subculture, and has been voted the best sci-fi show of all time by a few different publications. (The movie follow-up Serenity has also been voted best sci-fi movie ever a few times.)

Unfortunately, the marathon only covers half of the series. Worse than that, the early episodes are often considered the worst. So all of the later episodes, the greater episodes, we won't get to see. Maybe they'll run another marathon in a week or two to finish off the series?

Quick thoughts on politics

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 16:11:47 GMT

There's still about two months before primary elections. Unless things change, it looks like it's going to be a Clinton/Giuliani election. Which I think would be boring.

Ron Paul has such a huge following on the internet, but he's only making slow progress in traditional polls. It'll be a real challenge for him to beat out Giuliani. I'm not a Republican or a Libertarian, but I'd be ecstatic to see Paul make it to the final election.

I don't think the radical Democrats like Kucinich will ever break through to the top. (Although you could argue that the top two Democratic candidates, a woman and an African American, are already pretty radical for this country.)

Birthday Paradox

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:13:01 GMT

The Birthday Paradox is a famous example of mathematics going against intuition. According to the Birthday Paradox, in a room of 23 random people, there's a 50% chance that two of them share a birthday. The first reaction to this is usually disbelief. How could so few people have a 50-50 chance of someone sharing a birthday?

Well, there are two key points to understanding the problem. First is to add people one at a time. Second is to reverse the problem: figure out the odds of no one sharing a birthday with anyone else. Starting with one person, we can add the next into the room. The first person was born on a certain day. This person being added could be born on any of the 364 days not taken by the person before him. This means there's a 364/365 ( = 0.997) chance that they don't share a birthday.
0.3% chance that these two people do share a birthday.

When we add the next person, he has to clear the two people before him, so he has a 363/365 (0.995) chance, but we also have to pass the first test before this. To calculate that, we multiply these odds by the odds given last time. 364/365 * 363/365 = 0.991
That's a 99.1% chance that no one shares birthdays, and so a 0.9% chance that someone does.

When we add a fourth person, the odds go to 1.6% that someone shares a birthday. Fifth person, 2.7%. Since we have to pass increasingly more tests to prove no shared birthdays as more people are added, the odds jump up quickly in favor of someone getting a duplicate birthday. Here are a few more milestones:

People	Chance of a match
2	0.27%
3	0.82%
4	1.64%
5	2.71%
10	11.69%
15	25.29%
20	41.14%
23	50.73%
25	56.87%
30	70.63%
35	81.44%

If you want to test this with me, post your birthday, and get other people to post theirs until we get a match. I'm March 23rd. Now, since I don't expect to get 20, 25, 30 comments on this, I'll jumpstart things with a shortlist of famous mathematicians! This should get us into a decent percentage to start.

Birthday	Name
February 8	Daniel Bernoulli
March 31	René Descartes
April 15	Leonhard Euler
April 30	Carl Friedrich Gauss
June 8	Giovanni Domenico Cassini
August 17	Pierre de Fermat
September 17	Bernhard Riemann
November 2	George Boole
November 29	Christian Doppler
December 1	Nikolai Lobachevsky
December 10	Ada Lovelace
December 26	Charles Babbage

A few notes:

The Birthday Paradox isn't a paradox by definition. It's not a self-contradicting statement. Its name (technically incorrect as it is) comes from the way it contradicts intuition.

The Birthday Paradox assumes that all days have equal birthcounts. In reality, certain days have more births than others. Still, the statistics in the problem are fairly accurate.

I'm not sure what kind of effect it'll have, actually, to hand-pick a list of birthdays to start with. The math really works best on perfectly random dates. Anyway. We'll see.

Handheld browsers are taking off? Really?

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:10:12 GMT

A market share study by Net Applications puts the iPhone at about 0.1% of all web browsers. That might not sound like a lot, but you also have to consider that the iPhone was released just five months ago, and was only available in the U.S. until a few weeks ago. (Even then, the only other places to get an iPhone now are France, Germany and the U.K.) On top of that, consider that the U.S. isn't the biggest phone market out there. Really. Cell phones are phenomenally popular in Europe, Japan and Korea. If Apple rolls out the service to some of these other places, I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone passed 1% of browsers a year from now. Maybe more than that. The phone has already passed up the Nintendo Wii and Sony's PSP and PS3. (The Real N actually gets about 0.1% of its traffic from PSP users now. We might need to make small-format styles after all, if this trend keeps up. u_u)

Christmas

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 15:23:43 GMT

If any of you Interpeople want to send me a postcard for Christmas, that would be awesome. Contact me and I'll get you my mailing address. And if you don't mind receiving mail from me (if you're under 18, ask your parents), give me your info and I'll mail something out as well.

So people are asking me what I might want for Christmas, and, of course, I have no idea. Is there anything cool out there I'd want which I'm not thinking of? The only thing I can think of right now is a laptop, and those are pretty expensive. ($700-$1200+)

I can't see myself using an iPod or an iPhone much. (My phone tallies something like 10 minutes a month as it is.) I mostly do freeware gaming, so I don't think I'd want any video games. Maybe Orange Box on PC, I've heard good things about that. Any other suggestions? I have a DS handheld too, so DS and GBA suggestions are open.

Or maybe some kind of musical instrument. Like a guitar? I've been interested in learning music for a while, and lower-end instruments usually aren't too expensive. Opinions on music from you guys would be helpful. I can't see myself enjoying percussion much by myself, and I know I can't handle wind instruments. Most other instruments should be fair game.

Anything else?

Anyone wanna go to New York?

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:10:45 GMT

Digg and Virgin Airlines have a promotion going on right now that offers two tickets for the price of one, for a select few cities. The cities available are Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington DC and New York. You can fly up until March 19 (with blackout dates around Christmas and Valentine's Day), but the tickets have to be ordered by December 7 when the promotion ends. You'd still have to take normal food and hotel pricing into account, but for two people going round-trip from LA to New York, this would save $260. Pretty sweet.

MetaSecret

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 08:47:04 GMT

MetaSecret is a project I coded up over the weekend. Based on the first MetaSecret (mine is technically MetaSecret 2) and the original PostSecret, MetaSecret (2) is a site for people to anonymously post their secrets and read what others have to say. It's primarily aimed at the Metanet Software community, so people who aren't part of that will miss some of the meaning (secrets about Numa, maps, multi-accounting) but it's universal enough to post here.

"There is a girl that I like so much that I genuinely feel physically sick whenever I see her. This morning, when I knew I was about to be around her, I actually threw up."

"I think I am having an early life crisis."

"I drool when I kiss. I can't always help it."

I do wish there were more upbeat secrets. Some of them are fun, but most of the ones people are posting are real dark and depressing. Still, it's a neat little project. Readers of my blog can post too if they want; submission's open to anyone.

More Fun with Histograms

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 07:21:24 GMT

Fun fun. This actually preceded the E thing I posted earlier. I just wanted to experiment with text there. This way is much easier.

A histogram shows a comparison of all the light/dark levels in an image. On the x-axis, the histogram is divided into 256 parts - the left end is RGB 0,0,0 (black) and the right edge is RGB 255,255,255 (white). If you take the color out of an image, the shades of gray define these levels. The most common shade gets the tallest line in the graph, from top to bottom, and acts as a comparison points for the other levels.

For example, an image with 2 black pixels and 1 white pixel would have a line from top to bottom at the left edge, and a line half as tall at the right edge. An image with 2 black pixels, 1 gray pixel, and 1 white pixel would have a line top to bottom at the left, and lines half as tall at the middle and right edge. If there were 2 pixels each of white, gray, and black, all three lines would go top to bottom.

This tetris image wasn't hard to develop because there are only four levels of height in it. What I did was start with a canvas only one pixel tall, so I could make a one-dimensional gradient. The tall block in the center had 4 pixels of each shade of gray, the next height down is 3, the next is 2, and the lowest is 1 pixel of each shade. So starting at the left edge, what I did was put down 1 black pixel, then go one shade lighter than black, put a pixel down, go one shade lighter, repeat until (I think) 25 shades were down. For the next 25 shades, I put down 2 pixels. For the next part, I actually copied over the first 25 pixels and turned up their brightness. By making them 50 shades lighter, I got the gradient I needed and saved time.

After the one-pixel gradient was done, I just stretched it to 100 pixels tall. It happened to kind of look like a tetris block then, so I added borders on the blocks to make it more obvious. You have to do borders carefully, though. To keep the histogram, you can exchange pixels all you want, but you can't add or take away pixels. To make any kind of image in the gradient, you have to swap parts of the image with other parts of the image.