01/26/04 01:40 - ID#35422
Mathematical night ponderings
It's very difficult to entertain notions of a realistic four-dimensional model. What does it look like? It goes everywhere a three-dimensional one would (left/right (x), forward/backward (y), and up/down (z)) plus somewhere else, where? Yet I figure that since we can comprehend something that has four-dimensions, at least mathematically with four variables, we should be able to envision it. The prevailing ideas of our time are based on the idea of space-time, meaning three-dimensional space plus a fourth variable, time. Time, however presents a geometrical problem in that, at least in our experience, it travels in only one direction, towards the future. One can travel through space but not time (though think how much better we are at traveling thorugh space with the help of technology, maybe we just haven't figured time out). Soon enough my mind balked at trying to construct this model. I had spinning mobius strips combined with three-dimensional graphs flitting through my head but never resolved anything.
Next I started thinking about how I could simplify the problem for my little head to understand. I though well if there are too many variables what you do is differentiate. Hmmm... A little differentiation never hurt nobody. A good example of what differentiation does is a physical one between position, velocity, and acceleration. By differentiating an equation you are able to find a rate of change. In our example, velocity is the rate of change of position, and acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. So, I thought last night as I drifted in the transitory delusions before slumber, if we had an equation expressing relationships between space and time (a four-dimensional equation), we could differntiate in respect to one of them to get an equation expressing the rate of change in, say time. Maybe I could understand that.
Soon I became more asleep than not, and my thoughts became less coherent. Somehow Trisha ended up in there. Don't know where she came from though. And she sure didn't help with the math. Thanks a lot Trisha.
Permalink: Mathematical_night_ponderings.html
Words: 455
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/25/04 02:19 - ID#35421
Faraway friend and trip to uglyland
Secondly I just played that stupid game Paul always plays (second life) and laughed my ass silly for about a half hour making my avatar beautiful. Here are the final results.
I especially like the jutting brow that actually goes past the hairline. That's nice. We're reaching the outer limits of ugliness now.
Permalink: Faraway_friend_and_trip_to_uglyland.html
Words: 118
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/25/04 12:26 - ID#35420
Whoosh
The party was a total success, thanks everyone for coming, and I apolize for passing out so early (about 4). I was wearing a green shirt for the record, not a red silky one as Matthew's journal shows it (check Chamille's journal (southernyankee) for the real version), maybe he was trying to match my beady red eyes. Oh Matt is becoming the little photoshop artist isn't he?
Lastly we have the highest ranking official in the Bush administration yet to admit that the evidence used to thrust the nation into war was ummm, well... maybe not so perfect. Ironically it was Powell himself who detailed in depth this "evidence" to the UN and the world before the war when we still pretended to care what the rest of the world wants.
Permalink: Whoosh.html
Words: 343
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/23/04 12:46 - ID#35419
No Superbowl MoveOn Ad
"During this year's Super Bowl, you'll see ads sponsored by beer companies, tobacco companies, and the Bush White House.1 But you won't see the winning ad in MoveOn.org Voter Fund's Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest. CBS refuses to air it.2
Meanwhile, the White House is on the verge of signing into law a deal which Senator John McCain (R-AZ) says is custom-tailored for CBS and Fox,3 allowing the two networks to grow much bigger. CBS lobbied hard for this rule change; MoveOn.org members across the country lobbied against it; and now our ad has been rejected while the White House ad will be played. It looks an awful lot like CBS is playing politics with the right to free speech.
Of course, this is bigger than just the MoveOn.org Voter Fund. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) submitted an ad that was also rejected.4 But this isn't even a progressive-vs.-conservative issue. The airwaves are publicly owned, so we have a fundamental right to hear viewpoints from across the ideological spectrum. That's why we need to let CBS know that this practice of arbitrarily turning down ads that may be "controversial" -- especially if they're controversial simply because they take on the President -- just isn't right.
To sign our petition to CBS, go to:
We'll deliver the petition by email directly to CBS headquarters."
Permalink: No_Superbowl_MoveOn_Ad.html
Words: 275
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/21/04 04:03 - ID#35418
I am a crochety old man now
That's right, I've finally taken up my long-awaited dream of crocheting. You may ask yourself why any 24 year old male would choose such a granny-like craft. Well, mostly I am a very bored 24 year old who's almost perpetually laid off, this would be the number one predicating factor. Another big reason is that both my grandmas crocheted and would always give me quilts and such for special occassions. I learned a little bit how to do it when I was a kid, but never enough to actually make anything. It's not really all that complicated, I started this scarf the day after I learned the stitches. It is very time consuming, however; so far the scarf is about a foot long and has absorbed about 4-5 hours of my life. I think there should be some kind of machinery involved, though that might make it less of a craft. I will trudge on till it is finished and then I will make smaller things, like mittens, booties, hats, penis cozies, and tortoise sweaters.
- I will now mention that Sara (iriesara) really helped me get down the basics that enabled me to come so far since then in the crocheting art. Thanks Sara!!**
Permalink: I_am_a_crochety_old_man_now.html
Words: 204
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/20/04 12:34 - ID#35417
Back to work
US on it's knees before the recently declared "irrelavant" UN . How the mighty fall. Maybe the UN will help little-old US before things get really out of hand. If not we can just start bombing more people into peace. Maybe we can bomb selected targets directly into office, now that's democracy.
Permalink: Back_to_work.html
Words: 123
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/19/04 10:03 - ID#35416
James Earl Jonesed
Can't you just picture me in this baby! I'd be riding high and dry above the rest of the world. I'd be sporting utilities left and right. I'd have a cell phone, and 7 car phones (one for every seat), and would have the three seat-back monitors hooked constantly to the internet via Verizon's satellites. I'd tear through telephone bills faster than through foreign oil reserves. Sweet hippity-hog!
Thank you James Earl Jones!! Where are you nowadays, it's been ages since you tore my heart open on the screen. That voice, my god, how do you dit it?!? Totally like verklemps me into a knot of sweet love pudding. But, most importantly thank you, no really, thank you Verizon!!!
Permalink: James_Earl_Jonesed.html
Words: 151
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/19/04 01:52 - ID#35415
Israeli strangeness
There's an art exhibit which features a suicide bomber in Stockholm, Sweden. Israel's envoy to Sweden goes to the exhibit, sees the installation, and attempts to take it down (though he manages to only unplug a spotlight and throw it in impotent rage). He defended his actions, claiming that diplomacy only goes so far. As a matter of course, top Israeli cabinet members of the Sharon government voiced their approval of the act.
Freedom of expression should be an unquestioned right. The art piece didn't hurt anyone, maybe it makes you look at a perspective that is offensive to you, but that doesn't mean it should be censored. I really think this all goes too far. You can only cry anti-semite so much before nobody cares anymore. Especially when at the same time you are building a wall around the lesser people you don't want near your towns and making premeditated sweeps through their homes, indiscriminately terrorizing them with tanks, bulldozers, and machine guns. Does anyone claim that Israel is even threatened anymore? They have a gigantic army, the largest as a percentage of population, and advanced military technology, supplied by their number one friend and ally, the US. Their constant cries of anti-semitism fly in the face of their own aggression and bullying. They say that a child who is abused at an early age has a greater chance of becoming an abuser later in life. I think Israel needs to learn that lesson and start acting like an adult country.
Permalink: Israeli_strangeness.html
Words: 266
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/18/04 01:20 - ID#35414
Evacuation!
They are gone, evacuated. The process has terminated, but for a malingering malaise perfuming our halls. Has malfeasance been quelled, for now at least? Of the future we can only hope, clinging to faded memories, both experienced and inate. Remember! Nightmares fade, but dreams, they linger on.
Permalink: Evacuation_.html
Words: 86
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/17/04 03:18 - ID#35413
Surprises everywhere!
Permalink: Surprises_everywhere_.html
Words: 13
Location: Buffalo, NY
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