Category: Pulverbatch

October 2, 2003 /

And I pulled another all-nighter (bringing our running total for this week up to–yes!–two) and I finished the whole thing this time, and it works, and it’s 18 pages of code and 10 pages of report in fourteen hours, and I am fuck yes proud of it.

Actually I’m mostly proud because last night, I learned Java. Like all of it. I’d never written anything besides a Hello World in the language before, and last night I sat down and implemented polymorphs and overrides and extensions like a fucking Sun cowboy. I’m thinking I probably won’t go to my last class of the day too often anymore, because it’s basically How To Do Java When You Only Know C++, and I think I just made that whole concept call me daddy.

It was a long night, but hell, I know a new language now. And although yes, I took a half-hour nap that turned into a one-hour nap and I was late for the class where I had to hand it in, I biked like a demon (on one hour of sleep) and got there without being too late at all. My professor didn’t seem to mind, at least. He’s bland, but he’s awfully nice.

Tonight I clean and nap and clean some more, preparing for my mother and sister to descend upon my apartment and find it wanting. Then tomorrow it’s Ian’s birthday. Happy birthday, Ian! I didn’t get you anything.

September 30, 2003 /

Turns out I actually can eat lunch, read under a tree, come home on the bus, do miscellaneous home activities (like exchange heavy books), and still get back on campus in time for my afternoon classes.

Huh.

Pulled my first grad school project all-nighter last night. Because I’m stupid. I didn’t quite finish it (I wrote a predicate logic unification package, but not its extensions), but from the classroom buzz this morning everybody who did finish didn’t have the first part working, and I did. Maybe I’ll get Mickey Rooney Happy Fun Time Points.

September 28, 2003 /

Audrey and Drew. It’s all their fault. If not for their meddling influences, I could have gone to the craft store with Maria and (Illinoisan entomologist) Annie and spent a mere $20 on new Microns. Ta da! The end!

Except the aforementioned two have talked lots about inking with metal-nib pens and brushes, respectively, and I saw some of that stuff at Michael’s and got all excited and WHOOPS there goes all the money I had next month.

I’m calling it an “investment.” That makes it okay to shave a little bit off the future-budget for, oh, as long as I’m alive.

Anyway, at least I’ll be trying new art stuff. Expect to see shaky new black-and-white things in the Chalkboard as I get my… ink-legs. I guess.

Now: Kruskal’s algorithm!

September 27, 2003 /

Well heck. While I was busy nonblogging, I managed to completely miss the two-year anniversary of this journal (this past Tuesday). This is why sometimes there will be things that say “2 Years Ago” over on the right.

Yeah, that’s basically it.

I highly recommend John Allison’s Girlspy, which I just got in the maaail to-day. And it’s great! There’s popes in it.

September 26, 2003 /

The rest of the archives are reinstated, including the temp entries from The Time of Darkness.

You probably could have figured that out yourself, but I’m just doing this for the sheer joy of posting again. Whee! Oh ha ha. Whee!

I’M ALIVE!

September 26, 2003 /

And so is my weblog! It’s missing about a month of entries right now, partly because for a while I didn’t write anything, and partly because this is restored from an old archive (the only one I have here at work). I’ll get the rest when I get home tonight.

Anyway. Welcome to xorph.com, where there’s content again now!

Whoo!

September 15, 2003 /

There’s a bit of rough going, as you might have noticed, as I try to install my journal software on the new server. It’ll be back, honest idjit. Meanwhile, things I’ve been meaning to talk about:

  • Sumana has not only been published in Salon, she’s also turned 22 (Sumana is younger than me. I can’t stand it) and written what is possibly the definitive blog entry on spam.
  • Lisa is back at school, next to Flora, having fun without me and taking my single favorite picture of a door ever.
  • My roommate Maria is taking about eighteen exams today, over there in dag blasted medical school. Wish her luck! I’m not really worried about her, since (as I recently discovered) she has a photographic memory. Never try to win an argument with someone who has a photographic memory. Or rather, try as you will, but get ready to lose a lot.
  • The new work-school-rest-school-work schedule is working out very well–it’s a lot of effort, but I’m never as tired as I was this summer, partly because the breakup in my week keeps me refreshed and life interesting. I’m also doing a lot at work. Putting up dummy pages for my journal, for instance. No, I’m not doing anything actually work-related.

That’s most of it. With any luck, the journal will be back this week, but I wouldn’t wager any real estate on it. Meanwhile, if I have any updates of lesser importance, I’ll post in the (again) spanking new forums. Take care. Wear a jacket.

September 4, 2003 /

I’m finally initiating the domain transfer to the PHPWebhosting name servers tonight; it should refresh around the world in less than 48 hours, so this thing may disappear for a while. I haven’t managed to get NewsBruiser to show anything on the temporary (subdomained) site over there, but then it may be a domain name problem in the first place. We’ll see.

Anyway, hang tough, and don’t plan on xorph@xorph being too reliable for a couple of days. If I go anywhere I’ll be back soon.

Pokéblog

September 4, 2003 /

I haven’t written nearly enough lately, but today I was overtaken by the urge: blog! Blog away! Unfortunately, the university computer lab system is tenaciously stupid, so I had no outlet but my pocket Moleskine. Let’s see what we gots in there!

1528 hrs: These two guys are sitting in front of me, one seat apart, using the room’s wireless network and AIM to talk to each other with their laptops. Welcome to technology! Also, no fair, I want one!

It occurs to me that this is an auditorium, and there is no earthly good reason to have a wireless network in it. Except so that all the geeks who live and work in this building could talk to each other with their laptops. Oh.

1557 hrs and every day before my Object-Oriented class, at least five guys and a girl sitting directly behind me spend their between-class break talking about Magic, the card game. They’re all in this same room for the class right before this one, so it’s a solid fifteen minutes of rapid conversation. It approaches argument, as only geeks can argue: insistently, with weak attempts at sarcasm and hyperbole, over incredibly trivial things.

I mean, I played the game. Still do, maybe twice a year, with my very old decks. But LORD, we’re in grad school now! Shut up about your stupid Magic cards!

1620 hrs: The funny thing about watching your professor work in a Windows folder he’s got up on the projector is that you know exactly when he or she created the file he or she is demonstrating. Like, say, 0030 hrs last night.

1742 hrs: There’s a man on the bus a few seats away, wearing large suspenders with a tape measure print. Little does he suspect one of the crucial factors of suspenders: they’re elastic, and of practically no use as a measuring tool! Now, a tape measure belt, that I could understand.

September 3, 2003 /

Fun With Iteration

Jon once proposed that Will Smith produce a franchise of songs in the same vein as “Miami,” ranking each city in order of preference:

“Miami, my second home!”

“Los Angeles, my third home!”

“Dublin, my… 467th home.”

More Fun With Iteration

This morning, TARCing in ten minutes late to my advisor appointment, I managed to correctly get his office extension by picking a known number down the hall and trying each subsequent number.