Random

So when they say winter quarter at Rose is hectic? They're not kidding. I just found my first solid chunk of downtime since I came back to school two weeks ago. What have I been up to, you ask?

For starters, the Festivus, Christmas, and New Year's celebrations that occurred over my last break were all most excellent. This year was the fifth consecutive Festivus celebrated within the group, and it was by far the smoothest a Festivus has ever gone. The Airing of Grievances was trouble-free, the introduction of a white elephant gift exchange went smoothly, and our Feats of Strength involved that classic game Set. For Christmas a few days later, hordes of relatives (from both sides of the family) descended on the house for almost an entire week all told. (Most hilarious was our cousin Keith, who's two and just being ridiculous all over the place. He got an iPod Touch for Christmas. He's two.) Lastly, New Year's went well overall, despite some illnesses on part of a couple of the partygoers. Mario Kart is never so hilarious as when played sleep-deprived at 4am. Continue reading "A couple updates"

So the other day I bought a guitar.

A lot of people have been telling me that this seems really random - since when did I want to learn to play guitar? It's understandable, given that I didn't really talk to that many people about it ahead of time, but I've been looking to take up another musical instrument for awhile now. I wanted something more portable than the piano, which I played for a couple years way back when, but still relatively common and popular (so not the ocarina in my closet).

The MSU trip I took awhile ago was really what put "guitar" in my head. The instant I got there, we all sat down in the middle of a basketball court and like four different people all pulled out guitars, and everyone was having a great time. I thought, why not take it up myself? Continue reading "Not an impulse buy, I promise"

So wow. Summer's gone. I head back to school the morning of the 30th, then dive right in with freshman laptop orientation the 31st and a Learning Center tutor "retreat" (two-hour meeting) on the 2nd. Classes begin the 3rd.

In light of all that, I thought I'd take a moment and recap what my summer was like this year. Continue reading "Summer summary (summery?)"

Apparently there is such a thing, despite the cliche. I'm home again after a harrowing seven weeks of school (plus a week of finals), and to be able to relax and do nothing is great... for about a day. Then I get bored.

Thankfully, though, I've stuff to occupy myself with. First, I'm working on a new iPhone app, which should hopefully be ready by the end of break. I'm hesitant to promise anything, however - I get my wisdom teeth out tomorrow, and I may not be lucid enough to code well (although if the Ballmer peak applies to alcohol, I don't see why it can't apply to the remnants of general anesthesia). Continue reading "Rest for the weary"

Checkmate!

Overview: Checkmate is a simple game that may be played in college and high school cafeterias. It's a simple, easily explainable concept that adds a little spice (no pun intended) to your day.

Players: For 2-10 players

Equipment: Checkmate requires a cafeteria, lunchroom, or other common eating area that provides trays and salt (or pepper) shakers. Nothing else is needed!

Rules: The goal of Checkmate is to trick, distract, and deceive your friends into bringing a salt shaker up to the tray return. At some point during a meal, place the salt shaker on your friend's tray; after that, all you have to do is keep the friend from noticing until they go up to return their tray at the end of the meal. If they bring the salt shaker all the way up to the tray return without noticing (requiring they make an extra trip back to the table to return the shaker before leaving the cafeteria), you've Checkmated them!

Remember that you have to place the shaker on your friend's tray while they're still at the table - you can't carry the shaker up with you to the tray return, then place it on the tray. Also, if you get Checkmated, you can't just leave the shaker at the tray return. That's just poor manners! Instead, you should be a gracious player and return the shaker to your table, despite the mockery of your friends.

Let's look at an example. Say that Chris, Randall, and Sam are eating lunch together, and it's getting close to the end of the meal. Chris could point at something interesting out the window, and while he and Randall look, Sam takes the opportunity to slip a salt shaker onto both of their trays. Chris notices the salt shaker right away, and takes it off his tray while he's still at the table - this is not a Checkmate, but it was a good effort on Sam's part. Randall, on the other hand, doesn't notice (perhaps because Sam hid the salt shaker behind Randall's glass). Randall picks up his tray and moves toward the tray return, and just as he's setting his tray down, he notices the salt shaker. This is a Checkmate!

Tactics: Frequent Checkmate players recognize the need for more subtle play than simply placing a salt shaker on a tray. Good players will often take advantage of natural distractions, rather than creating their own. Really good players will place the salt shaker strategically on the tray, using the other objects on the tray to hide the shaker. Great players will time their placement very near the end of the meal, minimizing the time other players have to notice the salt shaker and take it off their tray. Defensive players will always instinctively check their trays at the end of meals.

Have fun playing Checkmate!

Played Checkmate at your school? Have a good story about a deceptive tactic you used to Checkmate someone? Leave it in the comments!

Another holiday season has come and (almost) gone, and I thought it'd be nice to take a few minutes to look back on my week and see what went on.

Christmas was obviously the dominating event of the past few days. Among the big gifts I got were a terabyte hard drive (for the RAID array - more on that in a minute) and a nice new office chair to replace the one I have at school. Rose provided a batch of chairs in all the dorms, but they are pitiful excuses for seating apparati, especially considering the amount of homework and coding that is intended to go on in them. So my parents got me a big new padded black leather executive wheeled chair that I can take with me, and I put it together yesterday and tested it out. It's not quite an Aeron, but it's good.

Another big chunk of my time has been spent working on a new iPhone app. I won't say exactly what it is, but it's a big departure from my previous utilitarian apps, and I think it should be a fairly big hit. I will say that it's an adaptation of a preexisting game, and that it involves pretty much every feature of the device I could get my hands on (accelerometer, orientation sensor, sound facilities, and multi-touch capabilities, to name a few). Regrettably, it's still a ways away from being done. Although most of the functionality is there, a huge amount of polish has yet to be applied. In a few days, I'll hunker down with Photoshop, GarageBand, and Audacity and see what I can accomplish. demonic laughter

Back to the RAID. You may recall that I promised a big, in-detail look at the array around Christmas. This is that entry. Be warned. Continue reading "Happy Holidays"

So I had just finished with some Data Structures homework, and Catherine was browsing around bumper stickers on Facebook. She found the traditional "for a good time, call..." sticker, but this one actually had a number associated with it: 918-781-3870. Of course, I had to try it.

I dial the number, and a woman picks up right away and says something unintelligible. Since it's a prank call, I really don't care what she said, so I go ahead and say "I'm calling for a good time."

She responds by saying, "You're on the air."

I asked for a good time on the radio.

This morning I found myself running some errands for the family, including a trip to Wal-Mart for duct tape, light bulbs, and the like. I had a list provided to me; all I had to do was visit the store, grab five items, check out, and leave. Simple.

I made it up to the self-checkout without issues, and the first thing I did (out of habit) was scan my Preferred Card. The machine beeped at me, saying "unknown item." Whatever - maybe my card's old, or cracked, or whatever. I'll just have to pay a little bit more. It's no big deal.

I finish the checkout, then go to pay. At this point, the screen stops me, and a message says it's waiting for a cashier to approve my "unknown items." The guy watching the checkouts wanders over and asks me if everything's OK. It is, but I decide I might as well ask about the card. I pull it out and show it to him, asking if they discontinued Preferred Card use or something. (Figured it out yet?)

The assistant stared at me for a second, then looks at me and says, "Sir, this card is for Jewel-Osco. You're at Wal-Mart."

Oops. Somehow, I've never been quite able to get the distinction between the two straight in my head, and I still don't know why. It's not like they're that similar or anything. So at this point I have to try to play it off like I'm just tired, I didn't get enough sleep, and I'm not thinking clearly. He voided the card and let me finish my transaction, and I grabbed my bags and practically sprinted out of there.

At least the guy's got a story for his friends when his shift ends.

OK, I know you're all probably bored to death of hearing about Ommatidia, but this is a little different. I've decided to try my own hand at this "blink fiction" concept. I'm not adhering to the 101-word rule, nor am I following any other recognized constraint, other than it has to be short. I decide what short is. (But I am stealing Brendan's idea about naming the story after a character.)

So here's a story. It's fiction, but it's based in reality. It's also very obvious. Hit the link to read it. Continue reading "Blink fiction"

I got the print copy of Ommatidia yesterday. It's self-published 101-word stories from Brendan Adkins, who also runs the Ommatidia web page. I've mentioned him before, but this was a fantastic book, so I'm writing about him again.

The thing that's so appealing about his stories is their modularity. Each story can be read alone, without context or preparation, in the space of about a minute. And each one, especially those selected for publication in the compilation, does a fantastic job of constructing a world and telling a story within that framework without any unnecessary overhead or explanation.

They aren't just standalone stories, however. Several are about the same character (or characters) and can be chained together for a longer look at a person or place. The overarching storyline that runs throughout the print copy is that of Cosette, a girl in a house that never ends. What's strange about this particular story is that the last installment of it was published to the site the exact same day I got the book. Eerie coincidence, no?

If you've got five minutes, go through and just read the last week's worth of stories. Brendan publishes one a day every weekday, and he's got something for everyone, whether you're looking for funny or serious, happy or sad, smart or dumb. My personal favorite series is that of Proserpina, a young boxer at an all-girls boarding school, but you might also enjoy stories about Longinus (an incarnation of evil), Reaching the West Reaches (which is Star Wars cast into a nontechnological society), or They Shall Breathe Ashes (the world's most famous assassin). I also feel inclined to point out some individual gems: there are phenomenal single stories about Jenna, a hero who just wants to be normal, and Ewards, a man who makes a living selling stolen coal in a very dark, cold world.

In a completely unrelated story, I somehow managed to get free Internet access at Seattle-Tacoma using an email account with AT&T that I thought had expired three years ago.