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Ben Sikora Goes Flying

On the Bungie Run, the bungie cord is attached to the back of the inflatable rig with a locking carabiner. Fortunatly, it’s very trivial for someone to unlatch the carabiner. Although this was probably unfortunate for Ben. About 2/3 to 3/4 of the way down the run, the person usually leaps to try and get the longest distance. Ben get’s about 5/6 the way down the line and jumps…and jumps right off the platform. Score. So funny. Even the operator, who should have prevented something like this from happening, was laughing.

Orecart Pull

Just got back from the Orecart pull. Unlike the fireworks show, this is something that is only a one time event. I just don’t see the joy in walking 8 miles to the state capital. Do you?

eDays! w00t!

EDays started today and thus far it has been awesome. Ben girlfriend, Sarah, came down from CU. Then we headed out to the IM fields. Ryan, Charlie, Mike, Jens, and Chris joined us shortly after that. I rode a mechanical bull, boxed with Sean using huge boxing gloves, raced Ryan on the Bungie run, fought in the Gladiator ring, and oh so much more. There was a guy who juggeled chainsaws and then the fireworks. Oh the fireworks, what an expierence that was. The show lasted about 30 minutes (starting at 9) however people start lining up around 8. The fireworks are placed on the football field and the people sit in the stands. For the entire 30 minutes, everybody was cheering and the fireworks were soooo loud. Definatly something not to be missed, ever. There’s some dancing going on now, so I’m going to go to that.

Check out the photos and video

Late Start

PA class was cancelled, due to EDays. This let me sleep in an extra hour or so and start class at 10am instead of 9.

Monday’s Suck, Especially After Losing an Hour

I’ve never really been a fan of Monday’s. Today was really no exception. We had a Board of Publication’s meeting where, among other things, CSMBC was put under the BoP jurisdiction. Whether this is a good thing or a bad will be something that only time will tell. CSMBC did get space in the Student Center, so that part is good news.

Holy Crap, I Actually Might Pass NHV

I got my first rather large paper back from NHV and I got an A-! A freaking A-! I’ve never gotten a grade that good. That, combined with my 13/15’s for most of the response papers means that I not only should pass NHV, but I should get something around an A…hopefully.

Here’s my award winning paper:

The three most important views of nature are the great machine, the Eden of God, and the drive-through window. The great machine view of nature sees the world full of opportunities to profit. Nature is full of energy and civilization has developed a variety of methods and devices to harvest that energy. Water can be used to power mills, consumables can be burned to create electricity, and the land can be exploited to provide consumer goods. This is a good view of nature because it encourages society to use what nature has to evolve humanity. It also enforces the fact that nature is a strong force and not one to be argued with.

However, nature is already a perfectly tuned machine and if we intervene too much, we risk throwing a wrench in the gears and causing a massive cascade failure that could eventually lead to the destruction of the entire world as we know it. Professor Suzanne Moon highlighted this possibility in her presentation on Nature and the Moral Lens. Professor Moon uses the British occupation of Saint Helena as an example: In 1659, the British setup a permanent settlement on Saint Helena. They began to cut down trees, clear the land, plant crops, and raise cattle. However, shortly thereafter, the winds of the Atlantic began to kick up and massive soil erosion occurred. This devastated the island and made it literally unusable. The British had completely revamped the island and in doing so, took away the island�s natural shield from the wind.
The Eden of God view purports that nature is God�s creation on earth and we should not change with it. Instead, we should enjoy it and interact with it; taking long walks on the beach, hiking in forests, and skiing on the mountains. Thoreau expertly explains �the art of Walking�[as] sauntering: which word is beautifully derived �from idle people who roved about the country, in the Middle Ages, and asked charity, under pretence of going � la Sainte Terre,� to the Holy Land, a Saunterer, – a Holy Lander. [225]� In one sentence, Thoreau explains and inexorably ties the simple act of walking and God together.

However, do not, under any circumstances alter what God has created for God is perfect and if you tamper with his work: be prepared to reap the consequences. Montrie touches on this subject, using factories as the primary example. There was a certain bliss attained when working in nature. The work may not have proceeded as fast or efficiently as compared to factory work, however the women often complained about �routine confinement among clattering machinery and noxious lamp smoke. [283]� As it turned out, working in such confinement for such long periods with little or no ventilation caused a plethora of health problems, God�s revenge if you will.

The final view of nature is the drive-though window. This view designates nature as a type of theme park. The people know it is there, but often complain that it is too far away and they do not particularly have a strong urge to walk. Professor Gianquitto touched on this point exclusively in National Parks: Myth, Metaphor, and Reality. Using Abbey as a prime example, Gianquitto asserts that in an effort to increase usage of National Parks, the government is destroying its simplicity. Gone are the days of unpaved roads, trails bound only by logs put by Scout Troop 459, and no stores for 100 miles in each direction.

With the invention of the automobile, the government decided it was best to put roads in so that everyone can enjoy wonderful outdoors, all without having to leave the comfort of their five mile to the gallon, thirty foot RV. Perhaps the coup de gras is the fact that the roads end up being loops, returning the user to the place where they started: the gas station. Visitors end up cycling through the Parks like the pickup window at McDonalds.

Perhaps the most worrisome aspect about the drive-through window view is how accurately it predicts human behavior and the positive reinforcement it provides. As more �conveniences� are produced, the people will become more and more lazy, previous example being the point-in-case. Society as a whole becomes more and more lazy; and we develop better and better ways to become even lazier. Were Abbey still alive today, he no doubt would suggest that society would become so lazy that they will cease to visit the Parks in person, resorting to remote viewing technologies, such as the Internet, instead. What is all too sad is the sudden realization that this is already true. Right now, any person with an Internet connection can log on to a web site in Texas and shoot wild game, right from the computer. The owners will then ship your prize straight to your front door. Abbey was dead on when he suggests drastic changes to the current way National Parks operate. Abbey�s suggestions are nothing sort of a complete reversal of course. He wants to get rid of the motor vehicles, at least vehicles driven by tourists. Abbey also proposes that all plans to build new roads to stop. Instead, he envisions using the money to help build trails, shelters, and watering holes. Finally, Abbey wants all park Rangers to return to their original jobs, ranging the parks, leading trips, and showing people how to make a fire in the rain [66-68]. Imagine what would happen if we were to expand Abbey�s concepts to all of society.

Note: This paper uses informal accreditation of sources. If you want to know what the sources are, shoot me an email

Freaking Crap, Regex Does Suck

I spend the better part of two hours working on a regex (regular expression) Perl program for my web programming class. Granted, regexs are very power; but boy are they hard. Download the following code and compile/run with ActivePerl 5.8 or better:

#!C:/perl/bin/perl.exe

#Program: Contact.pl
#Author: Andrew Ferguson
#Copyright Andrew Ferguson 2005. All Rights Reserved.


sub FormatName{
my ($n) = @_;
$n =~ tr/A-Z/a-z/; #Convert everything to lowercase to make it easier to work with
$n =~ s/^(w)/uc($1)/ge; #Capitilze the first letter;
return $n;
}


do{
	print "Enter your first name: ";
	$first_name = <>;
}while($first_name !~ / ^([A-Z]||[a-z])*$ /x); #Make sure only alphas are getting through

$first_name = &FormatName($first_name);
print "$first_name";

do{
	print "Enter your last name: ";
	$last_name = <>;
	
}while($last_name !~ / ^([A-Z]||[a-z])*$ /x);#Make sure only only alphas are getting through

$last_name = &FormatName($last_name);
print "$last_name";

do{
	print "Enter your phone number [(123)555-1212]: ";
	$phone = <>;
}while($phone !~ / ^(?(d{3})?)?(-)?(d{3})(-?)(d{4})$ /x ); #Check syntax of entry and make sure it fits what we want

$phone = "$1-$3-$5";

print "$phonen";



do{
	print "Enter today's date: ";
	$date = <>;
}while($date !~ /^([0-1])?([0-9])/([0-3])?([0-9])/([0-2])?([0-9])?([0-9]{2})$/); #Check syntax of entry and make sure it fits what we want


$_1 = $1-0;
$_3 = $3-0;
$date = "$_1$2/$_3$4/$5$6$7$8";
print "$daten";


do{
	print "Enter the time: ";
	$time = <>;
}while($time !~ /^([0-2])?([0-9]):([0-5])?([0-9]):([0-5])?([0-9])$/); #Check syntax of entry and make sure it fits what we want

$_1 = $1-0;
$_3 = $3-0;
$_5 = $5-0;

$time = "$_1$2:$_3$4:$_5$6";
print "$timen";

do{
	print "Enter your email address: ";
	$email = <>;
}
while($email =~ /(@.*@)|(..)|(@.)|(.@)|(^.)/ || $email !~ /^.+@([?)[a-zA-Z0-9-.]+.([a-zA-Z]{2,3}|[0-9]{1,3})(]?)$/); #Checks to make sure format is correct. Acceptable formats are things like: a.ferg@example.com, andrew@example.com, aferg@256.56.95.127, aferg@example.co.uk, etc

print "$emailn";

print "First name:$first_name
Last name: $last_name
Phone: $phonen
Date: $daten
Time: $timen
Email: $emailn";

open(DAT,">data.txt") || die("Cannot Open File");
print DAT "First name:$first_name
Last name: $last_name
Phone: $phonen
Date: $daten
Time: $timen
Email: $emailn";
close(DAT);

CSMBC Logo

I had a bit of a brainstorming session during NHV earlier today and doodled some possible designs for the CSMBC logo. Any thoughts?