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Seen, Heard, Said

Things I’ve seen, heard, or was told by someone. Item in this category usually originate from the Internet.

Welcome to the 10th Dimension

We live in a four-dimensional world1, and it’s pretty easy to grasp that. Up/down, left/right, forward/backward, all while moving through time.

In basic math classes, we also visualized shapes in one (a line), two (a plane), and three (a cube) dimensions as well. But what about the 5th dimension? (Cue Twilight Zone soundtrack)
From en.wikipedia.org:

There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.

How does one grasp what a fifth, sixth, or seventh dimension looks like? And what about the tenth dimension?

From www.boingboing.net:

Bowloftoast sez, “This is a short animation that takes the viewer through a progressive description of all (and all possible) dimensions, up to and including the 10th. It is an elegant introduction to the fundamentals of string theory and a mind-blowing toe-dip into the pool of the metaphysical.”

If you don’t see the video above, you may need to click through

via BoingBoing via Imagining the Tenth Dimension

  1. at least as far as we can experience ↩

Bullets Dodged or Opportunities Missed

My former girlfriend1, Sarah, recently became engaged. I really don’t have anything to say on the subject, I only met her boyfriend fiancé during a fleeting moment at E-Days while I was taking photos. After we broke up, we both moved on and I think it was, and still is, for the better. For me, the more interesting thought is the What If….

Over the last six years, I’ve had what I’ll graciously call four encounters; of those four, half are now engaged2. Now, I’m not saying I want to be engaged3. But, it does make me pause to wonder…what if I was engaged to one of these persons? How would life be different? Would I even want to be engaged to one of these persons?

As I continue to grow, more and more friends are getting married. Although statistically speaking, I’m still in the majority4).

Just some free flowing musings.

  1. I’m not a fan of saying, ex-girlfriend…it seems unnecessarily cruel ↩

  2. Three out of five if you count the girl I took to prom ↩

  3. Can I get a hells-to-the-no, please. Thanks. ↩

  4. Median age of marriage in the United States is 27.7 for males (source ↩

The Socket

Photo by Kelly McConnell
Photo by Kelly McConnell
A while back, my friend Kelly emailed me:

This socket is in my living room and I have no idea what it does, do you recognize it?

I’ve never seen that type of socket before. I checked the NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) list of sockets and did not see it listed. I got a chance to take the cover plate off and it looked like antenna wiring (not a coaxial cable, a two-wire).

Anybody have thoughts on what it might be? I’m thinking some sort of antenna plug, but not like anything I’ve seen.

Click on the picture to embiggen.

Quotes of 2009, Part 1

I’m usually able to amass my entire collection of yearly quotes on my Facebook page in one go; However, this year I have seem to run out of space, so I’m having to clear it out early. Thus, you can enjoy my yearly quotes a bit early1. Also try to notice a theme; it’s subtle, but I think there is one (although it’s not present in every quote).

“Women. Can’t live with them…..they will not go out with me.” – Vork/Herman Holden, The Guild S2E102

“Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems.” – Scott Adams

“But let’s remember who made that rule: Goliath. And let’s remember why Goliath made that rule: when the world has to play on Goliath’s terms, Goliath wins.” – Malcom Gladwell, How David Beats Goliath (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all)

“Attempt such great things for God that without His help, they are destined to fail.” – E.M. Bounds

“I work extremely hard doing what I love, mainly to ensure that I don’t have to work extremely hard doing what I hate.” – Hugh MacLeod, GapingVoid.com (http://twitter.com/gapingvoid/statuses/1521887425)

“Ideas are Almost Worthless. What you should be focusing on instead is Execution and Perseverance. A mediocre idea with fantastic execution and staying power is going to be an awesome success. A fantastic idea with a guy who cant hold a single thought in his head for five minutes and thinks of another great idea is not going to be anything.” – David Heinemeier Hansson

“Be true to your work, your word, and your friends.” –
Henry David Thoreau

“…honesty doesn’t have to look good.” – Becca Arrowsmith, http://beccarrow.blogspot.com/2009/02/back-from-break.html

“The core skill of innovators is error recovery, not failure avoidance.” – Randy Nelson, Dean of Pixar University

“Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.” – G. K. Chesterton

“I think my biggest problem is that I ask for competence in the people around me.” – Bill Wadman, http://www.ontakingpictures.com/2009/01/frustration.html

“Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.” – Barack Obama

“Don’t undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.” – Edwin Land, Inventor of Instant Photography

“Talking to girls is lame. It makes my stomach hurt…because I can’t fart.” – Jacob

  1. Enjoy them early on my blog at least. They’re always available on my Facebook page. ↩

  2. Season 2, Episode 10 ↩

Engineers Explained

In my never ending quest to accurately describe who engineers – and by association, myself – are, I happened to stumble upon this great explanation, attributed to Scott Adams (a.k.a. The guy who writes Dilbert):

From bcn.boulder.co.us:

People who work in the fields of science and technology are not like other people. This can be frustrating to the nontechnical people who have to deal with them. The secret to coping with technology-oriented people is to understand their motivations. This chapter will teach you everything you need to know. I learned their customs and mannerisms by observing them, much the way Jane Goodall learned about the great apes, but without the hassle of grooming.

Engineering is so trendy these days that everybody wants to be one. The word “engineer” is greatly overused. If there’s somebody in your life who you think is trying to pass as an engineer, give him this test to discern the truth.

More after the break…
Read More »Engineers Explained

What My Brother Is Doing This Summer

Editors Note: This is a post I asked my brother, Brian, to write. Since neither of us are home for the summer, I figured it might be nice to let everyone know what he’s been up to.

This summer I am working in the tiny mountain town of Salida, Colorado. I am the Summer youth Intern at First Presbyterian Church. Me and Hilary Downs, the associate pastor, are responsible for running the entire youth department, including but not limited to high school, middle school, and elementary school. Our ministry is almost completely relational and event based. We don’t have enough kids who would come to a weekly kids service to do one. So we basically just plan a lot of events and hang out with the kids. We have also had one 10-day high school mission trip and Hilary is gone on the middle school mission trip right now.

In addition to working with youth, I also have been helping out with the regular services. Almost a month ago, I was the “Lay leader” meaning I was the one who had to know when to go up between each thing and say things like “Please stand as we sing the first song of the morning” or “You may now be seated” and “Please pray with me”. Needless to say, I don’t think I will pursue a career being a lay leader.

And then two weeks ago, I got to sing with the worship team, and this week I gave the sermon at all three services. It was a great experience. Now I am focusing on Day Camp for the K-4th graders. This will be next week and A LOT has to get done before hand. One thing that is sometimes frustrating about small towns is that you will call people and leave them messages and some times several messages and you almost NEVER get called back. Apparently, it’s just the way things are here, which is fine but makes planning events a nightmare. If I want people to show up, I have to send a flier or postcard like two weeks in advance and then call to remind them. So all this to say I have come to greatly appreciate the youth groups I have worked with before where you could call up a bunch of kids a few hours before an event and still get a better turn out than I do here.

My favorite part of the job has been just doing stuff with high school boys. There is SOOOO much good mountain biking here and so I have been soaking up every ride. And we will get some of the guys together and play paintball at one of the kids ranch. Or I built a sick a jump and we went down to Fronzer lake and jumped mini bikes and scooters into it. It was Awesome.

Note: if you can’t see the video, you may need to click through to the post.

So thats a little bit about my summer.

Note Craze

As I prepare to head out to Europe, I’m trying to clear out my inbox to zero (thus earning this badge). Ergo, another episode of Inboxen™ cleaning:

A friend from Mines posted a note on his Facebook:
From www.facebook.com:

Post your name and I will do each of the following:
1. I’ll respond with something random about you.
2. I’ll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.
3. I’ll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle you in.
4. I’ll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
(if it doesn’t yet, we can give it meaning.)
5. I’ll tell you my first memory of you.
6. I’ll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I’ll ask you something I’ve always wondered about you.
8. I’ll tell you my favorite thing about you.
9. I’ll tell you my least favorite thing about you.
10. If you play, you MUST post this on yours

I responded. Here’s what Sam had to say about me:

1. I bet you procrastinate a lot like I am doing right now.
2. You remind me of Primer, because you’re a young, charismatic, engineer like the guy in the film.
3. I always pass on the Jello thing, because I dislike Jello. I guess if I had to, I’d pick the white grape flavor.
4. Particle physics also gives me a hadron.
5. Down in the GRL a year ago, we were brainstorming.
6. A ferret, not sure why.
7. Do you plan on pursuing or somehow involving photography in your profession?
8. You’re good to work with, but also an interesting, artistic person. I rarely run into that.
9. I’m jealous of you, shame.
10. I want you to spread this thing like herpes.

With regard to number 7: I hope so.

Clearing Out Some Links

Various things that I thought were interesting, but never got around to sharing:

  1. not really, but do check out this server system from HP that really is bulletproof ↩