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One Can Actually Learn Something in Calculus?

Yep. In an unpresidented feat of educational ability, I was actually able to learn something in calculus class? How did I accomplish this feat? you might ask. Simple…I went to a different calculus class, rather than my assigned class. I then proceded to spend the next 50 minutes or so learning about the product and quotient rules for derivatives. I have not been able to switch into the class, yet. There are some issues with regard to “discretionary points” that need to be resolved first.

Toshiba M200

Toshiba M200

So I’ve been using the Averatec Tablet PC for about 6 weeks now and I’m fed-up. Averatec has a great design with great features at a great price that almost gives everyone else a great run for their money, except the fact that it’s buggy. Really buggy. I can do any harddrive or processor intensive things without the motherboard overheating. The mouse also flips out all the time making it close to impossible to work. So I said, “Screw it, I’m getting a Dell Toshiba.” (Dell actually doesn’t have a Tablet PC, neither does IBM, supprisingly.)

So I got a Toshiba. It’s a beauty:

  • Integrated Intel PRO/Wireless (802.11b/g)
  • Intel Pentium M 745 Processor (1.80GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 400MHz FSB)
  • 80GB HDD (5400 rpm)
  • 12″ Polysilicon SXGA+ Display (1400 x 1050)
  • 512MB PC2700 DDR333 SDRAM (256MB x 2)
  • Microsoft Windows XP Tablet Edition

PC Magazine also gave it 4/5 stars and the members gave it 4.5/5, it was TechTV’s (now called G4techTV) “Pick of the Week” and it was Laptop Magazines Editors Choice. This will be sweet.

Firefox

Firefox

I usually would not write about web site technical information in the blog section. But I also need to gripe about it as well. AFdN is now designed for and recomends Firefox. Firefox is the main “competition” to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. However, Firefox, unlike Internet Explorer, actually follows the rules of the W3. The W3, or World Wide Web Consortium, is responsible for standardizing web site protocols, such as HTML, XHTML, XML, CSS, and the likes. There are numerous problems with IE, including the fact that it doesn’t support PNG 24-bit Alpha Transparency Images. IE is also much more lenient with egregious coding. This can be a good thing, however, it also lulls developers like me into a false sense of completeness. Anyways, this all goes to say that I now use Firefox and so should you.

Get Firefox! title=

The Trumpet

The Trumpet

I picked up the trumpet for the first time in six, count ’em six, years. And to my astonishment, I remembered quite a bit. This all leads me to the fact that I joined the CSM marching band. It’s been a thing to do on my list for a couple of years now. I just didn’t really have the venue to do it in. Now I do.

Let’s try this again…ahem: YOU DON’T GET IT SENS. HATCH AND LEAHY

Nothing pushes my buttons like idiots doing blatenly stupid things, except, perhaps, idiots with power doing blatenly stupid things. Such is the case of Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) who are the sponsers of the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (SB2560). What is so bad about this particular act? Well let’s start with everything. Yes, everything. There is nothing in this bill that should ever be allowed to see the light of day. The Act is designed “stop rampant copyright infringement on peer-to-peer networks.” (wired.com, New Induce Act Alarms Foes) However, the scope of the bill goes WAY beyond society defined peer-to-peer networks. The bill would literally end the development of any kind of data sharing programs becuase such a program could be used to illegally transfer music. You have got to be kidding me. I will again default to both the 1984 Betamax Decision and the more recent Federal P2P decision. The ’84 Betamax Decision “ruled that devices with ‘substantial non-infringing uses’ are legal.” (wired.com, Tech Groups Want Induce Hearings). While the August 19th P2P ruling upheld a district courts finding that Peer-to-peer services are legal. Judge Sydney Thomas, one of three judges on the panel overhearing the case noted, “History has shown that time and market forces often provide equilibrium in balancing interests, whether the new technology be a player piano, a copier, a tape recorder, a video recorder, a personal computer, a karaoke machine, or an MP3 player. Thus, it is prudent for courts to exercise caution before restructuring liability theories for the purpose of addressing specific market abuses, despite their apparent present magnitude.” Sounds like he get’s it. I vote Judge Thomas for Senate. Any seconds?

Homemade Cookies for Dummies

In the words of Alec Trebek on SNL’s Celebrity Jeopardy, “We have reached a new low.” Indeed. While at Safeway getting my prescription filled, I came across Homemade Cookies for Dummies. Basically, just add water and you have your own homemade cookies, dummy. What has this world come to? Oh that’s right…lazyness and obese people. If you want to complain about it, walk or run on over.

When you speak in a monotone voice, I have no idea what you are saying

I got my Calc 1 test back: 52/100. Not the worst score possible. But this score reinforces a few facts about life. First, no matter how hard a student tries, if the teacher sucks, the student will fail. This brings me to my second point, and title of the blog, if you speak in a monotone voice, I have no idea what you are saying. I didn’t realize how complicated speaking is until I started listening to my calculus teacher drone on and on. The fact of the matter is speach is a very complicated activity. The listener is alerted to specific points about what your talking about based on the inflection of your voice. If you speak monotone the entire freaking time, I CAN NOT DECERN WHAT IS IMPORTANT AND WHAT IS NOT. However, knowing me, there is always a solution to every problem, even when there isn’t a problem…or a solution. In this case, I have both. So I’m going to this other Calc class that meets at the exact same time. I’m going to see if I like it, and if I do, I am going to do everything in my power to transfer into that class. Even if the registrar hates me afterwards. I don’t need to take Calc 1 a third time.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow

I went with Eric and his Dad, Mike, to the movies today. We saw two movies, Resident Evil: Apocalypse  and Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow. Resident Evil was pretty good, a little lacking on plot, but still pretty good. Sky Captain was awesome. It was a type of movie I had never seen before, but was still very intriguing. It was also interesting because the entire movie was shot in front of a blue screen. Blue screens are typicall only used for short visual effects shots. Before Sky Captain I would reckon that Star Wars held the record for “Most use of blue screen.” In many ways, Sky Captain reminded me of Captain Proton from Star Trek Voyager.

Supersize Me

I just watched one of the most disturbing movies ever. For those of you who haven’t heard about Supersize Me, it’s a documentry about this guy who eats at McDonald’s for 30 days straight: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He has 3 simple rules:

  1. No options: he could only eat what was available over the counter (water included!)
  2. No supersizing unless offered
  3. No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once

During the eating episodes, Morgan, the star of the film, goes around the country talking with people about their eating habits. “The film [also] explores the horror of school lunch programs, declining health and physical education classes, food addictions and the extreme measures people take to lose weight and regain their health.” (supersizeme.com) If you haven’t seen the film already, you need to see it now. It really does provide a very real and critical look at what our nation is becoming.

  • Each day, 1 in 4 Americans visits a fast food restaurant
  • In 1972, we spent 3 billion a year on fast food – today we spend more than 110 billion
  • McDonald’s feeds more than 46 million people a day – more than the entire population of Spain
  • French fries are the most eaten vegetable in America
  • You would have to walk for seven hours straight to burn off a Super Sized Coke, fry and Big Mac
  • In the U.S., we eat more than 1,000,000 animals an hour
  • 60 % of all Americans are either overweight or obese
  • One in every three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime
  • Left unabated, obesity will surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America
  • Obesity has been linked to: Hypertension, Coronary Heart Disease, Adult Onset Diabetes, Stroke, Gall Bladder Disease, Osteoarthritis, Sleep Apnea, Respiratory Problems, Endometrial, Breast, Prostate and Colon Cancers, Dyslipidemia, steatohepatitis, insulin resistance, breathlessness, Asthma, Hyperuricaemia, reproductive hormone abnormalities, polycystic ovarian syndrome, impaired fertility and lower back pain
  • The average child sees 10,000 TV advertisements per year
  • Only seven items on McDonald’s entire menu contain no sugar
  • Willard Scott was the first Ronald McDonald – he was fired for being too fat
  • McDonald’s distributes more toys per year than Toys-R-Us
  • Diabetes will cut 17-27 years off your life
  • McDonald’s: “Any processing our foods undergo make them more dangerous than unprocessed foods”
  • The World Health Organization has declared obesity a global epidemic
  • Eating fast food may be dangerous to your health
  • McDonald’s calls people who eat a lot of their food “Heavy Users”
  • McDonald’s operates more than 30,000 restaurants in more then 100 countries on 6 continents
  • Before most children can speak they can recognize McDonald’s
  • Surgeon General David Satcher: “Fast food is a major contributor to the obesity epidemic”
  • Most nutritionists recommend not eating fast food more than once a month
  • 40% of American meals are eaten outside the home
  • McDonald’s represents 43% of total U.S. fast food market