| brain slow down! |
[Nov. 15th, 2009|08:09 pm] |
So, Irish.
Suddenly like a dozen different things are making sense.
Problem is, they are doing so at basically *exactly* the same time, so they get jumbled. It's like they make sense, but give me a painless headache. When I can cut through it and focus on just one narrow aspect, I can get through it.
One very important thing I caught is the divide between the copula and the verb "bí". Both would translate to "to be" in English. The copula is generally for permanent things, if you *are* something, you use the copula. Things that don't change. But if you are in a certain state, you use "bí". Temporary things.
"Is as Milford"- I am from Milford. This is something that does not change unless you somehow get born in more than one place. I suppose a doctor could push you back in and you can hop over a border, but generally, you only have one hometown.
"Tá mé i mo chonaí i Milford" - I live in Milford(literally, I am in my residence in Milford). Where you live can change, for some, it changes quite often.
Permanent vs temporary is not as clear a divide as it seems at first, especially when I'm used to using one word for both. Spanish has a similar divide between ser and estar, I don't remember offhand which is which, but I think I've got the concept down much more strongly than I used to have it.
This probably won't completely end confusion. Like any language, there are the major rules, then a bunch of little rules for various edge cases, exceptions to the rules, and situations for which no rules exist and the speaker has to improvise. But you can't get to all the extra stuff if you don't have the basic rule down solid. |
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| dialects |
[Nov. 15th, 2009|01:44 pm] |
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Using internet and other resources to supplement my Irish class is interesting, what with three major regional dialects. It's not a huge difference, about the same as the differences between regional dialects of English. But it does throw me a little at first. |
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| The brilliance of the original iMac and iBook |
[Nov. 15th, 2009|01:18 pm] |
The colors.
They were silly, and really didn't look all that great for something you want people to be taking seriously. Note the much more muted colors on the PowerBook and PowerMac lines of the day.
The brilliance wasn't in the industrial design looking good. It was in getting attention. Apple was fading fast. Technical improvements in the hardware and software would have to be truly revolutionary to get the attention.
But a simple addition of some colored plastic, and you can't help but notice the things.
I don't think Jobs seriously considered the candy colors as a long term thing. I think he probably intended it as a short term thing just to get people to notice Apple again and start talking about them. And it worked brilliantly for that. |
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| Stargate Universe |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|08:33 pm] |
Not a bad episode.
But Col Young is a little too willing to routinely go through the gate. Sure, as the CO, he should be willing to shoulder whatever personal risk is needed to get the job done. But his willingness to step through borders on recklessness. Being willing to put your life on the line- good trait in a CO. Actively doing so as readily as Col Young has been doing- Not so good a trait. |
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| christmas presents |
[Nov. 14th, 2009|01:20 pm] |
To get well ahead of the holiday rush and shipping delays, just ordered my moms christmas present.
Figured two things. One, it had to be thoughtful. Two, I like it when I can make or modify something. Something about the givers own labor going into it seems to make it more special, I feel better about giving and recieiving such things.
So, she complains about her computer being slow and the optical drive being unreliable.
Well, looking at her usage patterns, the CPU should be ok. Ram on the other hand... with two weather programs in the system tray(this was on purpose so she could compare them), a couple other things there too that she uses, I'm not surprised that when she brings up firefox and has a few tabs going that things start grinding to a near halt on 512MB ram. So I'm upping that to 2GB.
The optical drive is a simple fix. just throw a new one in there. Technology has advanced, so 40 bucks gets a lightscribe dual layer DVD burner to replace her DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive. Rather significant upgrade, albeit one she probably won't use much. I briefly considered getting her Blue-ray, but thats still a bit pricy and she doesn't watch movies on the computer anyways.
As for blue ray, for my dad I might replace their DVD player with a blue ray player. It's something that he's not going to replace until he absolutely has to, and as much as he watches DVDs that will be a while. But it's more sensible to go blue ray now than it was when DVD had this much market penetration. A blue ray player will play DVDs as well, there is backward compatability without having to keep your old hardware around. So getting them ahead of the curve a bit makes some sense.
No idea what my brother, sister, or sisters kids will end up with. For the kids, ideally I'd want to get something fun but educational that all four can enjoy, and something a little smaller for individual gifts. |
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| I can haz muffler |
[Nov. 12th, 2009|04:17 pm] |
Exhaust system now repaired. No leaks, and DAMN my car is pretty quiet compared to what it used to be. Even quieter than it was before the previous muffler fell off. Shiny new parts contrast mightily with the rust and few spots of blue paint left in my undercarriage.
Unfortunately, I don't have time to get the new tires and alignment today before class. Oh well. I'll get that done tommorow. |
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| Pokemon |
[Nov. 12th, 2009|12:21 am] |
I fail hard.
Just cannot beat the Eterna City gym leader. My Priplup just gets rocked.
I think I've figured it out though. Priplup goes down fast because the gym leaders attacks are super effective. But I have a Starly. I don't take super attacks, but I deal them out just as well as Priplup.
Unfortunately, Starly is only level 12. A "not very effective" shot from a level 20 can still one shot me. I get to 15, 16 or so though, and I should be good. |
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| History class |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|05:17 pm] |
We have to write an essay discussing various arguments that were made in support of slavery in the early 19th century.
Some of these essays that we were given as source material are laughably bad. One I'm working through now, the guy talks about how the material comforts of a southern slave are better than those of a free laborer in the North.
Next paragraph? He blasts free societies for putting material comfort above "christian virtue".
So which is it? Is material comfort so good as to justify slavery, or is it so evil as to justify slavery?
Sounds frighteningly like crap the hard right and hard left put out about the opposing positions. I guess our politics haven't changed much. We just find out about the ridiculous stuff the politicians do and say faster these days. |
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| Lab full of penises |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|03:05 pm] |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTT0oX1UKvg&feature=sub
So, scientists have figured out how to grow rabbit penises, from the rabbits own cells.
I read an article about this a couple days ago. Basically, they take a rabbit penis and remove soft tissue, leaving only the cartilage frame. They seed this frame with cells from the recipient rabbit, and grow a penis.
This grown penis is then attached to the rabbit and it is FULLY FUNCTIONAL. They can make baby rabbits with it.
The thought is to advance this technology to work on humans, so that men who are injured in that area can be fixed. It uses the recipients own cells, so it is recognized by the immune system as natural tissue. Hence, no rejection as there is with organ transplants.
Not mentioned anywhere I've seen... Can this be made to work for women? Blood vessels would have to be rerouted, and it would almost certainly require hormone treatments, but are womens cells able to build a penis this way and would they be able to achieve erection? It could be interesting, F2M transsexuals, and intersex "correction" repair surgery, being able to give them a natural penis that works correctly and is unquestionably part of their own body rather than simply an attachement. |
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| grrrr statistics prof |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|03:04 pm] |
Sent out a mass email to people to manage their time and be ready to discuss the chapter in class.
Except, well, class is a waste of time. We go over material that she has clearly not gone over herself, it's not uncommon for her to spend 10 minutes working out something before she can even start showing us how to do it. AND SHE DOES THIS WORKING OUT OF THE PROBLEM DURING CLASS. It's not working it out as a student would to demonstrate the process, she's working it out to understand it before she can even start to demonstrate it.
She's also condescending. Her tone of voice is what people use for a cute toddler they meet in a supermarket. She uses "times" and "minus" as if the words "multiply" and "subtract" are too complicated for us. She's let the word "subtract" slip, and immediately corrected herself to say "minus". WTF. Does she really think we don't know what "subtract" means? And honestly, if someone is in college and doesn't know, they should be in remedial classes not statistics.
Oh, she cannot function at all without the overhead projector. Which she barely knows how to operate even when it's working. In class, you cannot do shit without the book. But she doesn't push people to get their own book. So I'll have 2 other people working off my book, if I need to refer back a couple pages to get the thing that she never bothered to mention and someone else needs the current page, well, me, the one that bought the book, is screwed. So we are forced to use the book in class, and those that actually bought a copy have it's in class usefulness seriously degraded. The times I've skipped class I've gotten that weeks material down much faster and more completely than I did the times I showed up. This professor is actually an active obstacle to learning statistics.
Even my SQL instructor was better. He was redundant, and had some weaknesses on terminology, but he at least explained things. Not terribly well most of the time, but he actually did his job. And he didn't constantly insult our intelligence by talking to us like we were five. And attending class, while I'd have liked to get more out of it, was not a complete waste of time that added nothing to my understanding of the subject.
My end of semester evaluation of this professor is likely to be very brutal. I'll likely use a phrase I've used only once before for the "How would you improve this course?" question. "Fire the professor". |
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| Resolution of the Continental Congress, November 10 1775 |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|08:22 am] |
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Resolved, That two battalions of Marines be raised consisting of one colonel, two lieutenant-colonels, two majors, and other officers, as usual in other regiments; that they consist of an equal number of privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken that no persons be appointed to office, or enlisted into said battaions but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve with advantage by sea when required; that they be enlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the present War with Great Britain and the colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress; that they be distinguished by names of First and Second Battalions of American Marines, and that they be considered as part of the number which the Continental Army before Boston is ordered to consist of. |
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| Music and objectifying women |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|12:19 am] |
One of the reasons I despise most mainstream hiphop these days is the way it unrepentantly objectifies women. I wouldn't take the step of suggesting it be legally restricted, and rarely speak against it unless the topic happens to come up in conversation. I just vote against it by refusing to purchase it, even if I happen to like the sound. While I'll tolerate and enjoy vapid and outright stupid music if it sounds good, if I'm offended when I listen to it, thats a line I don't cross.
That said, I don't mind depictions of lust towards women. This can be a fine line, but I do see a difference in lust being directed at women, and objectifying them. Lust basically means you want to fuck the shit out of them, to put it somewhat crudely. It does not, however, actively deny that they are good for anything else. The more objectifying strands in mainstream hip hop however, do seem to deny that women have any use other than as glorified sex toys.
Whats brought this on is 3OH!3 ft Katy Perry - Starstrukk. The original didn't have her, and IMO, it isn't all that good. It doesn't step completely over the line to objectification, but it at least gets a couple toes over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PNYJQrX36I
Is the song.
For reference, the version without Katy Perry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXwtOroPLl0&feature=related
Whats the difference? The one with Katy Perry equalizes it. Her part in the song is just as lustful and objectifying as the male parts. It makes the lust a human thing, not just something men have and women are expected to respond to. The way she comes into the video is especially good at firmly establishing this.
And unlike the objectifying mainstream hip hop that has a token female part, she isn't simply expressing her submission or playfully "refusing" in that annoying "no means yes" theme. It's like "you are nothing but a horny toad using me for sex, well, the feeling is mutual". The female is as important as the male, and it's not denying that either is good for other things too. Just, at the moment, lust is on their minds.
Aside from being less misogynistic, the call and response structure just seems to work better with a female for one of the parts. It works better musically, dance music is heavy on repetition but with a call and response structure, you need some contrasts between the two. The original was very weak on this point. I also like the instrumentals on the one with Katy better. |
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| Irish- Masculine vs Feminine |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|10:29 pm] |
Like Spanish, Irish has masculine and feminine nouns.
And like Spanish, there are masculine endings and feminine endings, plus the occasional word that doesn't fit the categories and exceptions to those that exist.
Except, well, there are 14 masculine endings, 14 feminine. One of them, it's a masculine or feminine ending based on how many syllables are in the word.
That's just annoying to learn though. What is interesting are what words are masculine and what are feminine. In languages with this distinction, I wonder if any studies have been done on why they put different words in each category?
I'm starting to think I need to take a Linguistics course, what with my developing interest in how languages get to be the way they are. How much does the culture influence how the language develops, how much does the language influence how the culture develops? At best, right now I can make some potentially plausible speculations, but I don't even know where to start looking to confirm or deny them. |
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| oh noes I'm mainstream |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|09:57 pm] |
I'm completely in love with current mainstream dance music.
Most of it is vapid and inane, no substance whatsoever and minimal innovation or talent behind it.
But that DOES NOT MATTER. Dance music doesn't have to be brilliant or have substance. It needs a steady beat, significant but not overpowering repetition, and actually thats really all it needs. Modern mainstream dance music does these things pretty well, even if most of it sounds like little more than 80s synthpop with updated hardware. It knows what it is, and does not try to be more than this. It's not that it's compromising to reach mainstream popularity, it's just that the mainstream has come around to it.
That said, some of the younger fans of it get on my nerves when they go on and on about how fresh and new Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are. I love both of them, good music there. But originality and innovation is really not their strong point. Even Gaga's batshit crazy fashion sense is straight out of the 80s. Most of "The Fame" would not have sounded at all unexpected coming from Berlin circa 1985.
Dance music is a soundtrack, not music that is meant to stand fully on its own. It's great when the latter can be achieved in a dance music context, but people seem to expect all music to do that. They miss the point entirely. |
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| eBook readers |
[Nov. 8th, 2009|01:43 pm] |
Thinking of getting the new B&N one, the Nook.
Main advantage over the Kindle is a wider variety of eBook formats it supports. The Kindle DX will come a ways to plugging that hole, but at a higher cost.
It's also interesting that the Nook runs Android. I wonder just how customized the Nook's Android will be? Will it be able to run Android apps? Will it have access to the AppMarket?
It will be interesting to see. If it has Android app support, it could find a great deal of use beyond being an eBook reader. It will basically be a small general purpose computer at that point. Sure, with a UI customized for reading, it's going to be fairly limited even if the full Android API is available. But it will have its uses. I do hope that it has some app support, though I'm sure that there will be a hacker out there smarter than me that will get enough of Android running on it to support some apps even if the Nook doesn't ship that way. |
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| neat |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|08:36 pm] |
That Irish rock band I linked to a while ago? I found a link on youtube to their English version of the song I posted.
It's about a guy having trouble with a girl.
I like the Irish version better. Sound is just better. Then again, that had electric guitars and such, this version is acoustic and seems to be the most direct musical translation possible. It doesn't tweak things at all to better suit the instruments. The English version I just listened to also has no drummer.
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| Mnemonic tricks |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|07:30 pm] |
Remembering the meaning of "dearmad" was difficult. I just couldn't. No matter how many times I went through my flash cards, I just couldn't do it.
I hit on a mnemonic trick though. I didn't remember the meaning, but I did remember that I always forget it. Since working that out, I have not failed to recall the english meaning even once.
Why did this specific trick do the job? "dearmad" translates to "forget". So by remembering I forget it all the time, I remembered that it means to "forget". Note that I didn't quote the "to" in that. There is no verb form that directly translates to the English "to _____". The imperative form, what is used to issue commands, is the base form. So it's not "to forget" but "forget" as used in the phrase "Forget it". This has little consequence, but it's an interesting little difference.
I've seen "to forget" and similar constructions formed with a few different words for "to", I do not yet know what the pattern is.
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| $182 |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|12:11 pm] |
And a few hours work, which I can do myself, to repair my cars exhaust system. Parts are expected to arrive the 10th, so it looks like Veterans Day will be car repair day for me.
It broke off far enough up that exhaust could potentially leak into the trunk. Probably does. The rear seat is providing an effective block to exhaust getting into the passenger compartment, but if I ever had to drop those down to carry stuff, that could be bad.
Once this is taken care of, I've got to get the tires replaced and an alignment done. And replace the belts in my engine. That will all be waiting until I have money. Will probably come close to 4-500 once *everything* is taken care of.
On the upside, once all of the above is dealt with, I'm probably good on major repairs for a while. The only other system in the car that has shown a potential issue is the temperature gauge rapidly redlining when I'm stopped with the engine going, that was resolved with coolant. I hadn't checked coolant levels or added any in the 3+ years I've owned the car. No idea when it was last topped off before I owned it.
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