miðvikudagur, mars 31, 2004
This whole ip tracker thing inspires one to blog more often. Even though I've had a counter on my site for a long time, seeing detailed statistics makes it more "real", that people are actually reading...and a lot of people are. It seems that most people check in at least once a day. This is great! It might seem silly, but it means a lot to me that I have a lot of readers :) And it also makes me feel a bit ashamed for not reading everybody else's blog as much as they read mine :( There are just so many! I do get around to them, though, and then I usually read all that I've missed, so I guess that's fine.
Past few days have been studying for an exam next Thursday, on Advanced Computer Graphics. Doing things like bumpmapping, displacement mapping, shadowmapping, lightmapping (lots of mapmapmappings), radiosity, spherical harmonics lighting, and a bunch of other nonsensically termed phenomena :S It's funny, computer graphics is like this huge jury rig, basically the world is continuous, while the screen is discrete (each pixel is separate from the next), so to make things look like they are continuous, you have to sample them finely. But no matter how finely you sample, you'll always have problems (called aliases), for example a diagonal line will always be jagged, your mind will just fill it up for you. So computer graphics is basically about fixing all the problems that it actually creates for itself by having limiting hardware (screen, video card). Kinda stoopid :p
How many people zoned out during that last paragraph?
Anyway, got my result from my first exam, 91 thankyouverymuch. Geez, not to brag or anything, but probably 1/4 of the test I actually learned DURING the test (it was open notes). You'd think that they'd make the test more difficult if it was open note. But no. So I breezed through that one, with those 9 points off being pretty stupid mistakes, but that's my MO anyway. Now let's just hope I can do the same thing tomorrow (also open notes).
Even though I've gotten over the whole it's-strange-to-be-in-the-US phase...it's still strange to be in the US. I get these small "waves" when all of a sudden it's like "holy crap! Where am I and what the fuck am I doing here?" But they only last for a couple of seconds. Usually it's when I'm outside. It probably has to do with things that I don't consciously take note of, for example, it being warm and dark. That's just something that I'll never get used to. It's probably also connected to certain smells.
So inbetween studying, I'm just reading stuff, and downloading shitloads :) I've downloaded way more than I can watch right now, saving up for the summer. It's nice to have stuff on hand that I know I'm going to enjoy (at least to some extent) and can watch it when I want, instead of turning on the tv and surfing. Imagine going to the video store and being able to pick a year's worth of vidoes at once and then being able to watch them whenever. Very nice.
Past few days have been studying for an exam next Thursday, on Advanced Computer Graphics. Doing things like bumpmapping, displacement mapping, shadowmapping, lightmapping (lots of mapmapmappings), radiosity, spherical harmonics lighting, and a bunch of other nonsensically termed phenomena :S It's funny, computer graphics is like this huge jury rig, basically the world is continuous, while the screen is discrete (each pixel is separate from the next), so to make things look like they are continuous, you have to sample them finely. But no matter how finely you sample, you'll always have problems (called aliases), for example a diagonal line will always be jagged, your mind will just fill it up for you. So computer graphics is basically about fixing all the problems that it actually creates for itself by having limiting hardware (screen, video card). Kinda stoopid :p
How many people zoned out during that last paragraph?
Anyway, got my result from my first exam, 91 thankyouverymuch. Geez, not to brag or anything, but probably 1/4 of the test I actually learned DURING the test (it was open notes). You'd think that they'd make the test more difficult if it was open note. But no. So I breezed through that one, with those 9 points off being pretty stupid mistakes, but that's my MO anyway. Now let's just hope I can do the same thing tomorrow (also open notes).
Even though I've gotten over the whole it's-strange-to-be-in-the-US phase...it's still strange to be in the US. I get these small "waves" when all of a sudden it's like "holy crap! Where am I and what the fuck am I doing here?" But they only last for a couple of seconds. Usually it's when I'm outside. It probably has to do with things that I don't consciously take note of, for example, it being warm and dark. That's just something that I'll never get used to. It's probably also connected to certain smells.
So inbetween studying, I'm just reading stuff, and downloading shitloads :) I've downloaded way more than I can watch right now, saving up for the summer. It's nice to have stuff on hand that I know I'm going to enjoy (at least to some extent) and can watch it when I want, instead of turning on the tv and surfing. Imagine going to the video store and being able to pick a year's worth of vidoes at once and then being able to watch them whenever. Very nice.
þriðjudagur, mars 30, 2004
Very cool!
I put an ip tracker on my website, just to see who's who of the blogreaders, and wow! got some really interesting results. Turns out I have readers from all over the world. Besides the hits from Iceland, I got 2 hits from the UK (that would be Bóbó and Ulk), 1 hit from Norway(probably Villi), one hit from Sweden, and 2 from Taiwan! I have no idea who those people are. I do know some people in Sweden, but I don't think they have my blog address. But I definitely don't know anybody in Taiwan.
So hey people, if you're one of my passive readers, drop in a comment, let me know who you are. Especially whoever you are from Taiwan :)
I put an ip tracker on my website, just to see who's who of the blogreaders, and wow! got some really interesting results. Turns out I have readers from all over the world. Besides the hits from Iceland, I got 2 hits from the UK (that would be Bóbó and Ulk), 1 hit from Norway(probably Villi), one hit from Sweden, and 2 from Taiwan! I have no idea who those people are. I do know some people in Sweden, but I don't think they have my blog address. But I definitely don't know anybody in Taiwan.
So hey people, if you're one of my passive readers, drop in a comment, let me know who you are. Especially whoever you are from Taiwan :)
mánudagur, mars 29, 2004
Here we go, another tale of terror from The Annals of the Roommates of Doom and Evil and Shi'...
Dan's friend Gabe (who by the way, is the only one of Dan's friends so far that seems like a really nice guy) was leaving for a month long, cross-country bike ride and they were saying goodbye to him by getting drunk at the local bar, Town Hall. So Dan tells me we're leaving in 40 minutes, so I go get ready. 4 hours later we leave.
The bar was fine, we drank some beers, played some video games and stuff. I met one of my former students who turned out knew Dan, small world. So then we go back to our place, for the others to drink some more before we go to some party. At some point, they all decided not to go to the party but to go up to Baltimore (this is at 3am) to one of the guys' house and crash there. Just for the sake of crashing there. I really didn't feel like it and voiced my opinion. Then ensued a period of "Diss Freysi". Talking about how I keep "wussing out" on the partying. I really couldn't care less about that, my opinion of these people had already plummeted to bedrock. The only reason I went out that evening was because Gabe's a nice guy, and fun to talk to. Anyway, I'm telling you all this to give you an example of the way these people think. Here's the deal (two things):
The first has to do with getting "rounds" at a bar. The way I have always experienced it, getting rounds is sort of like an honor system. You basically assume that everybody will take care of their round for themselves, that is, you shouldn't have to watch everybody like a hawk to make sure they contribute. Kind of defeats the purpose. Basically, you just drink as much as you want, and make sure you get as many rounds as the guy next to you, or something like that. So they were doing rounds on saturday. Fine by me, I was just waiting my turn, when one of the girls turns to me and says "Freysi, why don't you get the next round?"
Now, maybe some of you don't think this is a big deal, but I think it's incredibly weird. I can't quite explain why.
The second thing has to do with the party at Dan's friend Ben's house, where I had to leave early (I talked about this in an earlier blog). Dan had promised me I'd be home at 6, and when we got there, it was one of his jokes to his friends that he had duped me here and I couldn't leave until he said so. So I was tired, bored and wanted to go home. While we were watching some basketball game, Tos sat down beside me and offered me a ride home, saying he needed to go to some store anyway. So I, of course, thanked my lucky stars and accepted his very kind offer, thinking that it was made in faith and by a nice person. Well, I was sorely mistaken. As they made it clear to me last Saturday, I was NOT supposed to accept this offer. No, I was supposed to politely decline because I was supposed to know that nobody in their right mind would make such an offer and such, it was merely a gesture of politeness. WHATTHEFUCK?!?
So does that mean that everytime Tos or Dan has helped me with something with a smile on their face and a kind word, that they curse me as soon as my back is turned?
Anyway, as I sat on the porch and listened to this, I figured "okay, this is just part of the society and I've gotta learn this stuff." So I said, "Well, how was I supposed to know, I'm still learning all the social nuances." Which just made them all scoff. "You've used that excuse too often man."
It's painfully clear that these people are not worth hanging out with.
Thanks all you guys for your support. Like I say, this blog's point was just to give you some insight into the way these weirdos think, not necessarily to elicit sympathetic responses (although they are always welcome:))
Dan's friend Gabe (who by the way, is the only one of Dan's friends so far that seems like a really nice guy) was leaving for a month long, cross-country bike ride and they were saying goodbye to him by getting drunk at the local bar, Town Hall. So Dan tells me we're leaving in 40 minutes, so I go get ready. 4 hours later we leave.
The bar was fine, we drank some beers, played some video games and stuff. I met one of my former students who turned out knew Dan, small world. So then we go back to our place, for the others to drink some more before we go to some party. At some point, they all decided not to go to the party but to go up to Baltimore (this is at 3am) to one of the guys' house and crash there. Just for the sake of crashing there. I really didn't feel like it and voiced my opinion. Then ensued a period of "Diss Freysi". Talking about how I keep "wussing out" on the partying. I really couldn't care less about that, my opinion of these people had already plummeted to bedrock. The only reason I went out that evening was because Gabe's a nice guy, and fun to talk to. Anyway, I'm telling you all this to give you an example of the way these people think. Here's the deal (two things):
The first has to do with getting "rounds" at a bar. The way I have always experienced it, getting rounds is sort of like an honor system. You basically assume that everybody will take care of their round for themselves, that is, you shouldn't have to watch everybody like a hawk to make sure they contribute. Kind of defeats the purpose. Basically, you just drink as much as you want, and make sure you get as many rounds as the guy next to you, or something like that. So they were doing rounds on saturday. Fine by me, I was just waiting my turn, when one of the girls turns to me and says "Freysi, why don't you get the next round?"
Now, maybe some of you don't think this is a big deal, but I think it's incredibly weird. I can't quite explain why.
The second thing has to do with the party at Dan's friend Ben's house, where I had to leave early (I talked about this in an earlier blog). Dan had promised me I'd be home at 6, and when we got there, it was one of his jokes to his friends that he had duped me here and I couldn't leave until he said so. So I was tired, bored and wanted to go home. While we were watching some basketball game, Tos sat down beside me and offered me a ride home, saying he needed to go to some store anyway. So I, of course, thanked my lucky stars and accepted his very kind offer, thinking that it was made in faith and by a nice person. Well, I was sorely mistaken. As they made it clear to me last Saturday, I was NOT supposed to accept this offer. No, I was supposed to politely decline because I was supposed to know that nobody in their right mind would make such an offer and such, it was merely a gesture of politeness. WHATTHEFUCK?!?
So does that mean that everytime Tos or Dan has helped me with something with a smile on their face and a kind word, that they curse me as soon as my back is turned?
Anyway, as I sat on the porch and listened to this, I figured "okay, this is just part of the society and I've gotta learn this stuff." So I said, "Well, how was I supposed to know, I'm still learning all the social nuances." Which just made them all scoff. "You've used that excuse too often man."
It's painfully clear that these people are not worth hanging out with.
Thanks all you guys for your support. Like I say, this blog's point was just to give you some insight into the way these weirdos think, not necessarily to elicit sympathetic responses (although they are always welcome:))
laugardagur, mars 27, 2004
Geez, Binh really is a stoopidhead.
First of all, today Dan, Tos and I were going to go bike riding down by Chesapeake Bay. I was actually looking forward to it, a day in the sun, getting some exercise, and a chance to take pictures. I actually went and had my bike tuned, bought a pump and a little cage for drinks, and I even made sure my camera battery was charged. They were going to wake me up at 8:30 this morning, so when I woke up at 9:30 I figured something was wrong. Dan in his typical don't-care-about-you-dick attitude didn't mention it at all to me the numerous times we passed each other in the house. I, in my stubborn way, didn't ask, waited for him to explain. Am I uptight, or shouldn't one expect some basic courtesy about stuff like this? Somebody invites you to X. X falls through. You'd think the person would let you know as soon as he knows, so you don't waste time waiting or getting ready. Also in the situation where somebody says X is tenuous. So you wait for confirmation. And you get it, 5 minutes before X is supposed to happen. It's just annoying.
So Þóra had sent me a mail the evening before saying she would be in the neighborhood in the early afternoon. So I told her I would be going out riding and I would be in touch to tell her my plans. So when it turned out there wasn't going to be any riding done today, I left her a message on her cell. She had said she would be done around lunch time, or 2pm. So I wait for her to call back, and figure things must be dragging on, because it was already around 2 o'clock. So I sat, listening to music, and continued to wait. The phone rang once, binh got it, and I figured it was for him. As it turned out, that was Þóra and Binh must have told her I wasn't here because he didn't come to get me. It wasn't until half an hour later that Binh deigned to tell me that Þóra had called. I tried reaching her but she didn't answer her cell, so I figured she'd just gone home.
Binh stoopidhead.
Why wouldn't someone check to see if someone is home when that person receives a call?
Geez, I live with a bunch of sociopaths.
First of all, today Dan, Tos and I were going to go bike riding down by Chesapeake Bay. I was actually looking forward to it, a day in the sun, getting some exercise, and a chance to take pictures. I actually went and had my bike tuned, bought a pump and a little cage for drinks, and I even made sure my camera battery was charged. They were going to wake me up at 8:30 this morning, so when I woke up at 9:30 I figured something was wrong. Dan in his typical don't-care-about-you-dick attitude didn't mention it at all to me the numerous times we passed each other in the house. I, in my stubborn way, didn't ask, waited for him to explain. Am I uptight, or shouldn't one expect some basic courtesy about stuff like this? Somebody invites you to X. X falls through. You'd think the person would let you know as soon as he knows, so you don't waste time waiting or getting ready. Also in the situation where somebody says X is tenuous. So you wait for confirmation. And you get it, 5 minutes before X is supposed to happen. It's just annoying.
So Þóra had sent me a mail the evening before saying she would be in the neighborhood in the early afternoon. So I told her I would be going out riding and I would be in touch to tell her my plans. So when it turned out there wasn't going to be any riding done today, I left her a message on her cell. She had said she would be done around lunch time, or 2pm. So I wait for her to call back, and figure things must be dragging on, because it was already around 2 o'clock. So I sat, listening to music, and continued to wait. The phone rang once, binh got it, and I figured it was for him. As it turned out, that was Þóra and Binh must have told her I wasn't here because he didn't come to get me. It wasn't until half an hour later that Binh deigned to tell me that Þóra had called. I tried reaching her but she didn't answer her cell, so I figured she'd just gone home.
Binh stoopidhead.
Why wouldn't someone check to see if someone is home when that person receives a call?
Geez, I live with a bunch of sociopaths.
fimmtudagur, mars 25, 2004
It's been a while.
On saturday morning, Dan shows up screaming about being late and we have to get our asses going RIGHT NOW!. I had no idea what he was talking about. Apparently we were going to a party at Ben's (friend of Dan's) place and we had to leave within 5 minutes. Dan had mentioned in passing that there would be a party that day, but had never confirmed it. As it turns out, that other thing he had invited me to, on wednesday...I was just supposed to show up there. He assumed I didn't need to be reminded or have it confirmed, or some bullshit like that. Anyway, so we drive all the way up to Baltimore and when we get there it turns out the party isn't starting for another like 2 hours. We had been tricked (by Dan) into coming early and helping set up the party. So Tos and I put together a grill they just bought (a big sticker on the front of the box said "Assembly free!"), which was interesting. I sort of figured out then and there that Tos is a know-it-all who isn't really that smart at all. I would look at the diagram and start to get the pieces needed and start to assemble. He would then say "Stop" and tear the diagram away from me and say something know-it-all-ish. Rinse and repeat, and we spent twice the time we could have doing that.
After that, people started to show up, family and friends. This was a surprise party for this guy Ben. He was leaving for Afghanistan the next day (in the army). So I sat there listening to people I didn't know talk and eat. I should have had a "I'm just here for the food" t-shirt. Didn't matter, I realized quickly that I had absolutely nothing in common with these people. They jabbered on about the army, and about basketball and made incessant stupid jokes about each other. The guys reminded me of Ingó and Tóti, sort of the point of the relationship is to make the biggest crack about the other person. So I managed to trick Tos into driving me home. I did have to finish a project which I was late with anyway.
So yeah, I finished that project, and to congratulate myself I downloaded and watched the 2-3 newest episodes of Angel, Smallville, ER, 24, Friends, Alias and Scrubs. Ahhh good times. I am so totally a tv-junkie. But at least I don't channel surf. It's all premeditated.
I spoke to John about my decision and he was nice about it, said don't worry and don't think about it until the end of the summer. So that's fine, at least for now.
Right now, I have a huge migraine headache that won't go away, even though I took my medication :'( I guess I'll have to just live with it for a couple of hours.
On saturday morning, Dan shows up screaming about being late and we have to get our asses going RIGHT NOW!. I had no idea what he was talking about. Apparently we were going to a party at Ben's (friend of Dan's) place and we had to leave within 5 minutes. Dan had mentioned in passing that there would be a party that day, but had never confirmed it. As it turns out, that other thing he had invited me to, on wednesday...I was just supposed to show up there. He assumed I didn't need to be reminded or have it confirmed, or some bullshit like that. Anyway, so we drive all the way up to Baltimore and when we get there it turns out the party isn't starting for another like 2 hours. We had been tricked (by Dan) into coming early and helping set up the party. So Tos and I put together a grill they just bought (a big sticker on the front of the box said "Assembly free!"), which was interesting. I sort of figured out then and there that Tos is a know-it-all who isn't really that smart at all. I would look at the diagram and start to get the pieces needed and start to assemble. He would then say "Stop" and tear the diagram away from me and say something know-it-all-ish. Rinse and repeat, and we spent twice the time we could have doing that.
After that, people started to show up, family and friends. This was a surprise party for this guy Ben. He was leaving for Afghanistan the next day (in the army). So I sat there listening to people I didn't know talk and eat. I should have had a "I'm just here for the food" t-shirt. Didn't matter, I realized quickly that I had absolutely nothing in common with these people. They jabbered on about the army, and about basketball and made incessant stupid jokes about each other. The guys reminded me of Ingó and Tóti, sort of the point of the relationship is to make the biggest crack about the other person. So I managed to trick Tos into driving me home. I did have to finish a project which I was late with anyway.
So yeah, I finished that project, and to congratulate myself I downloaded and watched the 2-3 newest episodes of Angel, Smallville, ER, 24, Friends, Alias and Scrubs. Ahhh good times. I am so totally a tv-junkie. But at least I don't channel surf. It's all premeditated.
I spoke to John about my decision and he was nice about it, said don't worry and don't think about it until the end of the summer. So that's fine, at least for now.
Right now, I have a huge migraine headache that won't go away, even though I took my medication :'( I guess I'll have to just live with it for a couple of hours.
föstudagur, mars 19, 2004
Ok, I have a program that everyone should download. Skype.
It's basically an online phone program with a little built in chat thing also. So, goodbye MSN, hello Skype :) I just tried it out with Tiny back home, the quality is excellent and the delay is not noticable. Now all I need is a headset, cause talking into my headphones was cumbersome to say the least :p
I made an honest attempt at getting my taxes done today. Went to a free tax advice meeting, and brought the two things I got sent in the mail. Sat around for awhile, until it was my turn. The guy who helped me first expressed the mandatory 5 minutes of interest in Iceland and then got to it. We quickly figured out I didn't have some W2 form. So I said I would take care of it and would be back to him within the hour. He just laughed at me. "Even with the viking blood in your veins, it'll still take you a couple of days to get that form." I was nonplussed and just went back to my department, knocked a couple of heads, went back to my house, got some papers, logged in online, printed out my form and, voila! I was back within the hour. Needless to say, the guy was stunned. And there we go, yet another story someone will have to tell about the crazy Icelanders :p
Anyway, even after that there seemed to be a problem, where my department views me as a residential student while the office of the bursar still views me as an international student. Anyway, we couldn't figure some things out, and our time ran out so I have to go back next week, this time I'm bringing all my documents. Actually on the way out I stopped by the Graduate registration office and they explained some stuff...like for example my fellowship was supposed to be split in two, paid in sept and jan. It was split, but was paid in sept and dec, which means I pay taxes on the whole thing now. BUT it wasn't added to my W2 form like it should have been, which is what threw my advisor. Now that's clear, I should be fine next week. However, it seems that I won't be getting any money back from taxes. On the plus side, I got a lot of exercise today.
So things are good. I'm slowly but surely working on my project, slowly because I don't feel like it, not because it's difficult :p
It's basically an online phone program with a little built in chat thing also. So, goodbye MSN, hello Skype :) I just tried it out with Tiny back home, the quality is excellent and the delay is not noticable. Now all I need is a headset, cause talking into my headphones was cumbersome to say the least :p
I made an honest attempt at getting my taxes done today. Went to a free tax advice meeting, and brought the two things I got sent in the mail. Sat around for awhile, until it was my turn. The guy who helped me first expressed the mandatory 5 minutes of interest in Iceland and then got to it. We quickly figured out I didn't have some W2 form. So I said I would take care of it and would be back to him within the hour. He just laughed at me. "Even with the viking blood in your veins, it'll still take you a couple of days to get that form." I was nonplussed and just went back to my department, knocked a couple of heads, went back to my house, got some papers, logged in online, printed out my form and, voila! I was back within the hour. Needless to say, the guy was stunned. And there we go, yet another story someone will have to tell about the crazy Icelanders :p
Anyway, even after that there seemed to be a problem, where my department views me as a residential student while the office of the bursar still views me as an international student. Anyway, we couldn't figure some things out, and our time ran out so I have to go back next week, this time I'm bringing all my documents. Actually on the way out I stopped by the Graduate registration office and they explained some stuff...like for example my fellowship was supposed to be split in two, paid in sept and jan. It was split, but was paid in sept and dec, which means I pay taxes on the whole thing now. BUT it wasn't added to my W2 form like it should have been, which is what threw my advisor. Now that's clear, I should be fine next week. However, it seems that I won't be getting any money back from taxes. On the plus side, I got a lot of exercise today.
So things are good. I'm slowly but surely working on my project, slowly because I don't feel like it, not because it's difficult :p
miðvikudagur, mars 17, 2004
I made a decision last night (with a little help from family).
I made the decision to not make a decision about the future of my studies. At least not yet.
Being pressured into deciding right now whether or not I'm going for my PhD has been making my life miserable. Basically, by doing this, I'm tricking my mind into not thinking about it. Now I just have to meet with John and Jim and tell them what's up and see how they react.
So I'm feeling much better, þungu fargi af manni létt, like we Icelanders say.
Last sunday, Maryland Terps (Terps is short for Terrapins, which are little turtles) won the ACC championship in college basketball. That was a huge deal, the Maryland team has always been pretty low, and the final game was agains Duke from North Carolina, which is the number one team. So everybody went out to party. Dan came home screaming and tore me to my feet and we went into the "downtown" College Park. Basically a collecion of stores right outside of campus. There were hundreds of students there, all of them watching a handful of students who stood in the middle of the street, yelling and burning stuff. At the other end of the road, we could see a slowly advancing line of police, fully dressed in riot gear. I couldn't help but think, if it weren't for those few crazy guys, this would be just like a weekend back home. And do we need police with riot gear and tear gas? Nope, we make do with 2-4 cops.
Anyway, they advanced, they shouted, they threatened, and the students moved back. Nobody got shot with pepper pellets or rubber bullets, and only one student got whacked with a baton for not getting down off the wall. And the police officer actually warned him first.
Police - "If you don't get down I'll whack you!"
Student "Hah, I'd like to see you tr-"
WHACK!
On the way back home, Dan and I stopped, got a beer and watched the news at the local hick bar. Then Dan called a friend of his and we all went back to that bar and got drunk and played some stupid golf video game. It was lots of fun, but I never learn. I shouldn't drink. I stopped drinking for a reason. I guess I just needed a reminder. Spent the whole day afterwards being sick and watching ER.
I had a test today which I didn't study for. It was an open book, open note test, and I think I did pretty good. We'll see. Now I only have one project left to do for monday, and a test on the first of april, and things slow down a bit.
Dan flaked out on me again tonight. On sunday he invited me on a double date tonight. Haven't seen him since sunday. I'm not really surprised, he's done this before. He also invited me to a party on saturday. We´ll see what happens.
Anyways, so time flows on. Kind of sad, I used to organize past events in my memory based on what girl I was seeing at the time (girls take up so much time, it was easy to use that to pinpoint certain events;)), but now, I use what tv-series I was watching at the time.
I made the decision to not make a decision about the future of my studies. At least not yet.
Being pressured into deciding right now whether or not I'm going for my PhD has been making my life miserable. Basically, by doing this, I'm tricking my mind into not thinking about it. Now I just have to meet with John and Jim and tell them what's up and see how they react.
So I'm feeling much better, þungu fargi af manni létt, like we Icelanders say.
Last sunday, Maryland Terps (Terps is short for Terrapins, which are little turtles) won the ACC championship in college basketball. That was a huge deal, the Maryland team has always been pretty low, and the final game was agains Duke from North Carolina, which is the number one team. So everybody went out to party. Dan came home screaming and tore me to my feet and we went into the "downtown" College Park. Basically a collecion of stores right outside of campus. There were hundreds of students there, all of them watching a handful of students who stood in the middle of the street, yelling and burning stuff. At the other end of the road, we could see a slowly advancing line of police, fully dressed in riot gear. I couldn't help but think, if it weren't for those few crazy guys, this would be just like a weekend back home. And do we need police with riot gear and tear gas? Nope, we make do with 2-4 cops.
Anyway, they advanced, they shouted, they threatened, and the students moved back. Nobody got shot with pepper pellets or rubber bullets, and only one student got whacked with a baton for not getting down off the wall. And the police officer actually warned him first.
Police - "If you don't get down I'll whack you!"
Student "Hah, I'd like to see you tr-"
WHACK!
On the way back home, Dan and I stopped, got a beer and watched the news at the local hick bar. Then Dan called a friend of his and we all went back to that bar and got drunk and played some stupid golf video game. It was lots of fun, but I never learn. I shouldn't drink. I stopped drinking for a reason. I guess I just needed a reminder. Spent the whole day afterwards being sick and watching ER.
I had a test today which I didn't study for. It was an open book, open note test, and I think I did pretty good. We'll see. Now I only have one project left to do for monday, and a test on the first of april, and things slow down a bit.
Dan flaked out on me again tonight. On sunday he invited me on a double date tonight. Haven't seen him since sunday. I'm not really surprised, he's done this before. He also invited me to a party on saturday. We´ll see what happens.
Anyways, so time flows on. Kind of sad, I used to organize past events in my memory based on what girl I was seeing at the time (girls take up so much time, it was easy to use that to pinpoint certain events;)), but now, I use what tv-series I was watching at the time.
sunnudagur, mars 14, 2004
I confronted my (Binh)Demon!
So I was downloading, and I had gotten this program called netlimiter to limit my upload speed to like 1/5 of capacity so as not to slow down web browsing too much. And then Binh wakes up and immediately slaps on the filter. So I got mad and stormed over to his room and basically put him in his place.
1. We both pay as much for this connection
2. This means that I'm entitled to use as much of the connection as he is, without him interfering in what exactly I'm doing with my part.
3. As long as I'm not infringing on his part, he's just going to have to put up with the browsing being a bit slower, because he's not getting all the bandwith, only 2/3.
In fact, because I limit my upload to 1/5 he actually can use up to 80% of the upload bandwidth (upload has much more an effect on slowing than download) I also limit my download to about 1/2 capacity, since Dan is never around anyway. I could have argued with Binh for 1/3 or even 1/2 capacity with the upload but I figured it didn't matter that much to me, it's the download that counts ;)
So anyway, first he said "no no, too slow." So then I told him that he could just pay me for usage of my part. Let's see, if he has his block on for 8 hours a day, that means he'd have to pay me 1/3 of what I pay for the connection, which is...hehe $5 a month.
Ha! I'm glad he didn't think that through. He just shook his head and said okok, "we trah this".
So things are looking up. Also got my second delivery from peapod, essentially the same as the last one, except by accident I only ordered one green pepper, was going to order like 6. Kinda funny to get a special delivery, one green pepper.
Anyway, was up all night doing absolutely nothing. Best get to sleep so I can wake up later today and do absolutely nothing some more.
So I was downloading, and I had gotten this program called netlimiter to limit my upload speed to like 1/5 of capacity so as not to slow down web browsing too much. And then Binh wakes up and immediately slaps on the filter. So I got mad and stormed over to his room and basically put him in his place.
1. We both pay as much for this connection
2. This means that I'm entitled to use as much of the connection as he is, without him interfering in what exactly I'm doing with my part.
3. As long as I'm not infringing on his part, he's just going to have to put up with the browsing being a bit slower, because he's not getting all the bandwith, only 2/3.
In fact, because I limit my upload to 1/5 he actually can use up to 80% of the upload bandwidth (upload has much more an effect on slowing than download) I also limit my download to about 1/2 capacity, since Dan is never around anyway. I could have argued with Binh for 1/3 or even 1/2 capacity with the upload but I figured it didn't matter that much to me, it's the download that counts ;)
So anyway, first he said "no no, too slow." So then I told him that he could just pay me for usage of my part. Let's see, if he has his block on for 8 hours a day, that means he'd have to pay me 1/3 of what I pay for the connection, which is...hehe $5 a month.
Ha! I'm glad he didn't think that through. He just shook his head and said okok, "we trah this".
So things are looking up. Also got my second delivery from peapod, essentially the same as the last one, except by accident I only ordered one green pepper, was going to order like 6. Kinda funny to get a special delivery, one green pepper.
Anyway, was up all night doing absolutely nothing. Best get to sleep so I can wake up later today and do absolutely nothing some more.
föstudagur, mars 12, 2004
I switched my processor heatsink out for a new one today.
The thing was, my fan was making so much noise when it was running, and it was always chaning speeds. We (me and Andy) had tried to fix it before new year's, and it seemed to run better, but finally it fell back into it's changing speeds(moods?). Anyway, I had attempted to order a fan a couple of months ago, and had carefully measured my existing fan to get the right size. I ordered the wrong size. I cursed and forgot about it until in january, when I again measured my fan and made sure I didn't order the same model (serial number 'n stuff). I got the same model sent. I cursed again. Finally today I had had enough of my fan's bitching and got Tos to assist me. Getting the old heat sink off turned out to be a herculean task. Boy, these really weren't designed to come off. We actually had to remove the whole power supply to be able to get enough leverage to pry the heatsink off. After that, I spread the Arctic Silver on, very professionally done for a newbie (even though I do say so myself) and then it was time to put the new heatsink+fan on. Well, that turned out to be an even greater feat. I had to put so much pressure on it, I was afraid I would crack the motherboard. Thankfully nothing bad happened, but I'll tell you, that suckah ain't goin noweah!
In other news, I did it again...worried over a project, wasted time trying to set it up at home, ended up working on it up at school (through a remote connection from my desktop) and finished it within 2 hours. Which is great, means I can spend most of my weekend doing my other project, and studying for my midterm. Hell, I might even get some research done. Of course, I have a huge stack of books I'm reading, half of them from mamma (and definitely very interesting). Now that I have my little reading corner set up, I have more incentive to just sit around and read. Looking forward to it. Right now, it's downloaddownloaddownload and studystudystudy.
The thing was, my fan was making so much noise when it was running, and it was always chaning speeds. We (me and Andy) had tried to fix it before new year's, and it seemed to run better, but finally it fell back into it's changing speeds(moods?). Anyway, I had attempted to order a fan a couple of months ago, and had carefully measured my existing fan to get the right size. I ordered the wrong size. I cursed and forgot about it until in january, when I again measured my fan and made sure I didn't order the same model (serial number 'n stuff). I got the same model sent. I cursed again. Finally today I had had enough of my fan's bitching and got Tos to assist me. Getting the old heat sink off turned out to be a herculean task. Boy, these really weren't designed to come off. We actually had to remove the whole power supply to be able to get enough leverage to pry the heatsink off. After that, I spread the Arctic Silver on, very professionally done for a newbie (even though I do say so myself) and then it was time to put the new heatsink+fan on. Well, that turned out to be an even greater feat. I had to put so much pressure on it, I was afraid I would crack the motherboard. Thankfully nothing bad happened, but I'll tell you, that suckah ain't goin noweah!
In other news, I did it again...worried over a project, wasted time trying to set it up at home, ended up working on it up at school (through a remote connection from my desktop) and finished it within 2 hours. Which is great, means I can spend most of my weekend doing my other project, and studying for my midterm. Hell, I might even get some research done. Of course, I have a huge stack of books I'm reading, half of them from mamma (and definitely very interesting). Now that I have my little reading corner set up, I have more incentive to just sit around and read. Looking forward to it. Right now, it's downloaddownloaddownload and studystudystudy.
It's funny, one would think that I, of all people, would be a stickler for detail. But in reality, I'm not.
I don't like detail, I want things to be simple. If I need something, I use google and find it, and then I buy it. I don't like to shop around. For example, I "needed" a DVD writer and some disks. Went to bestbuy.com, found the "most-popular-cheap-on-sale" one, and bought it. Saw a relatively cheap stack of disks and bought them too. So when they arrive I say to Tos, "Hey, got my DVD writer." And he goes, "Cool, what kind?".
Duuuuhhhh....dunno.
I couldn't care less what kind. So he sits down and looks at my stuff and goes "Oh, a Lite-On, very nice. What kind of disks did you get?"
Duuuuhhhh....dunno.
Again, not caring. Then he starts to talk about how this kind is better than that, and I go aha, aha, and it all leaks out my other ear. Then he starts on about how it's best to write disks, blabla bitsetting, blabla firmware. And although I appreciate all his help, I don't care about this stuff, I just wanna write disks. If my disks fail, I'll just toss'em and write again. Maybe this is a defense mechanism, because I know that if I start to read about this stuff I'll get sucked into the world of offline media.
This again came into play when I went and bought myself a bike yesterday. I went in to the store, asked the guy to show me a decent bike for getting around the area, that would last me for several years. He immediately walked to one bike and showed me. I decided then and there that I would buy this bike. But, just to make the salesguy feel better I went through all the motions of shopping around, blabla. I don't care about material of the frame, or the quality of the suspensions, I just want A BIKE. PERIOD.
So basically, I'm impatient with things that don't work like they should. And I'm a programmer....that's got to be the worst matchup I can possibly think of. NOTHING works when you're a programmer. You're NEVER finished with a project. If you manage to get something to work, that just means you go the the next thing that doesn't work on your list. So this basically means I'll be impatient and on the edge of my seat for the rest of my professional life?!
Not good.
I don't like detail, I want things to be simple. If I need something, I use google and find it, and then I buy it. I don't like to shop around. For example, I "needed" a DVD writer and some disks. Went to bestbuy.com, found the "most-popular-cheap-on-sale" one, and bought it. Saw a relatively cheap stack of disks and bought them too. So when they arrive I say to Tos, "Hey, got my DVD writer." And he goes, "Cool, what kind?".
Duuuuhhhh....dunno.
I couldn't care less what kind. So he sits down and looks at my stuff and goes "Oh, a Lite-On, very nice. What kind of disks did you get?"
Duuuuhhhh....dunno.
Again, not caring. Then he starts to talk about how this kind is better than that, and I go aha, aha, and it all leaks out my other ear. Then he starts on about how it's best to write disks, blabla bitsetting, blabla firmware. And although I appreciate all his help, I don't care about this stuff, I just wanna write disks. If my disks fail, I'll just toss'em and write again. Maybe this is a defense mechanism, because I know that if I start to read about this stuff I'll get sucked into the world of offline media.
This again came into play when I went and bought myself a bike yesterday. I went in to the store, asked the guy to show me a decent bike for getting around the area, that would last me for several years. He immediately walked to one bike and showed me. I decided then and there that I would buy this bike. But, just to make the salesguy feel better I went through all the motions of shopping around, blabla. I don't care about material of the frame, or the quality of the suspensions, I just want A BIKE. PERIOD.
So basically, I'm impatient with things that don't work like they should. And I'm a programmer....that's got to be the worst matchup I can possibly think of. NOTHING works when you're a programmer. You're NEVER finished with a project. If you manage to get something to work, that just means you go the the next thing that doesn't work on your list. So this basically means I'll be impatient and on the edge of my seat for the rest of my professional life?!
Not good.
fimmtudagur, mars 11, 2004
Did this stupid test:
Muhahahaha! Stalker.
Anyway, been having a couple of battles with Binh (Battles with Binh: The life story of Freyr Guðmundsson). One about the heat and one about the internet. So basically, Binh's room is cold and mine is sweltering. So I'd periodically go out and turn the air conditioning on and he' periodically go and turn the heat on. Finally I just approached him and said, hey let's just turn everything off, ok? He said fine. But with typical Binh attitude, he went back to putting the heat on a couple of days later. This seems to be his MO, just say fine to whatever his stupid roommtes say to placate them and then do what he wants.
The internet issue was different. There was some problem with our internet, in that sometimes the net connection would die, and it would come back online as soon as my computer was taken off line. So I ran diagnostics and all sorts, didn't find anythign and figured it was a fluke. Until Binh started disabling the wireless, which made me really mad. Instead of coming and talking to me and saying, hey let's figure this out, he just disables the wireless, rendering me without internet and him fine, since he's connected with a cable. Total passive agressive, don't-care-about-you behavior. Anyway, I set up another firewall on my comp, and it immediately showed me that my computer was trying to upload 400KB/s (which is a lot, for you laypersons:)), and detected an outside access to a certain point. Turns out that it was a worm called SQL Slammer which exploits SQL Server. I of course hadn't updated SQL server for a while and still had that security hole. But the firwall took care of it and now I can download in peace, finally.
In other news, I'm trying to learn perl for a stupid project, and then I have another project in OpenGL, and then one midterm and then spring break, which won't be a break, and then one more midterm after the break.
Bleh.
Muhahahaha! Stalker.
Anyway, been having a couple of battles with Binh (Battles with Binh: The life story of Freyr Guðmundsson). One about the heat and one about the internet. So basically, Binh's room is cold and mine is sweltering. So I'd periodically go out and turn the air conditioning on and he' periodically go and turn the heat on. Finally I just approached him and said, hey let's just turn everything off, ok? He said fine. But with typical Binh attitude, he went back to putting the heat on a couple of days later. This seems to be his MO, just say fine to whatever his stupid roommtes say to placate them and then do what he wants.
The internet issue was different. There was some problem with our internet, in that sometimes the net connection would die, and it would come back online as soon as my computer was taken off line. So I ran diagnostics and all sorts, didn't find anythign and figured it was a fluke. Until Binh started disabling the wireless, which made me really mad. Instead of coming and talking to me and saying, hey let's figure this out, he just disables the wireless, rendering me without internet and him fine, since he's connected with a cable. Total passive agressive, don't-care-about-you behavior. Anyway, I set up another firewall on my comp, and it immediately showed me that my computer was trying to upload 400KB/s (which is a lot, for you laypersons:)), and detected an outside access to a certain point. Turns out that it was a worm called SQL Slammer which exploits SQL Server. I of course hadn't updated SQL server for a while and still had that security hole. But the firwall took care of it and now I can download in peace, finally.
In other news, I'm trying to learn perl for a stupid project, and then I have another project in OpenGL, and then one midterm and then spring break, which won't be a break, and then one more midterm after the break.
Bleh.
mánudagur, mars 08, 2004
So I have a new roommate. He's about 2 inches in diameter, circular, flat and lives in our shower drain. Oh, and he's made out of 100% Binh-hair.
So a couple of funny/interesting things have happened recently (apart from me spraying water waaaay up my left nostril while trying to avoid our resident dust-puppy in the shower). Dan decided to go to Israel and meet some people he knew there. A friend of his (who lives there) asked Dan whether he would be willing to bring some stuff along with him. Dan said sure. A couple of days pass, and then the packages start to arrive. Books, kitchen appliances, routers, memory sticks...all in all, probably about 100 kilos of stuff which Dan was supposed to bring with him. Talk about taking advantage of a friend. I'd've been furious :)
Anyway, so Dan goes to Israel with all this stuff, stops by in Amsterdam and gets high. Gets to Israel where he promptly gets deported. He just came back today, and showed me his passport. It was in really bad shape, all torn and the picture faded. Reaaaally smart, try to get into Israel with a destroyed passport.
While Dan was having his adventure, Binh had an accident on the beltway. First of all, he's a teeerrrrible driver. So, I'm not sure about his story. He says he hit a woman who had stopped her car sideways on the beltway. He says he didn't see how she stopped. This tells me immediately that he should have had time to slow down and stop himself. He even told me that he looked and couldn't get into the other lane because there was no space to switch. If you have time to think about that, let alone look, then you have time to slam the brakes. Anyway, nobody was hurt.
Tos has set up a nice cooling system for his computer. He has a cooler full of anitfreeze with a cooling iron thingy in it to bring it down to -20° F. This is then routed through a tube directly onto his processor and then out again, keeping it at between -15 and -10° F. For those less tech savvy, a normal fan cooling system on processsors keeps them at 40 - 65° C, around 100 - 150° F. Pretty cool (pun totally intended).
My DVD burner is up and running and I'm liking it (although it does take 45 minutes to burn a disk, and another 45 minutes to verify it :S)
So a couple of funny/interesting things have happened recently (apart from me spraying water waaaay up my left nostril while trying to avoid our resident dust-puppy in the shower). Dan decided to go to Israel and meet some people he knew there. A friend of his (who lives there) asked Dan whether he would be willing to bring some stuff along with him. Dan said sure. A couple of days pass, and then the packages start to arrive. Books, kitchen appliances, routers, memory sticks...all in all, probably about 100 kilos of stuff which Dan was supposed to bring with him. Talk about taking advantage of a friend. I'd've been furious :)
Anyway, so Dan goes to Israel with all this stuff, stops by in Amsterdam and gets high. Gets to Israel where he promptly gets deported. He just came back today, and showed me his passport. It was in really bad shape, all torn and the picture faded. Reaaaally smart, try to get into Israel with a destroyed passport.
While Dan was having his adventure, Binh had an accident on the beltway. First of all, he's a teeerrrrible driver. So, I'm not sure about his story. He says he hit a woman who had stopped her car sideways on the beltway. He says he didn't see how she stopped. This tells me immediately that he should have had time to slow down and stop himself. He even told me that he looked and couldn't get into the other lane because there was no space to switch. If you have time to think about that, let alone look, then you have time to slam the brakes. Anyway, nobody was hurt.
Tos has set up a nice cooling system for his computer. He has a cooler full of anitfreeze with a cooling iron thingy in it to bring it down to -20° F. This is then routed through a tube directly onto his processor and then out again, keeping it at between -15 and -10° F. For those less tech savvy, a normal fan cooling system on processsors keeps them at 40 - 65° C, around 100 - 150° F. Pretty cool (pun totally intended).
My DVD burner is up and running and I'm liking it (although it does take 45 minutes to burn a disk, and another 45 minutes to verify it :S)
I hate it when this happens.
So I've been worrying about having to write a little analysis of two programs we're using in our research. I was supposed to write it by last tuesday, but got caught up in a project. So we postponed it to this tuesday, and I just managed to get off my ass this morning.
I wrote the whole 2 page analysis in about 5 minutes.
And when I look it over I think it looks fine. But I can't make myself believe that it's fine after only 5 minutes of work! Although, of course it's a culmination of weeks of reading...but still! Now instead of sitting and trying to force myself to begin, I'm sitting and trying to force myself to revise. Maybe I'll just say screw it and pretend this took me a couple of days to write and perfect.
Just got my new DVD writer, woohoo! Gonna go set it up and write some DVD's.
So I've been worrying about having to write a little analysis of two programs we're using in our research. I was supposed to write it by last tuesday, but got caught up in a project. So we postponed it to this tuesday, and I just managed to get off my ass this morning.
I wrote the whole 2 page analysis in about 5 minutes.
And when I look it over I think it looks fine. But I can't make myself believe that it's fine after only 5 minutes of work! Although, of course it's a culmination of weeks of reading...but still! Now instead of sitting and trying to force myself to begin, I'm sitting and trying to force myself to revise. Maybe I'll just say screw it and pretend this took me a couple of days to write and perfect.
Just got my new DVD writer, woohoo! Gonna go set it up and write some DVD's.
sunnudagur, mars 07, 2004
Ok guys, I'm sorry about not updating my research site. I've just had so much on my mind lately (and had some conventional projects to work on) that I actually haven't been giving the research that much thought. I do have to do something for next tuesday (meeting with John then) so I'll update it again AFTER that.
I went with Þóra to Ikea yesterday (bandaríkjamenn segja ækía) and got a new, big, fake leather desk chair, with support for my back and a softer seat for my butt. I also got a little night table beside my bed with a little drawer and stuff. Beside that I put a comfy (but not too comfy, don't wanna fall asleep) chair and made a little reading corner. Finally, behind my door I put a coat rack for my clothes-that-are-too-dirty-to-put-back-in-the-drawer-but-not-dirty-enough-to-wash. So my room has a more cozy, comforting feel to it. Those of you who have seen my room back home know I like to stuff it full of stuff. I don't like empty rooms, my rooms have character. :p
Putting together the Ikea stuff was a total pain, and I have bruises and bleeding fingers to prove it. The worst was the coat rack, where you had to manouvre three pieces along with the main piece, a screwdriver and a screw all at the same time. Now THAT required som creative thinking. As soon as I thought of it as a puzzle, rather than a task, it became easy.
Anyway, now I'm just staring at my flat screen, sitting in my new fakeleather chair, and trying to figure out how I'm gonna force myself to start doing some work. I really have to, am behind in the research, and I need to start writing an article for Tölvumál about our Query-by-Humming thing.
This is me closing my eyes, waiting for it all to go away.
X-|
Damn, didn't work.
I went with Þóra to Ikea yesterday (bandaríkjamenn segja ækía) and got a new, big, fake leather desk chair, with support for my back and a softer seat for my butt. I also got a little night table beside my bed with a little drawer and stuff. Beside that I put a comfy (but not too comfy, don't wanna fall asleep) chair and made a little reading corner. Finally, behind my door I put a coat rack for my clothes-that-are-too-dirty-to-put-back-in-the-drawer-but-not-dirty-enough-to-wash. So my room has a more cozy, comforting feel to it. Those of you who have seen my room back home know I like to stuff it full of stuff. I don't like empty rooms, my rooms have character. :p
Putting together the Ikea stuff was a total pain, and I have bruises and bleeding fingers to prove it. The worst was the coat rack, where you had to manouvre three pieces along with the main piece, a screwdriver and a screw all at the same time. Now THAT required som creative thinking. As soon as I thought of it as a puzzle, rather than a task, it became easy.
Anyway, now I'm just staring at my flat screen, sitting in my new fakeleather chair, and trying to figure out how I'm gonna force myself to start doing some work. I really have to, am behind in the research, and I need to start writing an article for Tölvumál about our Query-by-Humming thing.
This is me closing my eyes, waiting for it all to go away.
X-|
Damn, didn't work.
laugardagur, mars 06, 2004
I was speaking to Úlfur the other day about the future of working as a programmer. Basically, everybody starts out as a code monkey. So the usual way of thinking about a career is that you should slowly but surely rise in the ranks, correct? Well, that's not what happens in the computer industry. You're kept as a code monkey, overworked until you burn out and leave, so the management gorillas can stay in their position without the chance of some upstart monkey thinking you can manage things. So I guess there are a couple of options (similar to my last post because there are a lot of the same things roaming around in my brain these days).
1. Deal with it. Then get over it.
2. Learn to be a management type. Not for me.
3. Use the "monkey-days" as a period of making money to be able to do something else. I've been thinking a lot about this lately. I think I'm a pretty good writer and with some hard work and a little bit of luck I could possibly refine my writing to the point that I could get something published. So if I went ahead and got a job, apartment, the works, got all set up, and used my free time to write like mad, maybe I could use the coding job as just something to get by. I could set my goal to become a self-sufficient novelist within 10 years or something. Or maybe not a novelist, maybe something else to do with writing, like philosophy, or graphic novels, or sumthin, possibly even music (although I think that is far-fetched).
The more I think of this, the more appealing it sounds. Anyway...not making any decisions just yet. I think I'll probably try to fix up my short story and try to submit it to a couple of magazines, just to see what kind of responses I get.
1. Deal with it. Then get over it.
2. Learn to be a management type. Not for me.
3. Use the "monkey-days" as a period of making money to be able to do something else. I've been thinking a lot about this lately. I think I'm a pretty good writer and with some hard work and a little bit of luck I could possibly refine my writing to the point that I could get something published. So if I went ahead and got a job, apartment, the works, got all set up, and used my free time to write like mad, maybe I could use the coding job as just something to get by. I could set my goal to become a self-sufficient novelist within 10 years or something. Or maybe not a novelist, maybe something else to do with writing, like philosophy, or graphic novels, or sumthin, possibly even music (although I think that is far-fetched).
The more I think of this, the more appealing it sounds. Anyway...not making any decisions just yet. I think I'll probably try to fix up my short story and try to submit it to a couple of magazines, just to see what kind of responses I get.
föstudagur, mars 05, 2004
Boyohboy, lots of things going through my head these past few days. Only just now beginning to...well, not clear up...coagulate?
Here's the deal.
The stuff I'm doing in my research fascinates me, and everything I'm reading around it also, like the books mamma keeps sending me (Keep 'em coming! :)). The classes are not that hard, only time consuming. Especially the graphics one, brushing up on my stupid OpenGL skills, never thought I'd have to program in OpenGL again. Doesn't matter, I'm not really having a problem with either class. However, for one reason or another, I'm not enjoying myself. And I still haven't identified the reason why. Here are a couple of candidates:
1. I think a lot about my future and what my life would be like if I decided to become X. This led directly to me not pursuing a career in music because, as you guys know, I'm not the competitive type and that rules out becoming a soloist or rooting for a tenure position in an orchestra. On the other hand I could have become a music teacher and attempted to compose in my free time. This did not seem like an attractive prospect at the time, I had not enjoyed teaching music and didn't feel like having that kind of haphazard life to look forward to. So I went to computers. Now, as I look forward, I think, "What will I do with a PhD?" I could build up a career in academia, work towards getting tenure at some university, do research, apply for grants, write papers. For some reason, this does not appeal to me. Not in the slightest. On the other hand I could go into the industry. This is something that I have been afraid of ever since I realized that the computer industry is basically made up of programming monkeys. You're a monkey and you have a boss gorilla who is a management type who knows a little programming. You'll always be the monkey and you'll always be underappreciated and overworked, unless you land that dream job where they realize that programmers can only work at peak for about 5 hours a day. Any longer than that and they will burn out. Another think I really want in a future job is the possibility of coming home and totally removing myself from the job, that is not bringing the job home. Working in a field where I would be doing ongoing research seems to me like the perfect job to occupy my obsessive mind 24/7. And I definitely want time to play and take care of my hobbies. So I've been thinking that maybe I shouldn't go for the PhD. Maybe I'll just say goodbye after getting my masters. Maybe I'll just say goodbye right now.
2. I don't have enough social contact. Maybe all my doubts are created by me being in some strange state of mind brought on by my (self-afflicted?)isolation. Maybe if I were in my right mind, I would LOVE it here. Mamma keeps telling me that I flourish around people, and I think I tell myself that as well. However, I have never felt any need to actively try to attract people to me. The first day at school, I'm not the one going around and introducing myself to everybody. I'm the guy going about his business but without putting up a "social wall". The whole social thing out here is difficult for me because I don't feel comfortable around people here because I don't know and understand all the social niceties, which makes me want to be around them less which makes it more difficult for me to learn and to finally BE comfortable. Vicious circle. I'm pretty sure it'll break by itself as long as I keep going to class and get involved a little more in the music. Mamma had a great idea. I should just print out an advertisement and hang it up in the music center. "Trumpet player seeks gigs." Which brings me to point 3.
3. Maybe I'm studying the wrong thing. Maybe I should be in music. I haven't been playing much these past few months, but recently, I've been practicing every day, listening to Mahler, Tchaik, Verdi, and Berlioz, and pining for the "good 'ol days" in Tónó, thinking how much I would enjoy spending my days doing nothing but practicing, playing, listening to and analysing music and writing music. Now if I could make that into a career and get someone to completely take care of finances for me, I'd probably be happy for the rest of my life (don't you make a pretty woman your wife, trallalla). The other thing I have thought about doing is writing, either novels or screenwriting.
I am pretty sure that my positioning in the world has nothing to do with what I'm thinking. I've really gotten used to living here, physically. I noticed it while I was out walking today, the surroundings are familiar and I don't feel like an outsider. I just think that I'm laking inspiriation, motivation, a muse, whatever you want to call it. I have so many things I want to tell people, so many things that go through my brain, and leave right away. I need someone around to tell these things to, insignificant as they are. If I'm home, and certain people are on MSN, I tell them, and I get an "amm", or a "heh" response. Sometimes I manage to grasp them into in depth conversations. But I miss being able to go upstairs, taking a break from reading or programming or whatnot, and just spilling my mind out at Mamma and Pabbi. Usually those things end up talking about this or that issue, sometimes politics, sometimes morales. And most of the time, those discussions would end with one or more person getting annoyed and leaving. But I think those discussions were really important to my mental well being. I have so many things going on in my brain at any one time (you realize that every second of the day I have a tune running through my brain, incessantly? Not always the same one, but always some tune), that being able to sort of corporealize my thoughts gave my brain a little respite from thinking. Make sense? I think that if I had someone like that around, and if I had a concrete reason for completing my PhD, then I would feel completely at ease. If I knew for example that I had a job lined up with a think tank at Rare or Microsoft after I completed, I would be working my ass off to make sure they really wanted me. But since my future is this amorphous blob, I guess my subconscious doesn't see the point and my OCD personality takes over and says "Freysi, you need to watch all the TV-shows in the world. Then you'll feel better." I'm actually thinking about creating a database about beer and rating different brands, cold and warm.
Anyway, like I told mamma last time I spoke with her, if it weren't so much of a hassle, and if I would really listen to my impulsive self, I would drop everything right now, go back home, take Svanur and Úlfur, go somewhere into the countryside for a month and brainstorm and create a movie script or two and try to sell it. Or get Svanur, Úlfur, Bóbó, Börkur and some management types together to find some niche in the computer industry a fledgeling company could capitalize on and go for it. Anything other than doing what I'm doing now.
The sad thing is, you know what the strongest reason I could find for wanting to stay in the states? (apart from having the chance to get to know the long lost side of my family of course ;))
The internet dowload here is free.
Here's the deal.
The stuff I'm doing in my research fascinates me, and everything I'm reading around it also, like the books mamma keeps sending me (Keep 'em coming! :)). The classes are not that hard, only time consuming. Especially the graphics one, brushing up on my stupid OpenGL skills, never thought I'd have to program in OpenGL again. Doesn't matter, I'm not really having a problem with either class. However, for one reason or another, I'm not enjoying myself. And I still haven't identified the reason why. Here are a couple of candidates:
1. I think a lot about my future and what my life would be like if I decided to become X. This led directly to me not pursuing a career in music because, as you guys know, I'm not the competitive type and that rules out becoming a soloist or rooting for a tenure position in an orchestra. On the other hand I could have become a music teacher and attempted to compose in my free time. This did not seem like an attractive prospect at the time, I had not enjoyed teaching music and didn't feel like having that kind of haphazard life to look forward to. So I went to computers. Now, as I look forward, I think, "What will I do with a PhD?" I could build up a career in academia, work towards getting tenure at some university, do research, apply for grants, write papers. For some reason, this does not appeal to me. Not in the slightest. On the other hand I could go into the industry. This is something that I have been afraid of ever since I realized that the computer industry is basically made up of programming monkeys. You're a monkey and you have a boss gorilla who is a management type who knows a little programming. You'll always be the monkey and you'll always be underappreciated and overworked, unless you land that dream job where they realize that programmers can only work at peak for about 5 hours a day. Any longer than that and they will burn out. Another think I really want in a future job is the possibility of coming home and totally removing myself from the job, that is not bringing the job home. Working in a field where I would be doing ongoing research seems to me like the perfect job to occupy my obsessive mind 24/7. And I definitely want time to play and take care of my hobbies. So I've been thinking that maybe I shouldn't go for the PhD. Maybe I'll just say goodbye after getting my masters. Maybe I'll just say goodbye right now.
2. I don't have enough social contact. Maybe all my doubts are created by me being in some strange state of mind brought on by my (self-afflicted?)isolation. Maybe if I were in my right mind, I would LOVE it here. Mamma keeps telling me that I flourish around people, and I think I tell myself that as well. However, I have never felt any need to actively try to attract people to me. The first day at school, I'm not the one going around and introducing myself to everybody. I'm the guy going about his business but without putting up a "social wall". The whole social thing out here is difficult for me because I don't feel comfortable around people here because I don't know and understand all the social niceties, which makes me want to be around them less which makes it more difficult for me to learn and to finally BE comfortable. Vicious circle. I'm pretty sure it'll break by itself as long as I keep going to class and get involved a little more in the music. Mamma had a great idea. I should just print out an advertisement and hang it up in the music center. "Trumpet player seeks gigs." Which brings me to point 3.
3. Maybe I'm studying the wrong thing. Maybe I should be in music. I haven't been playing much these past few months, but recently, I've been practicing every day, listening to Mahler, Tchaik, Verdi, and Berlioz, and pining for the "good 'ol days" in Tónó, thinking how much I would enjoy spending my days doing nothing but practicing, playing, listening to and analysing music and writing music. Now if I could make that into a career and get someone to completely take care of finances for me, I'd probably be happy for the rest of my life (don't you make a pretty woman your wife, trallalla). The other thing I have thought about doing is writing, either novels or screenwriting.
I am pretty sure that my positioning in the world has nothing to do with what I'm thinking. I've really gotten used to living here, physically. I noticed it while I was out walking today, the surroundings are familiar and I don't feel like an outsider. I just think that I'm laking inspiriation, motivation, a muse, whatever you want to call it. I have so many things I want to tell people, so many things that go through my brain, and leave right away. I need someone around to tell these things to, insignificant as they are. If I'm home, and certain people are on MSN, I tell them, and I get an "amm", or a "heh" response. Sometimes I manage to grasp them into in depth conversations. But I miss being able to go upstairs, taking a break from reading or programming or whatnot, and just spilling my mind out at Mamma and Pabbi. Usually those things end up talking about this or that issue, sometimes politics, sometimes morales. And most of the time, those discussions would end with one or more person getting annoyed and leaving. But I think those discussions were really important to my mental well being. I have so many things going on in my brain at any one time (you realize that every second of the day I have a tune running through my brain, incessantly? Not always the same one, but always some tune), that being able to sort of corporealize my thoughts gave my brain a little respite from thinking. Make sense? I think that if I had someone like that around, and if I had a concrete reason for completing my PhD, then I would feel completely at ease. If I knew for example that I had a job lined up with a think tank at Rare or Microsoft after I completed, I would be working my ass off to make sure they really wanted me. But since my future is this amorphous blob, I guess my subconscious doesn't see the point and my OCD personality takes over and says "Freysi, you need to watch all the TV-shows in the world. Then you'll feel better." I'm actually thinking about creating a database about beer and rating different brands, cold and warm.
Anyway, like I told mamma last time I spoke with her, if it weren't so much of a hassle, and if I would really listen to my impulsive self, I would drop everything right now, go back home, take Svanur and Úlfur, go somewhere into the countryside for a month and brainstorm and create a movie script or two and try to sell it. Or get Svanur, Úlfur, Bóbó, Börkur and some management types together to find some niche in the computer industry a fledgeling company could capitalize on and go for it. Anything other than doing what I'm doing now.
The sad thing is, you know what the strongest reason I could find for wanting to stay in the states? (apart from having the chance to get to know the long lost side of my family of course ;))
The internet dowload here is free.
þriðjudagur, mars 02, 2004
Oh yeah, couple of things I forgot.
I actually did blow up an egg by overboiling it, I think some people thought I was joking.
I am continuing to write what I started and will periodically post what I have written.
I have broken the 10000 visit barrier :D
I actually did blow up an egg by overboiling it, I think some people thought I was joking.
I am continuing to write what I started and will periodically post what I have written.
I have broken the 10000 visit barrier :D
So Vegeta has been complaining that I don't blog enough. Or rather, not enough about stuff like I used to, stories about other people being annoying or funny. Well, that' because the past coupla months have been pretty boring. Just research and hang around in front of my computer. I could have blogged about what I was downloading. Today I downloaded the first 14 episodes of Inuyasha. Woot! But that's nothing compared to the day before when I managed to download the whole Cowboy Bebop series. Don't fall off your seats folks.
So anyway, today seemed like it would turn out just like any other, woke up pretty early (am turning my sleep cycle around, the wrong way), started to do some programming, not working, drink some coke (my coke drinking skill has gone up .3 points since last week), curse about stupid OpenGL, bang my head against the keyboard (Head...hit...keyboard), but Ulk about helping me with OpenGL(thanks Ulk, you were very patient with stupid ole me) and finally managing to solve the problem plagueing me since monday morning. After that went to class (computer graphics) where the teacher showed this aMAZing video, you guys have to see it. It's only 30 MB, shouldn't be too long of a download. But this teacher...he's a funny guy. He's this rotund little Indian who's always smiling, you know that kind of smile that a really good looking person has, almost smug. Needless to say, he's not that appealing, and he does this same thing that all of the professors have done while speaking to me, there's a sort of pause after I ask or say something, as if I said someting immeasurably stupid and they're trying not to be rude. Kind of interesting...wondering whether that's an american thing.
Speaking of American (yukyuk), I totally went overboard this morning. Had a wonderbread sandwich, with American pasteurized cheese and some round flat thing that professed to be a slice of turkey, along with a squirt of American mustard. This I ate with a tall glass of mountain dew Code Red (cherry flavored), and afterwards I broke out into song "Oh-ho say can you seeeee".
:p
Anyway...on the way home from school I stopped by at Burger King for the second time since I moved here. (Really!) And funny thing, there was only one other guy there, and it was the same one guy who was there the last time! Doodoodoodoo (twilight zone). I sat there eating (he even sat in the same place), watching this guy, wondering who he was and such. And then he makes a phone call. Blablabla, I won't be home until later...and then the kicker "yeah, I got caught up at work, gonna have to work late." Strange, since your sitting at burger king dude. Then he hangs up and makes another call, this one more discreet, I couldn't hear everything, but it was clear he was talking to a woman (guys speak differently on the phone to girls, it's true). I caught things like "...yeah I'll be there soon...", "...my wife..."
I think I just witnessed someone having an affair :) hehe.
Tonight was the concert with UMRO. Went fine, although there wasn't really that much pressure on me. We played Smetana, Moldva; Johann Strauss, Die Fliedermaus; and Bizet, L'Arlésienne. There was a girl playing second trumpet. Poor girl, around 18 years old, with huge skin problems. Would otherwise be moderately cute. But a pretty good trumpet player nonetheless. Anyway, that was fun and there's gonna be another concert, I'm guessing in May.
Grabbed a six-pack of Heine on the way home, and am sitting here, blogging and tossing one back. Ahh, forgot how good Heine is.
Skál!
So anyway, today seemed like it would turn out just like any other, woke up pretty early (am turning my sleep cycle around, the wrong way), started to do some programming, not working, drink some coke (my coke drinking skill has gone up .3 points since last week), curse about stupid OpenGL, bang my head against the keyboard (Head...hit...keyboard), but Ulk about helping me with OpenGL(thanks Ulk, you were very patient with stupid ole me) and finally managing to solve the problem plagueing me since monday morning. After that went to class (computer graphics) where the teacher showed this aMAZing video, you guys have to see it. It's only 30 MB, shouldn't be too long of a download. But this teacher...he's a funny guy. He's this rotund little Indian who's always smiling, you know that kind of smile that a really good looking person has, almost smug. Needless to say, he's not that appealing, and he does this same thing that all of the professors have done while speaking to me, there's a sort of pause after I ask or say something, as if I said someting immeasurably stupid and they're trying not to be rude. Kind of interesting...wondering whether that's an american thing.
Speaking of American (yukyuk), I totally went overboard this morning. Had a wonderbread sandwich, with American pasteurized cheese and some round flat thing that professed to be a slice of turkey, along with a squirt of American mustard. This I ate with a tall glass of mountain dew Code Red (cherry flavored), and afterwards I broke out into song "Oh-ho say can you seeeee".
:p
Anyway...on the way home from school I stopped by at Burger King for the second time since I moved here. (Really!) And funny thing, there was only one other guy there, and it was the same one guy who was there the last time! Doodoodoodoo (twilight zone). I sat there eating (he even sat in the same place), watching this guy, wondering who he was and such. And then he makes a phone call. Blablabla, I won't be home until later...and then the kicker "yeah, I got caught up at work, gonna have to work late." Strange, since your sitting at burger king dude. Then he hangs up and makes another call, this one more discreet, I couldn't hear everything, but it was clear he was talking to a woman (guys speak differently on the phone to girls, it's true). I caught things like "...yeah I'll be there soon...", "...my wife..."
I think I just witnessed someone having an affair :) hehe.
Tonight was the concert with UMRO. Went fine, although there wasn't really that much pressure on me. We played Smetana, Moldva; Johann Strauss, Die Fliedermaus; and Bizet, L'Arlésienne. There was a girl playing second trumpet. Poor girl, around 18 years old, with huge skin problems. Would otherwise be moderately cute. But a pretty good trumpet player nonetheless. Anyway, that was fun and there's gonna be another concert, I'm guessing in May.
Grabbed a six-pack of Heine on the way home, and am sitting here, blogging and tossing one back. Ahh, forgot how good Heine is.
Skál!
