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Ahhhh, Career Showcase. The most stressful and busy week of the year.
They split it up this semester into Tech and Non-tech days, so today was spent trying to hit about 20 different companies that had anything remotely to do with computer hardware programming or design. And of course collecting lots of free swag (highlights include a frisbee, calculator, cookies, a hat, and a shirt). It went pretty well overall, and the main companies that I'm interested in all seemed optimistic (ie they actually take lengthy notes on your resume. If you get the "apply online" line then they're not interested), so hopefully I'll get another cool, fun, interesting, and very well paying, internship this summer. I'm also going to be getting free pizza for dinner 3 nights in a row, which almost makes up for how much work this week is.
Everything you ever wanted to know about widescreen versus fullscreen.
Behold the 1 and a half pound Wendy's hamburger. Yep, 6 patties of beef. Mmmmm cow.
What happened to my carefree homework-less lifestyle? Suddenly this week everyone decides that it's a good time to assign homework, and I end up with a project due Thursday, and two homework's due Wednesday. I'm one who never lets class get in the way of college though, so it just means I'm going to have to do some creative time management... as usual. Homework at 3 in the morning... awwwww yeah! It also means that I update my website, as of course I don't do it when I have nothing going on, but wait until I really ought to be doing other things instead.
It's been an incredibly busy few days, very little of that to do with schoolwork however. I've gone to three 21st birthday parties in the last week, including this one where you'd never guess that room was so dark that you could hardly see anything. It's also why the photo's not centered since before the flash goes off it's impossible to tell where you're shooting at. Actually I could blame it on artistic license, which sounds so much cooler. I'm sure the waitress meant for it to be out of focus and halfway cutting off the birthday-girl because it added dramatic flair to the photo. Yes, that explains it.
At one of my other friend's parties they had peanut butter pie. Yes, that's right, pie made out of peanut butter!!!! (four !'s so you know it's got to be good). Is there nothing that peanut butter can't do?
I also saw Riverdance on Saturday which I really liked. To begin with I didn't realize it was possible for a human to make their foot move that fast, and more importantly, I didn't know a foot could physically endure moving that fast and not explode or something. I wonder how well they do at DDR...
Speaking of which, my roommate threw a party at our apartment Friday. Not a big one, but it was fun, and involved a bunch of DDR. I'm surprised how timid so many people are at even playing it at home. I can understand not wanting to try it for the first time in an arcade, but just playing in front of friends would seem to be a lot easier. I also learned long ago to let all the new people play first no matter what, as after I (or anyone pretty good) play, then it's next to impossible to get a newbie to try it since they're so intimidated. I've always thought of myself as somewhat shy, but I guess it is somewhat telling that I had absolutly no qualms about playing in an arcade in front of dozens of people when I first started. I hardly play at all anymore (I broke a pad in September and still haven't replaced it, so I just have one working one) but the new eye-toy version is pretty cool.
Qualms is a fun word.
I also of course watched the Decent, er uh, Superbowl, mainly for the commercials which weren't that great this year. I did like the cat one where it looked like he murdered it. I have no idea what company it was for though, so not sure how good of an ad it really was. I miss the dotcom bowl, THOSE were good commercials. One of my favorites was for ETrade.com where they had an old guy and a monkey dancing. And at the end they have on the screen ?We just wasted two million dollars. What are you doing with your money??
The Hubble is coming back down due to budget cuts. Or as seen on Fark: "There once was a spacecraft named Hubble, whose finances fell into trouble. When its budget runs dry, it will fall from the sky and break up into nothing but rubble." It's produced some absolutly amazing pictures in it's 15 year life span, and hopefully a new space telescope can be put up again one day.
Finally, speaking of amazing pictures, here's what snowflakes look like close-up.
And because I forgot to upload it, here's the February 1st update.
Happy Valentine's Day!
As is tradition, it's the annual ValDay update full ranting, raving, and general nonsense. See the 2002, 2003, and 2004 versions for even more fun!
If you're like me and do not have that more-important-than-most person to share today with, it's not your fault. It has now been mathematically proved why I'm single every year. Stastically I would have to meet a new girl every week for 67 years until I found a girl that I liked and liked me back. Or perhaps my single status has more to do with the fact that I'm writing about dating in terms of mathematical probabilities and being somewhat serious about it. Nah, I like the math theory better.
If that's not enough math for you, Salon interviewed the author of a book about Mathematics and Sex. According to the book, statistically, you should date 12 people seriously and then pick the next best person that comes along (be it #13 or #40) in order to have the best chance at happiness.
But wait, there's more! Googling for the Romeo and Juliet equation,, which is the idea that people like people who aren't interested in them, there are whole webpages explaining the differential equations of love (now isn't THAT a romantic slogan? "Differential equations of love". It's catchy). From homework problems to power point presentations, someone spent WAY too much time on this.
And if that all wasn't nerdy enough for you, how about this amazing love poem that you can get on a tshirt:
roses are #FF0000
violets are #0000FF
all my base
are belong to you
This has also been the first year where my friends have started getting engaged. And it seems to be snowballing, as now it seems like a fair amount of people I know are either engaged or heavily planning on marriage. I suppose it's about that age when it starts happening (my parents were married around my age) but it just doesn't seem that long ago that marriage seemed so far away. It's just another one of those "Geez I'm getting old" things. I'm nowhere close to the marriage club, but I figure it'll happen for me eventually. Or by the age of 25 (Note: Recently was pushed down to 24), which is the age when I've been told by several girls I'd have to marry them if neither of us had married by then. Also at ages 27, 28, and 30. You know you are. :)
And I believe in marriage for all people. More love in the world is never a bad thing.
I couldn't possibly let a Valentine's update go by without at least mentioning the most emo-riffic website out there, "I just want to be friends". Which is the likely response should you take the advice of a college columnist writing an impassioned essay to tell that special person how you feel. I only say it's unlikely to work out as if you spend that much time with a person and can't tell if they like you, then as a general rule they don't. But then sometimes it does have a happy ending, in which case the Internet can come through once again and tell you how to ask someone out. And you can find that person over the Internet as well, though as a famous quote goes about online dating, "The odds are good... but the goods are odd"
Also there's the annual article about why nice guys are kickin rad and yet still don't get women. Which isn't because women hate nice guys, quite the opposite, it's just non-nice guys have other things going for them that overcome the non-niceness, while the "nice guys" just have that going for them and nothing else. What women really want is guys with skills... like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... or perhaps just cookie making from scratch skills. Those are for an organization to help raise some money and help make Valentine's Day a little tastier for people who don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend to buy them things.
I also spent WAY too much time writing this Gaim script for AIM that keeps track of people who want to be my Valentine or not. Incredibly cheesy... yes. But it's sorta cool, and people so far have gotten a kick out of it. It takes a "Yes!" or "No!" answer and displays the aliased name with a message. Pretty neat no?
And that's the end of this years super long update. I myself have a hot date tonight with my Number Theory textbook since I have a huge test in there tomorrow. I am going to see Breakfast at Tiffany's though on campus with some friends, since I like the movie and Audrey Hepburn is awesome.
Valentine's was one of the best I've had yet, even if I was single. I started off the day by handing out free cookies and free hugs as part of a student group I'm in, to try and make single people's day a little brighter. Then my professor gave out jolly ranchers in my number theory class, and then I got a bunch of giant heart shaped cookies from Gator D which they make every Valentine's Day. Then a friend came over to eat some more cookies and hang out. Then I saw Breakfast at Tiffany's with my two best friends and a few other friends, and had some free muffins and bagels ("Breakfast" at Tiffany's. Hooray for student activities fees).
100 ways to order a pizza. Pizza: The world's most perfect food.
Here's a really interesting article on autistic savants and one of them who can describe how he can multiply huge numbers together in an instant, or recall pi to 22,514 decimal places. All by seeing numbers as shapes or colors instead of just "numbers". Math without having to think, now that's something that would be cool to have.
Sometimes you just really wonder about people.
When I read these stories about modern medicine being able to save babies born 13 weeks premature, I really have to ask how abortion advocates can still justify it being "only a blob". It just doesn't add up quite right.
The last week or so has been incredibly busy (as shown by lack of updates) but also really fun. I spend more time on campus than I do in my apartment, but at least it's not always doing homework or going to class.
Firstly, I finally have my (incredibly early) spring break plans finalized, a whole 3 days before it starts. I'm driving with a friend and going to New Orleans for a few days. I've been there once, for a night, on the way to Florida, but now I get to really act like a tourist. Not really going for the partying aspect (especially since my friend is under 21, and I hardly ever drink anyways) but because there's so much historical, musical, and cultural stuff there. And I have no idea how people could have lived before the Internet, as I can't even begin to imagine the process of finding a great, cheap hotel room without internet search engines. Not to mention being able to read reviews so you know what you're getting before you even get there. We found a really cheap, yet nice and in a great location, hotel room, and are now looking up all the places we want to see and check out. It should be a blast, and expect a huge picture update once I get back. Also I'll be camping out for the UF-Kentucky basketball game, which maybe, hopefully, PLEASE DEAR GOD, let us win one game against Kentucky as they've lost every time we've played them while I've been at UF.
Secondly, I also have my summer plans finalized... I'm going to be a summer intern working for Intel in Portland, Oregon. I got the final official offer a few days ago, and accepted, so I'll be heading up there in mid May for about 3 months. And the pay is fantastic, which is a nice side benefit of being able to do what I love doing. College education pays off, who would have thunk it? Then I start grad school in the fall, though I still don't know where.
Being cold all the time in Alaska must get a little boring, so why not build your own 136 foot tall Ice Mountain? Using pipes and spraying out water, these guys made their own ice wall to climb and just plain look cool.
And if anyone knows cool, it's people who created a Mario Bros mural out of post it notes. Unfortunatly it got taken down almost immediately, but it's still a really cool accomplishment.
Remember Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years? Well she went and got a BS in Mathematics and will now answer math questions emailed to her on her website. How awesome is that? She's also got a part on the West Wing, which I don't watch nearly as often as I should, but it's nice to see a smart girl doing cool things.
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