Sunday, January 25, 2004

Moneyball?

I've been reading a very interesting book lately: Moneyball by Michael Lewis. This controversial book is about how manager Billy Beane and the Oakland A's have reformed themselves into a ridiculously successful baseball team utilizing sabermetrics, a statistical method of objectively looking at baseball. I suggest reading this article for background information, then you should go buy the book. Enjoy...

Thursday, January 15, 2004

Windows Haiku

Many of you have seen this, but I thought it amusing enough for the second time to be worth posting...

Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
-- Peter Rothman
***
A file that big?
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
-- David J. Liszewski
***
The Web site you seek
Can not be located but
Countless more exist.
-- Joy Rothke
***
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
-- Suzie Wagner
***
ABORTED effort:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask way too much.
-- Mike Hagler
***
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
-- Margaret Segall
***
First snow, then silence.
This thousand dollar screen dies
So beautifully.
-- Simon Furth
***
With searching comes loss
And the presence of absence:
"My Novel" not found.
-- Howard Korder
***
The Tao that is seen
Is not the true Tao, until
You bring fresh toner.
-- Bill Torcaso
***
Stay the patient course
Of little worth is your ire
The network is down
-- David Ansel
***
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
-- James Lopez
***
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
-- David Dixon
***
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
-- Cass Whittington
***
Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.
-- Frances Heaney
***
Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.
-- Judy Birmingham
***
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
-- Ian Hughes
***
Sensitive and soft,
You press one small wrong button,
Things go up in flames.
-- Jaired Hall, my roommate, spontaneously creative...
***
Is your RAM lacking?
Buy another stick, but still
It is not enough.
-- Norman Horn

Why am I still here?
Ah the joy of computers...
Now I sleep with peace...

Sunday, January 11, 2004

Best and Worst of 2003

Since this is my first post of 2004, I thought it would be nice to review the past year and tell you about my personal favorite things of 2003. Now, don’t expect an unbiased report here, these things are what I enjoyed about the past year.

Movie – The best movie must go to, you guessed it, The Return of the King, hands down. Certainly the Lord of the Rings series is the film epic of our time, surpassing all my expectations. Worst movie has to be The Matrix Reloaded. If you’ve seen it you know why.

Book – This one is tough, but for non-fiction I think it has to go The Grace of God and the Will of Man, edited by Clark Pinnock. It will change your outlook on life. C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy receives the best for fiction. Lewis writes gripping stories with impeccable style, so if you haven’t read this yet, you should. Worst book goes to my textbook for my Chemical Kinetics lab. It certainly is the most pathetic excuse for a textbook I have ever seen. Blech.

Music – For the solo category, I have to pick Classical Cool by Bill Kanengiser. This incredible CD is a monument of contemporary guitar music, a fantastic recording. For the group category, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet wins it with their latest work, Latin. LAGQ is the premiere guitar group in the world, and this album displays exactly why.

Government/Politics – Americans for a Free Republic easily takes the award for best government/politics in 2003. Reminding us that sound economic policy and small federal government is the foundation of a free nation, I eagerly await the day that their ideas will come to fruition in the USA. Worst goes to Federal Government Bloatation, which will probably get the award every year until AFR gets people in office!

Professor/Class – Starting with the worst prof of 2003… Dr. T[edit]! Thank you so much, I learned NOTHING. Best prof goes to Dr. Sitton for being such a good teacher and friend. The worst class award goes to Intermediate Quantitative Analysis Lab, because those TA’s were just ridiculous. Sitton’s Separations class gets best class for the year.

Game – Settlers of Catan, that wonderful game we love to play so very much, easily gets best board game of the year. Jedi Academy receives my favorite computer game of the year. Any game that allows you to play with double-bladed lightsabers has to be awesome.

Events – Gencon was far too much fun to not mention it as some of the most fun I had all year. Other events include skiing in Wausau, Wisconsin, moving to Kansas City and working for Honeywell, getting an apartment at UMR, and winning fourth place in our undergraduate research competition (only chemist to win!).

Person – Would a best and worst of 2003 list be complete without a PERSON of the year? Of course not… This year I have to give the award to Kirk Hanser, my guitar teacher, for being one of the greatest friends I have. I am so thankful for every opportunity I have to learn from him.