A Masked Rider

Love and hate...

2006-04-26T18:36:00.000-04:00

I hate you.

But me, me I love

Haha!

Remember remember...

2006-03-19T08:54:00.001-05:00

I watched 'V for Vendetta' [wikipedia] this weekend and, damn, it's good. This has to be one of the agnriest movies I've seen in a while. It has mixed, albeit generally positive, reviews [rotten tomotoes, metacritic] but it's one of those love-it-or-hate-it types. You're not going to leave with neutral feelings.

Critics complain that Hugo Weaving was wasted behind the mask, but I think he was awesome in conveying a lot through just body language and vocal tone.

The Wachowski brothers clearly have an Indian rave fetish. Here's the audio clip from the end credits.

"Remember, remember, the 5th of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot;

I know of no reason, why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot."

Google + Robin Williams = Groobilliams

2006-02-25T15:22:00.000-05:00

Robin Williams is hy-larious. Quote from his recent appearance at the Google keynote:

"We have an English to English translation (service) for the President that is working very well."

That's brilliant, having RW lighten up the proceedings.

Ah. Whiskey. Whisky.

2006-01-08T23:54:00.000-05:00

If you're drinking American or Irish, you say Whiskey. Otherwise, you say Whisky.

From wikipedia:

The famous historian and chronicler Raphaël Holinshed wrote ... in the 16th century: "Being moderately taken, it slows the age, it cuts phlegm, it lightens the mind, it quickens the spirit, it cures the dropsy, it heals the strangulation, it pounces the stone, its repels gravel, it pulls away ventositie, it keeps and preserves the head from whirling, the eyes from dazzling, the tongue from lisping, the mouth from snuffling, the teeth from chattering, the throat from rattling, the weasan from stiffing, the stomach from womblying, the heart from swelling, the belly from wincing, the guts from rumbling, the hands from shivering, the sinews from shrinking, the veins from crumpling, the bones from aching, the marrow from soaking, and truly it is a sovereign liquor if it be orderly taken."

I don't know. My head certainly whirls and my eyes do, on occasion, dazzle. But yes, it is truly a 'sovereign liquor'.

The other day Josh and I opened a bottle (a tiny bottle) of Dalwhinnie. The bottle said it was aged 15 years (in a wooden barrel). I've aged it for another three years in its glass bottle (which doesn't count for anything. Who cares).

Goodbye 15-year Scotch.

Gmap Pedometer

2006-01-08T21:48:00.000-05:00

I just found out about this online pedometer thing that uses google maps to help you chart out a running route. It's great. Now you don't need to drive around calculating distances everytime you want to map a new route.

Here's my current one. It feels way longer than 5 miles. But there you have it. Of course, there's that absolutely crazy hill going up the University hospital, but still. Oh well. I probably don't have it in me to do more than 5 miles anyway.

If you're ****y and you know it ...

2005-12-27T17:00:00.000-05:00

My friend L is a generally happy person. I've decided to let some of that rub off on me . Not that I'm sad. When I'm blue, I try to be some other color. Lately, green seems to be doing the trick.

Tickles.

Love

2005-12-27T12:53:00.000-05:00

I love Ubuntu. It's perfect. Right out of the proverbial box.

Who is the Masked Rider - mystery revealed

2005-12-17T11:23:00.000-05:00

While I'm sure all have wondered, none have asked me where the name for this web-log comes from. It was inspired by this book about a guy cycling through West Africa. Someday, I will too.

However, I'll start small and my plan is to bike through Napa valley next summer. I'm putting it up here so that in the likely situation of my laziness overcoming my zeal, the desire to avoid shame will keep me going.

Way too serious

2005-12-12T11:46:00.000-05:00

So the last few posts have been somewhat....serious. Arty. You know, like trying to be deep. That's not me. I don't try to be deep. I'm shallow and that's the way I like it.

Warning: These pictures are gruesome. View only if you have the stomach for it.

A few days ago, calamity struck us here at the ATL (advanced technology labs. That's right, advanced). As NG (name has been initialized to protect identity) put it, Lefty ~~Twoman~~ Tuman - famous foosball defender and cherished teammate - was the victim of homicide. Lefty will always be remembered for his ever smiling face . It must have hurt so much.

Left has since been glued back. But he's not the same. It's like a part of him is gone. Forever.

This is the Masked Rider with news from the front lines.

eye spy

2005-12-10T20:39:00.000-05:00

eye
Originally uploaded by vishal_g_soni.

whoa

bombay morning

2005-12-10T15:47:00.000-05:00

bombay morning
Originally uploaded by vishal_g_soni.

click here to see the rest of this collection.

I don't like hat flickr only lets you have one picture per blog post. Such are the trials of life.

w4

2005-12-09T11:53:00.000-05:00

w4
Originally uploaded by vishal_g_soni.

w5

2005-12-09T11:51:00.000-05:00

w5
Originally uploaded by vishal_g_soni.

Test

Random Funnies

2005-11-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

For your entertainment:
Relationship and relationship

Foggy Bottom

Take your huge ticket with you

And finally, Think

Afraid to go home

2005-10-27T10:42:00.000-04:00

You would be too, if your home looked like this. Untwist your neck with this.

Life risking reporter that I am, I couldn't brave myself to take pictures of the inside. It's dark. Very Very dark. With a capital 'K'. And 'A'. And 'R' and 'D'. So, very DARK.

(Seriously, mad props to Josh and Shelly for their decoration. It's because of you guys that I'm afraid to go downstairs at night. What better way to anticipate Halloween.)

Urban Vernacular

2005-10-09T14:23:00.000-04:00

I am now a contributor to Urban Dictionary for this

Losing

2005-09-26T21:55:00.000-04:00

I just want to say that losing at fooseball hurts. Especially because you lose the opportunity to trash talk your opponent(s). It's not painful that I was the recipient of much trash talk, but just that I couldn't engage in any myself.

Of course, I did try to embark on a verbal attack. That's, in itself, is a battle lost before it is begun. A loss within a loss.

I don't even play all that much foose. I fear today's loss is the start of a downfall. Where I once ruled, I now tumble towards bottom.

"Lucky there's a Family Guy"

2005-09-11T09:08:00.000-04:00

A couple of nights ago Meg proclaimed, over a few beers, that if she had some more to drink she could laugh like Peter Griffin. The evidence is suspect. But we'll grant her the laugh. It takes guts to be Peter Griffin, even when you're drinking.

Here is a picture of Meg trying to be Peter.

Here is a picture of Peter with Meg.

I couldn't resist.

A worthy pursuit

2005-06-05T09:51:00.000-04:00

the spelling bee is not. Before ranting, I'm not against spelling correctly, even if I suck at spelling myself.

So I'm sure all of you were glued to your television sets (or your computer) for the outcome of the national spelling bee. NYTimes has this article on how Indian parents are fanatic about the SB thing. Dang.

Excellence in a number of fields has always had a cultural tinge - consider the prevalence of Dominicans in baseball, Jews in violin playing, Kenyans in long-distance running. In 1985, when a 13-year-old son of Indian immigrants, Balu Natarajan, beat out his competitors by spelling "milieu," it had an electrifying impact on his countrymen, much as Juan Marichal's conquest of baseball had for Dominicans. Balu not only became an overnight Indian sensation, one whose name resonates 20 years later, but other Indian-Americans have tried to emulate his feat.

The first four finishers were all Indian. This gives me NO pride. In fact, it makes me want to stick my head in the ground. Sport, music, ...no...spelling. Yeah, that's so hot.

Sure there's that deep underlying issue of single-minded parents pushing their kids too hard, but all I care about is the superficial image this portrays of the Brown man.

By 1993, the North South Foundation, based outside of Chicago and devoted to making sure Indians here do as well in English as in math, set up a parallel universe of spelling bees.

Dude, why spelling? Seriously, I'll bet that kid pictured in the NYT article can't even throw a ball.

...Indians are comfortable with the rote-learning methods of their homeland, the kind needed to master lists of obscure words that easily stump spell-checker programs. They do not regard champion spellers as nerds.

Rote learning is so much fun. Please shoot me.

But overall, Mr. Natarajan said, the Indian record on spelling bees "gives the community quite a bit of confidence that we can do well here, much like other ethnicities pursuing the American dream."

Of course! Doesn't everyone dream of being able to spell chartreuse?

ugh

2005-06-02T16:42:00.000-04:00

It's allergy time. My eyes have never been itchier. This is probably my worst attack yet. I look like I have been up for days. And days.

Distressing health issues aside, here is some top quality entertainment. It's by someone I used to know back at CMU. More information is available at monzy.com. Some select lines:

"I'm an unsigned int, and you're an eight bit char"

"Your mom circulates like a public key"

"I control my flow better than TCP"

"There's so much drama in the PhD."

Son of Sin

2005-05-24T16:25:00.000-04:00

Your Deadly Sins

Lust: 80%

Envy: 20%

Gluttony: 0%

Greed: 0%

Pride: 0%

Sloth: 0%

Wrath: 0%

Chance You'll Go to Hell: 14%

You'll die of a yet to be discovered STD.

How Sinful Are You?

HO!

2005-05-24T15:37:00.000-04:00

People. I know it has been a long time. I had no material. But then, digging into the recesses of my memory, I remembered a harrowing incident I had during the presentation of the Smithee awards in Ann Arbor. These are given to TERRIBLE TERRIBLE movies. The word 'Smithee' comes from the fact that movie makers, out of embarrassment, often hide true identities behind 'Smithee'. Allen Smithee.

Anyway, I was very disturbed by the sizes of their pixie sticks (pic). I'll bet that little pixie feels really inadequate.

And speaking of feeling inadequate, how do you think this little bugger feels? Can you tell WTF that thing really is? A friend of mine, the one who introduced me to this sordid act of nature (yes, nature. Humans did not create this), explained to me that the thing is a ... giraffe!!

Frankly, it looks like a mule somewhere got jiggy with a zebra.

Goooooooooogle experiment

2005-04-21T13:05:00.000-04:00

David Wingate, discerning observer that he is, has for a long time questioned the telephone-number-like-qualities of the number of pages Google serves: 8,058,044,651
If you don't see what DW saw, allow me to restructure: (805) 804 - 4651.

You see it now, don't you. Not content with his discovery, DW dug deeper to find that the 805 area code belongs to Central Southern California. Google is housed out of Mountain view. Coincidence?

We barely managed to restrain our school-girl excitement as we dialed those numbers. I love you Google, we were each thinking. 8-0-4-4-6-5-1...

What happened next? Call and find out!

Papal perspective

2005-04-21T00:16:00.000-04:00

Alright, so I tried really hard to stay away from news on the Pope, the old one and now the new one, seeing that most news sources decided to devote so much to it. But this is too good to resist.

Not doubt many of you, beautiful and allegiant readers, have heard about the new P's conservative outlook. If you haven't ... (this comes courtesy Daniel Reeves and the people on the 'improve the world' list here at UoM, who in turn sourced it from some article on CNN)

Ratzinger has said modernity led to a blurring of sexual identity,
causing some feminists to become adversaries of men. He labeled
homosexuality "an intrinsic moral evil."
He argued that Muslim Turkey did not belong in Christian Europe and
issued a document saying that Catholicism was the only true religion,
questioning the validity of other religions, even Christian ones, even
as his Pope John Paul II was trying to reach out to other faiths.

Infuriating, I'm sure. Frankly, I'm kind of numb to all of this. However, this article has something that caught my attention:

In 1997 Ratzinger annoyed Buddhists by calling their religion an ‘autoerotic spirituality’ that offers ‘transcendence without imposing concrete religious obligations’.

Autoerotic? Is there some interpretation of this word that I, with my respect for all things erotic (auto or not), am unaware of? I procceded to consult the dictionary:
au·to·er·o·tism (ôt-r-tzm) or au·to·e·rot·i·cism (--rt-szm)
n.
1. Self-satisfaction of sexual desire, as by masturbation.
2. The arousal of sexual feeling without an external stimulus.

Does the new Pope have a sense of humor? Or does he, in his celibacy (are popes celibate? I don't know..) just not know the meaning of autoerotic and thinks that it is a cool word? Or maybe he knows something the rest of us don't.
(update: It has been pointed out to me that the Popester probably meant 'self indulgent'. I don't disagree at all. But I'm just making fun of the guy ;)

Thesis committee from HELL

2005-04-19T18:20:00.000-04:00

I can only pray that I have a better experience than poor Michael

Nogroski presented his results before the entire fifth-grade science community Monday, in partial fulfillment of his seventh-period research project.

I mean, what do you do when your committee says things like:

When Mike said, 'Otters,' I almost puked," said 11-year-old peer examiner Lacey Swain, taking the lettuce out of her sandwich. "Why would you want to spend a whole page talking about otters?"

And the one line that would make any of us shudder

"It's probably only the dumbest topic in the history of the entire world," 10-year-old Duane LaMott added.

Uncontrollable Circumstances

2005-04-19T11:02:00.000-04:00

If you ever felt the slightest dismay, as I do now, about circumstances out of your control and conspiring against you realize that things could be worse. You could combust while in surgery.

The male patient, who was not identified, went up in flames after alcohol poured on his skin was ignited by a surgical instrument.

Went up in flames. Not third degree burns, but flames. The operation was not a success either

The patient died after the surgery but that was due to heart failure and not the fire, said Dr. Robert Caplan, medical quality director of Virginia Mason.

So if things today aren't going your way don't despair. Even if they don't get better at least they're not worse.

All hail

2005-04-15T10:09:00.000-04:00

The sun GODDESS. To quote:

"The lion-headed goddess Sekhmet (Sakhmet, Sekhet) was a member of the Memphite Triad, thought to be the wife of Ptah and mother of Nefertem (though the motherhood of Nefertem was in dispute - Bast and Wadjet were touted as his mother in their respective cities). Associated with war and retribution, she was said to use arrows to pierce her enemies with fire, her breath being the hot desert wind as her body took on the glare of the midday sun. She represented the destructive force of the sun."

I think I'm in love.

get up fallen

2005-04-08T03:36:00.000-04:00

Another shower, benumbing
Another coffee, bitter
Another morning, brutal
Another day,
What secrets will you hold,
New stories must be told.

general bigness - literal and not.

2005-04-06T14:17:00.000-04:00

For as long as men have debated penis size, a discussion probably older than the wheel (or, for that matter, older than the realization that a large enough leaf has the potential to afford much privacy), one point of contention has remained unresolved. How big is big enough? Unresolved, that is, until now. Secure as I am, I'll admit this is a high bar (no pun intended). Set of course by the women we love.

No warning here. Picture is suitable for work, kids, etc., and guys of all sizes.

ain't no chipper raindrop

2005-03-30T10:53:00.000-05:00

All through the night, and this morning, three budding researchers - DW, JE, and VS - labored to get to the bottom of one burning question:
Is there such a thing as a happy raindrop?
The answer... is No. quad erat demonstratum. I'll warn you, this stuff is deeply theoretical.

Try it. I dare you. If you can draw a happy one, send it to me and you will be honored on this blog.

However, some people are a little too button happy...

more on blogs and other NOOOS

2005-03-28T12:03:00.000-05:00

the FCC is trying to decide whether they should eliminate restrictions on political blogging. Nice.

This next bit of news is shocking. Absolutely shocking. Arizona denizens may be allowed to carry guns into bars, so long as they don't drink. The opponents of the bill? "... opponents of the bill, which include all the state's hotel, tourism, restaurant and police associations,...." Right, so everyone concerned really, except for your average gun-toting, bar-hopping-but-not-drinking, Arizonan.

If they so badly want to pass this, then the bill should allow only those people to carry guns into bars who a) will not drink, b) will be responsible, c) will ensure that anyone else handling their gun will be responsible....

OH WAIT! We can't gauge responsibility! Not like there's a breathalyzer. Oh well. Screw that. We'll just let anyone who promises to not drink carry guns. Yeah..and anyone buying a drink will be frisked at the bar. What could go wrong?

And here we are, in little Ann Arbor, trying to stop people from smoking in bars.

You know what would be really funny? If Arizona disallows smoking in bars. Do they?

Finally, if people really want to protect themselves, I personally feel they should carry some sweet nunchucks

Why Pt. 2?

2005-03-26T10:14:00.000-05:00

Last night, Duke lost to Michigan State. Its all over now. None of my top four picks are in the running. Yes, I am a fool for not picking Illinois. Oh well, at least it was a fun game to watch. It would have been nice though, in a bar full of Michigan St. fans, to see Duke win.

Blogphobia

2005-03-25T14:20:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine sent me this article on blogs, how the mainstream media is afraid of them, and where they are headed. And it, being an article from Wharton, goes into how money can be made. Of course, google-style ads is the best thing they can come up with.

Get with the program people. Don't use blogs to get products to people. Use them to get people to companies. There are all these opinions on blogs. Opinions on people, events, and products. Products for mass comsumption. Include blogs in your market surveys. If you don't know how, ask me. I'll tell you. For a very large fee.

Also, I suspect technologically savy companies like Msft probably use internal blogs as a discussion medium within groups. Quicker than having a discussion over email. Easy to set up.

Look! Someone already had these thoughts! Here. I haven't read this second article, but it should be interesting. (The article is free if you sell the soul of your first born. Don't worry. Your soul is like your liver. It grows back. As long as you don't remove all of it. )

march madness and the devastation that comes with it

2005-03-21T17:22:00.000-05:00

"Vishal was devastated by Georgia Tech's loss."
Yes, slit-my-wrists devastated. why gaytech, why?! People said you couldn't do it, yet I had faith in you. I believed in you. And you thank me like this? Where did I go wrong?

GT, I'm afraid we're finished, you and I. I'm going with Duke. Or someone.

Don't let me down Duke. Or Someone.

Propagate

2005-03-19T19:55:00.000-05:00

When I was a sophomore, a phrase I used way too often...

Propagate the Maddness

No, that's not a typo. My madness had 2 D's in it.

happy st. patty's day to all you drunks

2005-03-17T09:34:00.001-05:00

too drunk to see clearly....
actually, no..who has the time

Phone scam

2005-03-15T10:48:00.000-05:00

So I nearly got phone scammed today. I got a call from a person claiming to be an Allstate representative telling me that I'm eligible for a 10% discount and a free month-long trial of their roadside assistance service.

Great, I think to myself. Allstate has given me discounts in the past, so I didn't think of this as strange. She, the Allstate representative, then began to extol the well known benefits of roadside assistance - tow service, rental discounts, fix flat tires, etc etc. Thirty days? And if I didn't get back to them after thirty days this would automatically cancel itself? Yes? Wonderful!

We just have to verify some information before we can proceed. Is that alright? Ok, are you V-i-s-h-a-l S-o-n-i? Living at **** **** **** Ann Arbor, MI? And how do you plan to pay for this? Visa is great. What is the number on the card?

Whoa sister.

So I told her I had to run and that I would call Allstate up and complete this process. She persisted, saying that it would 'just take a minute'. Like those nurses who gave you shots when you were little. They would tell you it was over before it began. No, I said.

Then she hung up.

I checked with Allstate and I'm not eligible for anything.

I'm getting soft. I even took my wallet out. I almost gave her my number. When I was young, my mind agile and not concerned with a looming paper deadline, I would have spotted her a mile away.

hahahaha...sigh....

2005-03-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

Would you die of boredom in california's weather? Damn that's consistent...

Ozzy tribute

2005-03-05T14:30:00.000-05:00

here

P

2005-02-23T10:31:00.000-05:00

Main Entry: passion
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: emotion
Synonyms: affection, affectivity, agony, anger, animation, ardor, dedication, devotion, distress, dolor, eagerness, ecstasy, excitement, feeling, fervor, fire, fit, flare-up, frenzy, fury, heat, hurrah, indignation, intensity, ire, joy, misery, outbreak, outburst, paroxysm, rage, rapture, resentment, sentiment, spirit, storm, suffering, temper, transport, vehemence, warmth, wrath, zeal, zest
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1)
Copyright © 2005 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

bushism

2005-02-21T03:24:00.000-05:00

From nytimes article:

"I don't feel bitter, personally," Mr. Bush told the European newspaper writers on Friday. "And so it's easy to have a conversation with somebody to overcome bitterness if you don't feel bitter."

Ok, so what he probably meant was that it may be easier to overcome bitterness when one of the involved parties is not bitter. On the other hand, he could have meant exactly what it sounds like, which is that bitterness is easier to overcome when you're not bitter. Which would, technically, be true.

dirty minds

2005-02-11T09:52:00.000-05:00

On the agenda for tonight, the detroit dirty show!

Who here thinks North Korea is bluffing? I think Kim Jong-Il is ronery and is fishing for attention. So ronery.

this girl

2005-02-10T13:26:00.000-05:00

this woman is awesome

officemates

2005-02-09T18:36:00.000-05:00

I don't mention my officemates in these posts.... (so, in alphabetical order of first name)
David Wingate and Josh Estelle are the coolest officemates.

I have a question for the few that read this blog - What do you do to deal with stress? You know, the kind of stress that tires you out and makes you wish you had the luxury to sit and vegetate. I'd go for a swim, but I want to sit and vegetate.

Speaking of swim, I'm tired of working out alone. Anyone here looking for a workout-buddy? I lift too. Laterz...

Mr. Push

2005-02-09T11:11:00.000-05:00

I was at Earthern Jar with Josh last evening and overheard an interesting conversation between the owner, a satisfied customer, and her four year old son. The woman, after their meal, introduced herself to the owner, who in turn introduces himself as Mr. Push. The child, on hearing this says, to no one in particular, "I know someone else named Bush. He's a bad president".

That improved a crappy day considerably.

sour grapes

2005-02-09T09:45:00.000-05:00

You Are Gilbert From "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?"

You are very giving and self-sacrificing. You're always there to lend a helping hand to family and friends. However, this generous nature often robs you of fulfilling your needs and desires, and may cause you to become resentful. Find a way to balance your kindness with your independence.

Take The Johnny Depp Quiz!

Good God

2005-02-07T22:10:00.000-05:00

I love music

@#$% you microsoft

2005-02-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, at 11:00 pm, after a hard day's of work, just as I was about to pack up and go home, I read about Microsoft's new search engine.

I decided to give it a shot.

It crashed my linux box. And when I rebooted, nothing would work! The KEYBOARD wasn't found (but I could type...), X wouldn't start. Nothing. It took me the better part of an hour to get things back on track. I'm blaming microsoft.

In all likelihood, the msn search had nothing to do with my /etc/modules.autoload being wiped clean, or my keyboard driver in xorg.conf being specified as "Keyboard" instead of "keyboard". But, hey, if you could blame Microsoft, wouldn't you do it too? Wouldn't you? Be honest. Seriously, how else would you explain the spontaneous system changes??? HUH??

I am desperately trying to be in love with the world, but the world doesn't want to cooperate.

Finally, priceless Jon Stewart quote (to Fareed Zakaria): "Why did God, and this will only take a minute, why did God put all the oil in the Middle East?"

Blind Guardian

2005-01-31T01:02:00.000-05:00

Whoa! Has anyone heard of this band? Go ahead, comment on the cheesy artwork and, if you listen to the music, the cheesy power metal riffs. Yes, it is all EXTREMELY cheesy. The lyrics are so cheesy, they'll make you laugh.

But, dudes, what a pick-me-up. I have been listening to a lot of Nick Drake and Elliot Smith. Very depressing stuff. And it was beginning to get to me. I decided to switch to something with...a little punch.

Fifteen minutes later I felt I could punch a hole through a wall. I didn't do it of course, but the point is that I thought I could. Errr..mm..and my fist hurt when I tried it.

I haven't listened to power metal since I was in high school (since Iron Maiden :). I think this band is going to by my guilty pleasure. They did this one song that's based on the lord of the rings books. I think that gives the band some points.

If you're in the ATL, stop by. I'll make you listen. You can laugh at it, and then attempt to punch holes in the walls with me.

Why

2005-01-28T11:21:00.000-05:00

yes, I do believe I can fly.

Addiction

2005-01-27T13:28:00.000-05:00

Hi, I am Vishal Soni, and I have an addiction. I am addicted to Endorphins.

I didn't think that endorphin addition would be so significant. But lately I have been noticing that if I don't swim for a couple of days, my mood starts to swing dangerously low. Not suicidal dangerous of course, but I definitely start to get a bit...reclusive. Until recently, I attributed low moods to 'one of those days'. But after a few control experiments, not nearly enough for any sliver of statistical significance, I am convinced that its the endorphins. It turns out, correct me if I'm worng, higher endorphin levels stimulate your body to produce more dopamine/seratonin??? Is that true?

So I looked into other 'natural' ways to raise endorphin levels, and perhaps dopamin and seratonin also. Other than cocaine, (aerobic) exercise seems to be the best way. And lean protien. AND chocolate. Some researchers are trying to discern whether music, anaerobic exercise, and etc may also help raise endorphin levels. Oh yeah, sex also raises levels by like 200%. Which would explain why you can never have enough sex ... barring recovery time of course.

FINALLY, endorphins are supposed to help keep you young. BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT!

I love endorphins.

Ok, cribbing time. Blogger has been eating my posts. If I hit preview, examine my post, and hit 'hide preview' again, blogger takes me back to a fresh 'new post' page. All the text that I so laboriously entered is gone. It ate my last post. It nearly at this one, but I was smart enough to save it in a text file first. The thing about loosing posts is that its too much trouble to enter it in all over again. It could be browser thing (Konqueror).

Aw man

2005-01-12T07:58:00.000-05:00

Break

2004-12-28T21:47:00.000-05:00

I've been home for two days now. Five more days to go. Frankly, I can't wait. I'm enjoying time off from work and everything, but I always get very restless when I come back home. I also tend to think too much about things and get particularly stressed about the entity omniously known as "the future". Anyway, five more days.

Jig

2004-12-19T13:43:00.000-05:00

This is how I imagine a friend doing his secret jig. Except...errr...you have clothes on in my imagination.

Friend, if you feel that my imagination of your little jig is inaccurate, you'll have to provide us with an accurate version. Until then, I'm afraid this is all we have.

Almost

2004-12-18T14:05:00.000-05:00

One more exam to go, and that will be the end of coursework. Forever. Forever is a long time. But what then? I'll still be in school, nearly twenty one years after the start of this perilous journey through the tortuous halls of academe (how's that for dramatic?). I vividly recall my first day of kindergarten - I punched a girl in her stomach because she wouldn't get out of my way. That is not an easy thing to forget.

In any case, I was playing with google suggest and after typing in my first name, Vishal, I was appalled, shocked, dismayed, to find that there are other Vishal's out who are more popular searches than I. In particular, I visited a 'Vishal Patel' completely expecting to be disgusted by my namesake's online personality (as is so often the case).

This, however, is some funny shit.

Funny, and unparalled in its shittiness. Be sure to check out AMBIMISDIGIPORN as the author calls it. Most of the rest serves to point out how crappy children's entertainment in India during the 80's really was. It was so crappy it was funny. Read to broaden your cultural horizons and shit.

Jog

2004-12-07T01:06:00.000-05:00

I have been told by JOG that this blog is worthy of no more than a shrug of JOG's shoulders.

But I have news for JOG. Now that I am a seasoned non-blogger, I warn JOG of the allure of non-blogging. JOG, you have been warned.

damn

2004-12-03T15:39:00.000-05:00

holy $#%&! It has been, like, 3 whole months since I last updated this blog. That's crazy. Time doth fly. I have nothing to show for this flown time. Crap.

under pressure

2004-12-03T15:33:00.000-05:00

under pressure from this blog, this blog is being updated by the author of this blog.

song list

2004-09-25T18:52:00.000-04:00

Everyone, at some point, blogs up a list of songs they're listening to. here's mine:
1) Dream on (aerosmith)
2) turn the page (bob seeger)
3) turn the page (metallica)
4) bang bang (nancy sinatra - kill bill )
5) taal el leel (moustafa amar)

now if it only started to rain...

what a wonderful day

2004-09-17T13:28:00.000-04:00

I'm having a great day. Wonderful. Simply fantabulous.

I was on the phone for 30 minutes being tossed about by Dell's customer service. And all I wanted was an equote for a laptop we need for work.

When we were going to place the order, my VPN client disconnected. So we weren't sure if the order went through. I had to call Dell again.

I don't usually drink tea, but have been recently because its supposed to be better than coffee. To get my fix, I use 3 tea bags in half a cup of water. This morning I left my tea bags in the cup. I just discovered them. My tea tastes like crap.

Nothing

2004-09-09T20:46:00.000-04:00

Nothing to report. This blog is alive. I'm alive.

Sooooo 'nyways, back when the olympics were over, I had this discussion with my roommate. No doubt many of you have heard of gene doping. And, no doubt, you have heard fears about gene doping making its way into sport. I have no idea how gene therapy works, but I would have imagined that the effects of gene therapy would only manifest themselves in posterity. But it turns out that gene therapy can be used to help people with muscular degenerative diseases. So I suppose the information stored in genes is continually being read. Or something like that.

Anyway, being pretty much impossible to detect, gene doping raises new conerns for sport. I think we can pretty much take for granted the fact that athletes will 'gene-dope' (if that's the lingo...). What will that do to the entertainment value of sport (and all revenue thereof)? Will people be less interested in watching sport knowing that they're not really witnessing results of years of dedication but, rather, years of lab work?

Gene doping is probably the tip of the iceberg. I mean, we can probably expect, in years to come, advances in bioinformatics and bio-medical sciences and bio-whoknowswhatelse to be applicable towards engineering the perfect athlete.

But aren't we seeing the benifits of engineering in sport already? Swimmers these days use these swimsuits that help them 'swim like sharks'. Bio-engineering is only a skip and a hop away.

So then what? Will the 10k become another kind of Nascar? Will the olympics become a platform for bio-dosomethingtoyourbody companies to showcase their latest and greatest? I don't think that would be so bad. If the car industry is anything to go by, new bio-technologies should evetually find their way to the common person. So that should be good for all.

Why, then, do I fear for the future of all spectator sport?

And what about the progeny of these athletes??

Movie

2004-08-25T16:13:00.000-04:00

Movie to watch

GOOG

2004-08-18T10:59:00.000-04:00

At 4 p.m. today, Google's registration with the Securities and Exchange commission goes official. If all goes well, that is. Controversy, fear, scandal, anxious anticipation, this story has it all, baby!

Lately, there's been word that I-banks on Wall Street are waiting for Google's IPO to fail. Google's decision to auction shares puts more control, supposedly, in the hands of investors and away from underwriters. Frankly, it seems that the auction will put more control in Google's hands than anyone else's. That's probably a good thing, since they have their long term interests at heart, more so than Wall Street anyway. Wall Streeters are powerful. They, obviously, are not going to like this.

I don't fully understand Google's need for going public. They didn't seem to have any problem with revenue or investment, and the economy is still sluggish. But I am not an investment banker. I was hoping, though, that they would wait a little longer.

For this graduate student in A.I., Google is a bastion of hope. Non-AI, non-tech people, usually friends of my dad, often ask me when they can hope to see AI make inroads into the everyman's life. They remind me how back in the 80's the A.I. hype machine was out of control. They voice their fears about A.I. taking over the world.

Please.

Allow me to first express my views on the 'hype machine'. The hype machine is not to be trusted. It is an unfortunate side effect of our capitalist economy (I am most definitely a capitalist, but I'm willing to admit that the system is not perfect). The hype machine serves the interests of get-rich-quick brokers who, more often than not, are looking to make money off the short-sightedness of others. The majority is often short sighted. Hype is also very effective at killing anything it touches. We saw it with A.I. in the 80's and with the internet econony in the late 90's.

I point these people to Google. Even luddites are easy to convince so long as their introduction to technology is gentle.

So perhaps its good that Google has more control over the fate of its stock price. At least they will attempt to strike a reasonable balance between their long term interests and making money off the short-sighted. Long term stability would, after all, serve well their intent, as an A.I. company, of taking over the world.

If its beyond the next election, forget it

2004-08-16T20:47:00.000-04:00

At least, that's what the general attitude of most governments is these days, especially when it comes to oil.

In the latest oil-related news, Hugo Chavez won back his post as the president of Venezuela. Why is this important? Hugo Chavez is one for instant gratification. He'll sell oil cheap now and build housing structures, clean up the streets, etc., without much concern for Venezuela's long term economic stability. (He also has a history of being anti-US, but that's an issue for another entry). As a result of his re-election, oil prices dropped. As if everyone was waiting with bated breath for outcome of the election. What happens when Venezuela's oil production begins to decline? If its beyond the next election, forget it.

This also seems to largely be the attitude of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC. In recent news, one of them (can't remember which) vowed to "produce as many barrels-per-day as the fields will allow". This is to bring prices down to $25-$30 a barrel.

The problem with OPEC production/price manipulation, as with any cartel, is that the price of oil is not at any equilibrium whatsoever, and gives no indication of the supply in relation to the demand. The long-term effect of this? Prices are an unreliable information source of fluctuations in oil production and, consequently, oil production may start to decline sooner than we can plan for it. But, if its beyond the next election, who gives a flying f**k.

What happens after the oil runs out? This linked article describes the concept of "Hubbert's Peak". I quote, "Hubbert argued that at a certain point oil production peaks, and thereafter it steadily declines regardless of demand". Seems reasonable. If fact, it seems most 'experts' agree. What they, the experts, cannot agree on is when this peak will be reached. Whenever that date may be (most agree within the next 30 years), no one, at this point, is concerned about dealing with a diminishing supply of oil. To steal one final quote from this article, "politicians and policymakers have ignored Hubbert's Peak and have no plans to deal with it: If it's beyond the next election, forget it".

Women in computing

2004-08-12T11:02:00.000-04:00

This morning, I browsed into LinuxChix.org and this howto on encouraging women in linux. The key issue here, obviously, is not confined to just Linux and applies to all of computer science. I read somewhere that in the past twenty years the percentage of computer scientists comprising women has dropped from 40-or-so% to about 28% (I'm not entirely sure of these numbers. 40% seems a bit much for 20 years ago). Meanwhile, the ratio of women-to-men in other technical disciplines has generally enjoyed a steady increase. As the how-to (linked above) mentions, women are often discouraged away from CS by society in general and CS-men in particular.

So I want to use this fledging blog to voice my support for women in CS despite any sexist jokes I may have inadvertently made in the past.

Masked Rider, take ONE

2004-08-11T20:04:00.000-04:00

OOOh. First blog. Too many random thoughts in my head. Yes, we will publish it all HERE. Pretty nifty, this blogging stuff. I'm not new to blogging; I have been a slient blog reader for a while. Yes, silently reading and never posting (comments). I have been reading my buddy .... #@!$ godamn blogger ate the rest of this blog. The rest of this blog was a fascinating lesson on posting comments. #@$% network resets. #@$! blogger won't update when I tell it to....oooh...this blogger thing seems to be owned by google. Maybe its not so bad.

So ANYWAY, I was biking last Saturday on Huron River Drive and nearly biked into deer. Twice. I wonder what biking into deer is like. Probably much like biking into a wall. Except, perhaps...well ... do deer bite?