Lee

Yaaaaaay! :-/

Mon, 24 Jan 2005 03:49:29 GMT

The first time I took this quiz, it couldn't even calculate my score.

w00t...i think??

Thu, 23 Sep 2004 05:55:09 GMT

Which influential yet unknown 1940's computer would you hack on?
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Severe insomnia prompted this

Sun, 01 Aug 2004 05:08:49 GMT

what decade does your personality live in?

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Mon, 16 Feb 2004 21:03:27 GMT

Which Family Guy character are you?

Mon, 16 Feb 2004 20:38:27 GMT

What Seinfeld character are you?

Cosmo Kramer

You live across the hall from Jerry, and often use his apartment as a restaurant or meeting room. You never work but get by on your crazy money-making scemes and your rent-controlled apartment. You are the life of the party wherever you go, and never lack companionship from the opposite sex.

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Fri, 03 Oct 2003 04:44:38 GMT

You're a Gibson Les Paul! Known for your great
playability and awesome and versatile sound,
you're the industry standard; ideal for all
kinds of music. Go you! On the downside,
though, you can be really friggin' expensive.

What Kind Of Guitar Are You?
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On the Road

Fri, 29 Aug 2003 16:51:11 GMT

Yesterday I joined my friends for a trip up to emperium 's alma mater in Purchase, NY. Our jaunt took up most of the day and was highly enjoyable. I met some of Craig's college friends and once again witnessed the tininess of SUNY Purchase (I had been there before, years ago when I was applying to colleges). So we made the rounds, Craig took care of some obligations, and then we were off to eat at a nearby restaurant. After a tasty dinner with some enlightening conversation, it was time to go home. Traffic was a little rough in places, but I've seen much worse. For a full play-by-play see emperium 's journal.

A Strange Line of Thought

Thu, 14 Aug 2003 16:41:42 GMT

..Which is not unusual for me... so I guess it wouldn't be right to use the word "strange" at all. Anyway, last night I was exercising my modest programming skills and I began thinking about AI (not the movie, but the concept itself). I put together a brief vocabulary and wrote a program that forms sentences according to some basic rules of grammar. Far from an AI, of course. Whether I'll add more to that code, I dunno. The point is, while I was in the process, I started to realize the complexities of the English language, and in turn, how thoroughly an artificial intelligence would have to know the language to understand and express abstract concepts. An easier approach would be to have the program think and communicate in terms of math rather than words, which is natural for computers anyway. But what about human beings? Most of the time, we think in whatever our first language is. We think in terms of words. And so the question is: does the complexity of our language limit the complexity of our thoughts? Say your entire vocabulary consisted of the words "I","You","Came","Went","Here","There". With only these words to work from, and the rules of English grammar, how could you possibly even conceive a topic like nuclear fusion? Granted, our verbal languages are infinitely more developed than that. But there are limits. And so how do you begin to address something that's beyond the scope of your language? Of course, we all have the ability to think pictorally. Often, it can be easier just to visualize things than explain them verbally. And we are a VERY visually oriented species. Might it be accurate to say our first language is actually sight? Not if you were born blind. Would this give you a mental disadvantage? Well no, obviously not. But you would definitely think differently. I haven't even mentioned the other senses, most notably auditory. Music is a language. Sound, even. And what if you naturally thought in terms of math? Would that give you the ultimate understanding of the universe? If, instead of seeing a chair or a table or a star, you automatically saw a bunch of geometric data and equations describing that object's form, composition, relationship to you and the planet, and whatever else... That, of course, is impossible for the human mind. In any case, I could go on for a long time about this, but it wouldn't be practical. Suffice it to say, it kept me up last night. Eventually, I had to just stop thinking so I could fall asleep. I am ever aware of my own limitations.

A Typical Day...

Wed, 06 Aug 2003 01:29:07 GMT

Jared and I wandered around a little bit this afternoon, dropped by Sam Ash and played with their merchandise (much to the perpetual annoyance of the salesman), then went to CompUSA and tinkered with their stuff. We stood in front of a big-screen HD TV for about half an hour, watching "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory". That movie is evil.

Next, we went to the strange, classically-themed McDonald's next door. Unlike normal fast food restaurants, this place has marble tiling on the walls, Greco-Roman pillars, a celestial painting on the ceiling, and symphonic music playing in the background. The local homies were all confused.

Then it was time to pick up Jared's brother from his place of work. Only a few blocks over, we entered the great metropolis known as Hempstead, NY. The tall maple trees gave way to crumbling apartments and storefronts with names like "Spanish Bodega" and "Wings N Things". After coming here repeatedly over the course of the summer, I knew what to expect. We picked up Jared's bro at the Town Hall and went home. And that was basically it. The weather sucked.