I was feeling a bit bored and not quite ready to get back to work, so I started to read a few of my web log entries from a decade ago.
There were a few reviews: of a museum exhibit (the horse is still on campus, and no less of an eyesore) and of a book that bored me with its triviality -- it was so boring that I felt the need to review it twice.
I was already trying to relive my college days through bridge (sound familiar)? And wistfully recalling childhood in Africa.
Also: telling people not to use "karma" when they really mean "kismet".
All in all, nothing that makes me cringe. But one thing I did notice was that I'd named my columns with no concern for Google. Thus, my entry on karma and kismet is entitled " karm.html" whereas any moron nowadays knows you've got to title it karma_kismet.html so that Google's algorithm ranks it higher.
Not dark and dreary
In Chicago, it's crisp, cool and sunny now. The weather forecaster, normally the most chipper person on a news crew, had me concerned when he predicted on his website that it would be "dark and dreary" (his exact words) all this week. Weather forecasters ... what do they know?
Football players or soldiers?
The basketball arena across the parking lot from the National Weather Center (where I work) was packed yesterday. The arena's parking lot and even the fields around it were all full of cars. Around 5pm, the roads were completely congested as nearly 10,000 people tried to leave, all at the same time. This morning's paper carried the explanation, that it was the send-off ceremony for 2400 National Guardsmen, the largest deployment of the Oklahoma guard since the Korean war.
Today, one of my colleagues noticed that the highway south of our office building had been blocked just after lunch. A police car went screaming by, followed by 3 buses. Most likely, the OU football team leaving to play at Iowa State tomorrow.
Just put yourself in the role of the Norman municipal administration. Which of these events would you budget traffic control for? A few buses carrying the football team to an airport 5 miles away at 1pm? Thousands of cars full of out-of-towners trying to leave a basketball arena at rush hour?
Knowing Oklahoma, I'm not surprised that the football team merits special handling. But considering that the patriotism angle also plays well here -- we may not sacrifice much, but we will wear our lapel pins and tell the troops how much they are appreciated -- count me disappointed.
Today, one of my colleagues noticed that the highway south of our office building had been blocked just after lunch. A police car went screaming by, followed by 3 buses. Most likely, the OU football team leaving to play at Iowa State tomorrow.
Just put yourself in the role of the Norman municipal administration. Which of these events would you budget traffic control for? A few buses carrying the football team to an airport 5 miles away at 1pm? Thousands of cars full of out-of-towners trying to leave a basketball arena at rush hour?
Knowing Oklahoma, I'm not surprised that the football team merits special handling. But considering that the patriotism angle also plays well here -- we may not sacrifice much, but we will wear our lapel pins and tell the troops how much they are appreciated -- count me disappointed.
Pregnant or not?
You know the embarrassing situation where you're talking to a young lady who seems pregnant? You're afraid to congratulate her for fear that she has simply put on a little weight ... and yet, you can't just avoid talking about the looming big event in her life.
Well, I encountered the counterpart of that situation this week. The wife mentioned a few weeks ago that a couple we know were expecting their child. Yesterday, I happened to see the mother. I was about to greet her, except she looked decidedly un-pregnant.
What would you do in that situation? Did you really listen to your wife? Was this the person who was supposed to be pregnant? Was the baby born already, or was the baby due 7 months from now? Me, I simply hurried out hoping that she hadn't seen me.
Talking to a mutual friend yesterday, it was confirmed that the baby had indeed arrived a couple months prematurely.
Well, I encountered the counterpart of that situation this week. The wife mentioned a few weeks ago that a couple we know were expecting their child. Yesterday, I happened to see the mother. I was about to greet her, except she looked decidedly un-pregnant.
What would you do in that situation? Did you really listen to your wife? Was this the person who was supposed to be pregnant? Was the baby born already, or was the baby due 7 months from now? Me, I simply hurried out hoping that she hadn't seen me.
Talking to a mutual friend yesterday, it was confirmed that the baby had indeed arrived a couple months prematurely.
Just in case you need to write a scientific article in Greek
From the department of answers-to-questions-you-never-thought-to-ask, via Thomas:
I use LaTeX and BibTeX to write conference and journal articles. It's easy to just throw all the text and images and have a computer program take care of all the typesetting and formatting involved. One of the nice things is that I can write:
and the computer takes care of typesetting it to
Pointing and clicking one's way through a GUI would be quite painful. The software package "knows" about different citation formats and journal layout policies and takes care of all that drudgery as well.
But now, the question that you never thought to ask: How do I use LaTeX if I need to write the article in Greek?
Answer here.
I use LaTeX and BibTeX to write conference and journal articles. It's easy to just throw all the text and images and have a computer program take care of all the typesetting and formatting involved. One of the nice things is that I can write:
\frac{1 - e^{-\gamma.f(x)}}{1 - e^{-\gamma}}
and the computer takes care of typesetting it to
Pointing and clicking one's way through a GUI would be quite painful. The software package "knows" about different citation formats and journal layout policies and takes care of all that drudgery as well.
But now, the question that you never thought to ask: How do I use LaTeX if I need to write the article in Greek?
Answer here.
A little chicken
Saturday (at the OU-Missouri football game), a couple of Missouri fans showed up in our section which usually contains only OU season ticket holders. These guys were loud enough and energetic enough to grab the attention of the Mizzou band seated three sections (about 50 yards) away. M-I-Z they'd chant and the band would answer back: Z-O-U. The third quarter, when Missouri came back from a 7-point deficit to a 1-point lead (via several OU mistakes) was pretty excruciating. Made me appreciate all the folks who travel to away games -- don't know if I'd be okay with watching my team where 80,000 fans are screaming for the other guys.
It was the OU homecoming game and one of the things about the homecoming game is that band alumni get to march alongside the regular band. I don't know if it was intended to appear that way, but the alumni march turned out pretty cartoonish. You first saw slim, in-shape, young 'uns marching in crimson-and-cream uniforms in perfect rows and diagonals. And following them ... a bunch of beer-bellied folks in white polo shirts and navy-blue pants occupying twice the lane width and a little off in space and time. Another thing I can't see myself doing -- putting myself in a position where physical comparisons with 20-year olds are so facile.
Count me a little scared of competition.
It was the OU homecoming game and one of the things about the homecoming game is that band alumni get to march alongside the regular band. I don't know if it was intended to appear that way, but the alumni march turned out pretty cartoonish. You first saw slim, in-shape, young 'uns marching in crimson-and-cream uniforms in perfect rows and diagonals. And following them ... a bunch of beer-bellied folks in white polo shirts and navy-blue pants occupying twice the lane width and a little off in space and time. Another thing I can't see myself doing -- putting myself in a position where physical comparisons with 20-year olds are so facile.
Count me a little scared of competition.
No, not a conference center
If you think this is yet another convention center that sort of looks like a boat (a trend started by the quite spiffy one in Vancouver that looks like a cruise ship):
then obviously you haven't seen the top-down view:
Apparently the owner has a fetish with the things. He plans to launch a World Toilet association and this is his way of attracting attention.
He must have more money than sense.
then obviously you haven't seen the top-down view:
Apparently the owner has a fetish with the things. He plans to launch a World Toilet association and this is his way of attracting attention.
He must have more money than sense.
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