Replacement software Feb 13, 2009
Several times in the past few months, I've begun the painful yet sometimes enjoyable process of finding free software to replace some of my existing expensive proprietary software.  I downloaded and installed OpenOffice to replace Microsoft Office.  I considered giving Ubuntu another shot.  I tried a couple Matlab clones. 

And here's the conclusion I've reached:  Unless there's a specific negative reason why you want to switch to a different program that does the same thing (e.g. "I hate how it always does this" or "I can't get it to do what I want"), other than the fact that it's free and not made by a big faceless software company, it's not worth the trouble because you'll end up spending all your time trying to get the replacement software to perform the same functions as the replaced software.  As much as I'd like that to not be true, it just can't be avoided.  If you know how to use your software and it does what you want, there's no reason to switch. #technology
Limo school Feb 13, 2009
The suburbs don't have taxis.  Instead, we have black Lincoln Continentals with leather seats that perform the exact same function as taxis, but for ten times the price.  Oh, and they're called limos.  Not limos as in stretch limos.  Limos as in black taxis that cost $100 to drive to the airport. 

Anyway, I have the sneaking suspicion that all limo drivers attend the same limo driver school, which teaches them to (a) drive erratically, (b) leave their blinkers on after they've made a turn, and (c) use their brakes as often as possible, especially while on the highway and especially when no brake use is even remotely necessary. #travel
Writing bad songs (3) Feb 11, 2009
I often wonder if songwriters know which of their songs are good and which are bad.  Surely not everything songwriters write is their best possible work.  Sometimes they need to write songs to fill an album or support a tour, which will inevitably produce less-than-stellar results.  And of course there's at least a small amount of subjectivity involved, both on the part of the writer and on the part of the listener.  But good songs often have specific qualities that are universally recognized and agreed upon.  Dissonance is generally a bad quality, while a catchy chorus is usually a good one.  So the question is, do songwriters intentionally put out bad music?  My guess is yes. #entertainment
Negative numbers and fractional powers Feb 10, 2009
This is about math.  If you don't like math, go play with your crayons and scissors or whatever it is you people do. 

It has come to my attention through a series of failures that different math processing machines compute negative numbers raised to certain fractional exponents differently.  The math processing machines I'm talking about are my TI-86 calculator, Microsoft Excel 2003, and Matlab 2007.  This is best illustrated with the following table: 











TI-86ExcelMatlab
(-1)^(1/2)(0,1)#NUM!0.0000 + 1.0000i
(-1)^(1/3)-1-10.5000 + 0.8660i
(-1)^(2/3)1#NUM!-0.5000 + 0.8660i
The TI-86 seems to be the only one that's consistently correct.  The notation "(0,1)" indicates an imaginary number, which is correct, and the 2/3 exponent is calculated as if it were entered [(-1)^(1/3)]^2, which is how it's supposed to be done.  For some reason, Excel doesn't calculate powers this way, so it doesn't properly calculate the 2/3 exponent.  But if you enter the formula as [(-1)^(1/3)]^2, Excel figures it out properly.  Finally, Matlab does its own thing in its own little world.  It renders each result as imaginary, even though only certain exponents yield an imaginary component. 

To avoid overstating the issue, let me assure you the pattern continues.  In fact, the pattern is as follows: 
(x)^(y/z) is real for all negative real x, all positive whole y, and all positive whole odd z
If any of those conditions isn't met, the result will be imaginary, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but after a brief five-year career in engineering, I still haven't discovered the purpose of imaginary numbers. 

Echoing what I found, SparkNotes says, "Since we cannot take the even root of a negative number, we cannot take a negative number to a fractional power if the denominator of the exponent is even."  This is because any fraction with an even denominator can be broken down into [something] × 1/2, which yields an imaginary result. #math
Sensory disorder (3) Feb 6, 2009
I'm pretty sure I have Sensory Integration Dysfunction, Asperger syndrome, Autism, or some sort of combination of the three.  I haven't decided which category I fit into best.  I certainly have "significant difficulties in social interaction and restricted, stereotyped patterns of behavior and interests" that comes with AS, and a recent revelation shows that I can't function in the presence of loud noises.  As I write this, several workmen are banging hammers on the floor above my desk in a seemingly random pattern, and I briefly considered quitting my job because of it.  Also, it hurts my ears to hear Wendy cough, I must be near the remote that controls the volume on the TV in case of a loud commercial, and the sound of a dog barking loudly indoors almost made me cry.  I like reading about psychological disorders.  It's fun to try to figure out what's wrong with me. 

Update:  Also, smell.  I can't go into places like the Yankee Candle store because I get overwhelmed by the plethora of smells. #psychology
Conversation singularity Feb 6, 2009
Conversation singularity - n. The tendency for all conversations, regardless of the age, ethnicity, or educational level of the participants, to degrade to the lowest point, i.e. poop and pee jokes and anatomical double entendres. #psychology
Forgetting people Feb 4, 2009
It scares me how quickly after meeting a person that I'll fail to recognize them, forget their name, and forget even meeting them or learning anything about them.  This happened on Sunday at church.  I walked past a guy I had met and hung out with no less than one month prior, and only after I walked past him did I realize I recognized him, after which I spent a few minutes trying to remember his name, after which I spent a few more minutes trying to remember where I met him, finally reminding myself that I had spent several hours hanging out with him and talking to him, learning about his kids and the fact that he was in a jazz band in high school.  My brain certainly doesn't fire on all cylinders. #psychology
Perpetually snow-covered cars (5) Feb 3, 2009
On my travels to and from work and to the playground where I spend most of my days (please understand this reference, internet), I often see cars covered with snow.  This wouldn't be unusual if it had just snowed.  But often times, I see these cars many days after the last snowfall.  And that gets me thinking.  Either
  1. You're out of town, though I highly doubt that many people in that many different areas are all traveling the same days, or
  2. You don't need your car, in which case why are you wasting money for gas and maintenance and insurance when you can obviously live without it, or
  3. You've been getting a ride from someone, in which case why are you wasting time and effort and money on owning your own car, or
  4. You haven't left your house in eleven days, which is disturbing.
My neighbor, who I'm almost convinced is a stripper, once left her car in the driveway for two completely separate snow storms without cleaning it off or using it.  And then suddenly, one morning, there she was scraping off three weeks of snow and ice.  Weird.  Oh, and I think she's a stripper.  Also weird. #nature
Picture Renamer Feb 3, 2009
This is a Visual Basic Script that renames all the picture and video files in a directory to the format "MMDDhhmmss" where MM is the two-digit month, DD is the two-digit day, hh is the two-digit hour, mm is the two-digit minute, and ss is the two-digit second. 

From there, you can easily organize pictures in directories based on year, where the files are sorted by name and, in effect, date.  This is useful in the case of owning more than one camera, especially if each camera has its own file naming structure.  One structure might be DSC_1234, where the other might be P1234567.  When pictures from both cameras are placed in the same directory, it's hard to view the pictures in date order, because Windows isn't good at reading the proper date from picture files.  So instead of manually renaming pictures by date, the script does it automatically. 

The script creates a log file so that, in the case of some unforeseen mistake or accident, you can see what your pictures were originally named.  Regardless, I would suggest creating a copy of your original pictures to try things out, just in case something goes horribly wrong. 

One thing to remember is that the script hinges on the fact that you have your camera's date and time set properly.  If not, your pictures will be renamed the wrong thing, which doesn't help you much. 

Some links that helped me create this are here and here. 

Version History:
v. 0.9 - better date search; MP4 handling
v. 0.8 - regex date search instead of camera-specific offsets; duplicate file check

Download #page
Than (2) Feb 3, 2009
One time I lost a spelling bee with the word "than".  The moderator said the word, and he used it in a sentence like, "The sun is bigger than the earth."  I spelled it T-H-E-N.  And I lost.  I walked to my seat and tearfully sat down next to my mom, who explained the difference between "then" and "than".  I'll never forget that fateful day, nor will I ever get the two words confused again.  Public education success?  I guess you could call it that.  You could also call it compulsory public humiliation by way of meaningless nerve-filled competition.  Either one, I suppose. #language