Planet RGSB

Harpers Ferry, WV

2008-07-08T03:58:49+00:00

On the 4th Justin was picked up by the Weber family and he spent 3 days with them. Scott continued on the trail. He wanted to get through Shenandoah and to Harpers Ferry.
July 5 - (25 mi. day)
July 6 - (24 mi. day.) The Bear's Den Hostel had a hiker's special that included laundry, pizza and a pint of Ben and Jerry's ;-)
July 7 - (20 mi. day) After a big supper of Buffalo Wings and Pizza, Scott, Justin and another hiker were sharing a motel room in Harpers Ferry. Lunch stop at the Blackburn Trail Center had an awesome view that tempted him to stay.
Tomorrow will be a zero day with stops at the post office to pick up two packages we sent, and an outfitter to replace a leaking water bag. This is the second one that has developed a leak in the same place. Hmmm.
Scott said his feet, especially the one blister, were still sore, but didn't really hurt. The new boots and a few slow days to break them in have helped.
They have decided to not try the 4 state challenge (VA, WV. MD, and PA). Wed and Thurs., 9th and 10th, will be 20 mi. each. Someone will be picking Justin up on the 10th and taking him to where he will be able to make connections for his flight from Baltimore to Chicago.I think he has enjoyed his time on the trail with Scott, but decided he is NOT a thru-hiker.
Jean

LEGO Discoveries Over the Weekend

2008-07-07T22:40:43+00:00

"Want to see what happens when an Architect and two Mechanical Engineers go to the LEGO store?" - me, on Sunday

I bought the first LEGO set for myself, with my own money, that I have in a very long time. (I'm not counting the boxes of simple bricks or the grab-bag of random LEGO parts that I have bought a few times.) I got the Scuderia Ferrari Truck set, number 8654, which includes a semi trailer that holds an F1 car and a whole pit crew (with tools!) for $40, marked down from $80.

Slightly more exciting, I discovered that LEGO now offers the LEGO Digital Designer software for FREE download. They were even considerate enough to let it run on my computer, which is an iBook G4 from 2004 with Mac OS 10.3.9 running on it. I feel more comfortable designing in 3D CAD systems than I do on paper, and much more comfortable than just winging it. Once you have a model designed, you can upload it to the LEGO Factory and actually buy the pieces as a set. Apparently, it arrives in a customized box, with instructions. Sweet.

Most exciting, I found out that there is a LEGOLAND Discovery Centre opening at Streets of Woodfield. Date of arrival is uncertain, the sign is up but there is not much evidence of actual construction activity inside of the mall. The guys at the Woodfield LEGO store said they had heard July 31st would be the day. This mall is only about 10 minutes from where I work, on my way home. Certainly close enough to go to for lunch (LEGOLAND cafe, anyone?) and possibly worth getting a season pass for. No pricing information online yet either. It is wait and see for now...

High School Students Explore New Worlds In Operation Catapult Summer Program

2008-07-07T19:37:00+00:00

Alex Drane, Sean Finney, Connor Ford and Ruffin White-Magner wanted to get the most out of their Operation Catapult experience this summer at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Another Quiz

2008-07-07T16:47:29+00:00

Your result for The General Obscure Knowledge Test...

Balanced

Not great in any one area, but good at them all

Although you didn't knock any one area out of the park, the good news is that you didn't totally stink at them all either. While I was busy telling everyone else how their particular strength was the best one to have, we both know that being a well balanced individual is the only way to go!

Overall, you scored 40% Religion, 60% Art and 60% Science! Here are the answers to the questions, for those that are curious.

Take The General Obscure Knowledge Test at HelloQuizzy

Made by Mojo

I hope you all had a fine weekend.

2008-07-07T00:00:00+00:00

In celebration of the United States declaring independence from its colonial overlords, I ... did nothing. Well, I visited my parents and helped out a very little bit with some yardwork on Friday. I don't exactly cut a dynamic figure, you understand.

Back around Memorial Day, I volunteered to take my Dad down to the range. Owing to various complications involving various schedules and weather conditions, I finally got around to doing that on Saturday. Lots of fun was had attempting to blow the ever-loving crap out of the plastic bottles I'd been saving for just such a purpose.

Dad, God bless him, is actually a worse shot with a pistol than I am, though it's hard to say exactly how much worse, if only because terrible and terribler are kind of hard to distinguish. After three hours and about $90 worth of ammunition (bullets are expensive, folks), we left for home. Good time had by all, etc.

Anyway, here's hoping you had a happy 4th.

Packaging Efficiency FAIL

2008-07-03T20:19:38+00:00

Amazon sent me this:

In this box:

Wow.

AT July 2

2008-07-03T14:17:57+00:00

For those following Scott's journey,
I had a voice mail from Scott at 4:30 on the 2nd.from the Big Meadows Campground in Shenandoah Nat. Park. He and Justin were taking showers, doing laundry, etc.
Jean

Local beer-making supply stores?

2008-07-02T23:30:16+00:00

I am coming temporarily out of my LJ hibernation with a request for folks local to the Seattle area: does anyone know of a good beer-making supply store in the area? I'd like to make some homemade kaiser rolls, and the recipe I'm going to try needs active diastatic barley malt powder or syrup. The author of The Bread Baker's Apprentice (which is a crazy book and at the same time very awesome) suggests either ordering it online or via catalog, or going to a local beer supply store. We tried looking for barley syrup at Trader Joe's and had no luck, so we thought we'd give this a shot before ordering online, as lots of people around here make beer. (I think.)

edit: tekman turned up Mountain Homebrew & Wine Supply in Kirkland pretty easily thanks to Google. They knew exactly what we wanted and mentioned that bakers come to pick it up pretty frequently. Guess we'll check them out tomorrow.

Well, then I'm happy and sad for me.

2008-07-01T18:03:37+00:00

I just realized I have Friday off. Yay.

But I have nothing to do. Crap.

recursive books for children

2008-07-01T03:45:10+00:00

When Jonathan was visiting for Gamefest, I mentioned teaching programming by starting out with recursion and introducing iteration as a special case later on. He expressed skepticism that anybody did things this way. At this point, I happily expounded on The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, which teaches things precisely this way and was used in CS1 (6.001) at MIT for many years. Other books/courses from Indiana University etc. do things the same way.

I am happy to note that there are even children's books that do this. The classic Goodnight Moon, written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd, provides a basic introduction in function calling and recursion for your young child. To wit:

The book on the bunny's bedside stand is Goodnight Moon;
The Runaway Bunny, by the same two people, sits on the bookshelf at the far left of the room;
The painting of the three bears contains a smaller picture of the cow jumping over the moon. The full-sized picture hangs over the fireplace, of course;
Finally, a drawing from The Runaway Bunny hangs over the bookshelf at the far left of the room.

The kiddos are well on their way to learning Scheme as their first computer language!

Hands-On Projects Take On New Meaning for Rose-Hulman Summer Student Researchers

2008-06-30T21:00:00+00:00

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology applied biology, chemistry and chemical engineering students aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. It’s all in the name of science as they study biological subsystems of a wetlands area located near campus.

AT with Justin

2008-06-30T02:56:33+00:00

     We arrived in Buena Vista, Va. Thurs. night June 26 with Justin Massey, and found Scott. On Fri. we drove to Waynesboro where Scott bought some new boots and a few other things Justin needed, as well as food for the next 4 days. While there, we were able to meet his friends Homeward-bound and the Tri-force and give them rides to a few places around town. Rides in towns are always much appreciated by thru-hikers!
     Sat. the 29th about noon the four of us walked the 3/4 mile from Rockfish Gap to the Shenandoah National Park kiosk where they filled out their backcountry permit form . Scott and Justin started hiking while Mike and I walked back to Rockfish Gap and started our drive through the southern part of the park. Skyline Drive and the AT are very close together through the 100 mile park. We noticed several places where the trail crosses the road.
   Scott was very excited about his new boots, and while his feet weren't completely healed, they were MUCH better after 4 days off the trail. S and J were only walking 7 miles that first day and about 13 Sun. and Mon. That should give Scott time to break in the boots and Justin a chance to get used to the hiking.
     Right now the plan is for them to be picked up by the Weber family on July 7. The Webers are vacationing with Pastor's brother near Harper's Ferry, W. Va. They have offered to "pamper" them, ( food, shower, laundry and bed) before taking them back to the trail the following day. Justin will be flying out of Baltimore to Chicago on the 11th. They hope to do the 4 state challenge and hike in Va., WVa., Maryland and Pa. in one day (40 mi) before Justin leaves.
     It was a great couple of days! Scott was excited to see us, and happy with his decision to heal his feet, but ready to get back on the trail.
Jean

WALL*E

2008-06-30T00:52:49+00:00

Fantastic!

The preceding short and end credits alone are worth the price of seeing on a big screen - if you like Pixar films, I highly recommend it.

My only complaint is that it seems a bit too short. Rushed for a kid-length attention span, I suppose.

lies, damn lies, and...

2008-06-29T20:15:11+00:00

A couple weeks (months?) ago, I remember talking to Dave about the cost of gold and whether it was subject to inflation. The discussion seemed to hinge on whose numbers you believed, and Dave suggested that the numbers showing gold becoming less valuable over time were based off of government-reported economic data. This data was not to be trusted, as the government was “cooking the books,” as it were. I recoiled at the thought and Dave being, well, Dave, didn't press the issue too much.

Today I stumbled upon Shadow Government Statistics, which explains in concrete terms what Dave was talking about. To wit:

As former Labor Secretary Bob Reich explained in his memoirs, the Clinton administration had found in its public polling that if the government inflated economic reporting, enough people would believe it to swing a close election. Accordingly, whatever integrity had survived in the economic reporting system disappeared during the Clinton years. Unemployment was redefined to eliminate five million discouraged workers and to lower the unemployment rate; methodologies were changed to reduce poverty reporting, to reduce reported CPI inflation, to inflate reported GDP growth, among others.

(To put the unemployment thing into perspective, that's changing the definition of “unemployment rate” to reduce it by roughly 1.5% or more. Puts “It's the economy, stupid,” in perspective, don'tcha think? To be fair, it's not just the Clinton administration, either; the article in question starts with the Kennedy administration and goes on from there...hitting pretty much everybody since.)

If you prefer your discussion in more layman's terms, there's Numbers racket, which some kind soul has reformatted to be more web-friendly.

Games for Children

2008-06-29T18:49:53+00:00

It seems that a common theme of games for young children is a highly restricted nature. This makes sense. The purpose of early childhood games is mostly to teach children what a game is, how to follow rules, what it's like to win and lose, etc. By restricted, I mean that there is generally a very small branching factor -- for example, in Sorry the only choice you have is which of your four pawns to move, and often there's no choice at all. About the most interesting game we play so far is Mexican Train Dominoes.

What I don't like about these games is that the outcome is largely random - in essence, the games almost play themselves. I'm wondering if there are good examples of early games that aren't essentially random. I might try out backgammon and checkers, but those are quite a step up from dominoes. I think backgammon would be easier to teach, since its long-term goal is easier to understand and translate into short term goals.

An interesting question is whether chess is right out at this point. Is it good to introduce the pieces at an early age so that children can internalize their movements, or to hold off to the point where they might be able to grasp some of the subtleties of the game. I remember being taught chess as a child and thinking that since I knew how the pieces moved, I knew how to play. Nothing, obviously, could be further from the truth.

Now that it's summer there will likely be a lot of time for game playing. What games did you like to play as a child? Which of them were random and which taught that choices affect outcomes?

anniversary night

2008-06-29T04:00:12+00:00

Tricia and I enjoyed a dinner date, complete with movie, this evening for our fifth anniversary. We gave the girls dinner and held off eating until I was able to got out and pick up pizza after the girls were in bed. Indulging in pizza and garlic breadsticks on the porch while watching the sun set...what a life, eh?

After that, we sat down to watch National Treasure 2 together. (Hey, we're married with children...we get things on Netflix first, rather the theatres, so we have to wait a while.) We enjoyed it and I have two things to comment on, one good and one bad.

The good first: the president was portrayed as a strong character in this movie, unlike other recent movies. Nicholas Cage had a particularly nice emphasis on this: he ended most sentences when speaking to the president with “sir,” and there was always this slight discernable pause before he said it. The pause reall upped the respect factor.

The bad: the unbreakable Playfair cipher? Give me a break. Especially if you know the key is only five letters long...you don't sit Riley down in front of a computer to have him type in every five-letter word that pops into his mind. You have him write a computer program to try every five-letter word and report back on what appears to be the most likely candidate(s). Sigh.

where to shop

2008-06-28T04:00:10+00:00

This afternoon:

Tricia: We need matching bookshelves for the living room!

Becca: Mommy, we need to go to the matching store!

Shortly after dinner:

Becca: Daddy, we can use a big car instead of a big truck to do our moving! (said with the wonderment of a three-year old who has figured out a new fundamental fact of the universe)

Me: And where are we going to get this big car?

Becca: (after thinking for a bit) At the new big car store!

Me: I love you. (hugging Becca) You're so cute, Becca.

Becca: (nonchalantly) Yeah.

Rose-Hulman Students Learn Lessons from Entrepreneurs & Corporate Executives at Ventures' Summer Speakers Series

2008-06-27T17:30:18+00:00

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology students, faculty and staff members have been given the opportunity to rub elbows and seek career advice from business leaders, company presidents and lawyers through a summer speaker series at Rose-Hulman Ventures.

2001 Alumnus Helps Launch New High Tech Data Center

2008-06-26T19:00:00+00:00

Timing is everything in business. Following recent flooding throughout the Midwest, especially in Columbus, Ind., engine research and development firm Analytical Engineering, Inc. (AEI) has established a new sister company that will create a secure, high-tech data center and 25 new jobs.

Fraternities Earn National Recognition for Campus Deeds & House Management

2008-06-25T19:35:00+00:00

Two Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology fraternities have earned national recognition for their members' campus and community accomplishments, and management of their chapter houses during the 2007-08 school year.

Oranges and Lemons

2008-06-25T17:28:11+00:00

This morbid little nursery rhyme with its execution chorus has been in my head all week. Someone recently gifted us with a copy of The Baby's Opera and now I've learned lots of new, weird nursery rhymes.

ShiftBrite Demo Photo

2008-06-25T07:54:17+00:00

ShiftBrite RGB module doing its thing. I realized I didn't have any pictures of the modules lighting up in each color. Planning to get a datasheet written up within the next day or two.

Off the trail

2008-06-24T14:43:46+00:00

For how long, I don't know. After my 26 mile followed by 23 mile my feet said "I give in" so I hitched and somehow ended up in Buenda Vista VA. I was going for Glasgow, but ended up here and I'm still not quite sure how. So anyway, I'll check into a hotel after I leave the library and grab some lunch. Don't know what I'm doing from there, but I guess we'll see. Maybe I'll even call for a shuttle after lunch to Waynesboro so I can just stay there since that's where I'm going anyway? Or maybe just wait here for my parents to arrive and shuttle me to Waynesboro for free? I don't know. All I know is that I have to get off my feet and let them heal a couple of days. Then it will be SLOW going when Justin joins me on the 27th. And other good news, the outfitter in Waynesboro is holding some size 14 shoes for me to try on when I get there! Yay! I'll write more when I know what I'm doing with this downtime... Till then, keep smiling! Life is GREAT!
Scott (Smiley Happy Feet :-)

Attack of the Bentleys

2008-06-23T17:04:46+00:00

Bloody hell. In the ~10 months I've been living and working in NW Indianapolis, I've only had two occasions where the reckless driving of others has nearly caused me an accident or run me off the road. Both times, the car driven by the other person was a relatively new Bentley.

They need to include a note in the manual that tells new Bentley owners (or, more likely, their man servants) that paying $300k for a car doesn't mean that you can drive as if there are no other cars on the road.

Dear sage...

2008-06-23T16:14:33+00:00

I am unable to sign up with me@company.com (account already exists). I am unable to reset my password with username = me@company.com (account does not exist). I am unable to reset my password with email address = me@company.com (account does not exist).

Apparently my account should be named Schroedinger's Cat.

I would appreciate any assistance ...

What are you going to do, a resurrection?

2008-06-23T15:16:57+00:00

I've been listening to lots of Carlin on YouTube this morning, and came across one about death. Someone made the comment that "i think he's smiling down at us", and luckily YouTube's strange comment actions allowed me to give the appropriate feedback:

home for the week

2008-06-23T02:45:13+00:00

Last week, I traveled to Orlando for the Freescale Technology Forum. This past weekend was Gamefest 2008 and I spent a good bit of the weekend at Jerry's house. While both events were positive and enjoyable, I'm happy to be home this week and not, as far as I know, going much of anywhere.

Stupid linkage

2008-06-22T00:00:00+00:00

Star Wars Crawl generator.

Found over at RedState.

I'm about creatived out for the time being, but you guys have fun.

Feet and gear update

2008-06-21T01:54:45+00:00

There is SO much to say right now, but I'm very very tired and about to run out of time on this communal computer here at the hotel. So I'll keep this to what's on the top of my mind at the moment.

Thank you to Sara for the card in Bland! I appreciated the thought and it was really nice to see a birthday card. Thank you to all of those who have e-mailed and called! I might do some return calls after I log off here... Maybe. We'll see.

Anyway:

So, my feet are not doing very well.... Blisters, and I mean real big unbroken blisters, big broken blisters, blisters that have become caluses, and deep blisters under the caluses... Nothing is ibnfected right now, but they are there alright.

I don't quite know what I'm going to be doing about them. I'm switching shoes and socks again here in Daleville, and then I'm going to be taking slower hiking for awhile. I'll probably keep doing the same miles, but just do them more slowly...

In order to do this I will switch out my tarp with a different tent then I started with so that I don't have to hustle to make it to a shelter before it fills up.

So much more to say, maybe tomorrow morning before breakfast.

Till then, I hope you all keep smiling like I am! Life is GREAT!

The Rose Experience

2008-06-20T18:37:00+00:00

Students talk about academic highlights, campus life in new 'Rose Profiles' feature.

Mongol (2007)

2008-06-19T01:32:47+00:00

Madhavi and I got a chance to see this at the Indy Film Fest, and I've started seeing commercials indicating it is getting a much deserved wider release. Very, very good movie - highly recommended.

the jetsons

2008-06-18T20:59:00+00:00

At FTF today, the keynote speaker talked about the Jetsons and how, in a decade or so, we may see some of the technologies suggested in the Jetsons as a reality in our daily lives. And that made me think. You know, the Jetsons had all this fantastic stuff, didn't have to drive themselves everywhere, freed from the tedium of housework, etc. etc. And yet there was still conflict to be had, work to be done...their lives really weren't that different from the sort of lives we go through everyday. Certainly makes one a bit skeptical about people who go on at length about how machines and computers will free us to do bigger and better things...the Jetsons certainly weren't.

A Public Service Message

2008-06-18T11:48:45+00:00

I bought the youngster a pair of Wee Squeak shoes recently. They are shoes with squeakers in the soles.

He completely freaked out when he heard the squeaks. Cried inconsolably and refused to walk on them while yelling "HENNY! HENNY!" I guess he felt that he was stepping on chickens with every step.

The packaging, website, and the lady who sold me the shoes all said that the squeaks were removable. I could not see a way to do that without damaging the shoes.

So here is our public service message. If you have these shoes, and want them not to squeak, all you have to do is plug the little air outlet hole near the heel. We are currently using a piece of scotch tape for this purpose, but I'm sure caulk, play-doh, silly putty, or any of a multitude of similar substances would work.

Have Turkey Fryer, Will Travel

2008-06-17T21:59:53+00:00

I finally reclaimed my turkey fryer from carb's garage but since I don't have space to fry at my apartment, it needs a home for the summer and I need a place to practice the deep-fry craft. If you have a yard and grow wary yet another BBQ night, now is YOUR chance to eat delicious fried turkey all summer long AND probably not set your house on fire. It fries one 16lb turkey or 3 whole chickens in about 20 minutes. Inquire within.

Rose-Hulman Mascot "Rosie" to be Featured on ESPNU on June 27

2008-06-17T18:37:00+00:00

The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology athletic mascot "Rosie" will be featured in a segment on the television program "NCAA On Campus" to be aired on Friday June 27 at 11 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. EDT on ESPNU.