Monday, December 3, 2012
Fall
It has been raining down in California lately. And by raining, I mean lightly drizzling. But today the sun is out again with some blue sky. The leaves are finally changing, it almost seems like fall now.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Swamped
This is the TODO list I have created for the 17 days left at Mudd this semester. Keep in mind that it is still missing most of the group work I need to do to finish everything up. As they are scheduled, I will add the additional times required to work on CS105, CS121, and Independent Study to this ever growing, hardly shrinking, list. It is going to be a long two weeks...
Friday, October 19, 2012
Really Sore
I am sore everywhere this morning. Yesterday in riflery, our teacher wanted us to try unsupported positions. So far, we had only done the prone supported (which means lying down with the rifle propped up on sandbags). However, now we are experimenting with all the unsupported positions, prone, kneeling, and standing. Unfortunately, the gun is more than half my height and 15 pounds and now is only being held up by one arm. Which is killing me. My neck is sore, my back is sore, both arms are sore and I can no longer reliably hit the target. At least my professors are sympathetic.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
A Weekend in Seattle
Towards the end of the summer, Mom found some tickets for a Tegan & Sara concert in Seattle. Though the concert was going to be during school, she invited me and a friend home to see it. Carling and I quickly decided that it sounded like fun, so we bought the tickets to fly home for the weekend to see them.
Since the concert was on Monday 9/24, we decided to fly out for the entire weekend and enjoy some time visiting Seattle. We had a late night flight on Friday 9/21, after finishing our classes and other prior engagements.
On Saturday 9/22 we decided to head into the city for a little outing. We wandered around the waterfront and Pike Place Market, enjoying the weather and typical tourist sites. We considered going on the Ferris wheel but were deterred by the long lines.
Next, we decided to stop by Gasworks park since the weather was gorgeous and we thought it would be a fun outing. The park is very fun and pretty, so we got a number of cool pictures while hanging out there:
There was a fairly unusual wedding happening at the park; some people in attendance were wearing steampunk clothes while the rest seemed pretty normal. It was a strange group for sure.
There also seemed to be some kind of event, with lots of kids sliding down the hill on ice cubes:
That night, we had a delicious homemade dinner: pasta with meatballs and German chocolate cake! We finished up the night by watching Kiki's Delivery Service before bed.
On Sunday 9/23 we had a wonderful breakfast at Esta's! She made delicious swedish pancakes and yummy fruit smoothies. After breakfast, we had a little time to do some work before heading to Queen Mary's Tea House for afternoon tea. It was a extremely fun and delicious, but it was a lot of food!
That night, when we were finally starting to get hungry, we had some wonderful home made chili and Lazy Daisy cake while watching How to Train your Dragon. Carling had never seen it before!
Finally, we got to Monday 9/24. Nick had gone back to school the last night, so Carling and I decided to use this day to do a little more work and some shopping. We drove down to Alderwood mall and had a very successful outing. We went to the Ram in the U Village for dinner, before heading to the concert around 7:30pm.
The concert was in the cute little theater, the Neptune, which is right next to the University of Washington.
The opening band, Speak, was a group of fairly young boys from Texas. They were pretty good and an adorable group. They certainly did their job well of chatting up Tegan & Sara and getting the audience excited!
Then, Tegan & Sara! It was absolutely amazing! They are a great band to watch live and everyone was incredibly excited to see them! It was definitely worth it to come home for the weekend just to have the opportunity to see them in such a close setting.
The 6am flight was less ideal, but overall it was totally worth it!
Since the concert was on Monday 9/24, we decided to fly out for the entire weekend and enjoy some time visiting Seattle. We had a late night flight on Friday 9/21, after finishing our classes and other prior engagements.
On Saturday 9/22 we decided to head into the city for a little outing. We wandered around the waterfront and Pike Place Market, enjoying the weather and typical tourist sites. We considered going on the Ferris wheel but were deterred by the long lines.
Next, we decided to stop by Gasworks park since the weather was gorgeous and we thought it would be a fun outing. The park is very fun and pretty, so we got a number of cool pictures while hanging out there:
There was a fairly unusual wedding happening at the park; some people in attendance were wearing steampunk clothes while the rest seemed pretty normal. It was a strange group for sure.
There also seemed to be some kind of event, with lots of kids sliding down the hill on ice cubes:
That night, we had a delicious homemade dinner: pasta with meatballs and German chocolate cake! We finished up the night by watching Kiki's Delivery Service before bed.
On Sunday 9/23 we had a wonderful breakfast at Esta's! She made delicious swedish pancakes and yummy fruit smoothies. After breakfast, we had a little time to do some work before heading to Queen Mary's Tea House for afternoon tea. It was a extremely fun and delicious, but it was a lot of food!
That night, when we were finally starting to get hungry, we had some wonderful home made chili and Lazy Daisy cake while watching How to Train your Dragon. Carling had never seen it before!
Finally, we got to Monday 9/24. Nick had gone back to school the last night, so Carling and I decided to use this day to do a little more work and some shopping. We drove down to Alderwood mall and had a very successful outing. We went to the Ram in the U Village for dinner, before heading to the concert around 7:30pm.
The concert was in the cute little theater, the Neptune, which is right next to the University of Washington.
The opening band, Speak, was a group of fairly young boys from Texas. They were pretty good and an adorable group. They certainly did their job well of chatting up Tegan & Sara and getting the audience excited!
Then, Tegan & Sara! It was absolutely amazing! They are a great band to watch live and everyone was incredibly excited to see them! It was definitely worth it to come home for the weekend just to have the opportunity to see them in such a close setting.
The 6am flight was less ideal, but overall it was totally worth it!
Friday, August 24, 2012
King Tut
Today Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Pat, and I visited the Pacific Science Center to see the King Tut exhibit. It was a wonderful exhibit filled with many interesting and beautiful artifacts. Like most exhibits containing ancient artifacts, it was a little dark which made taking pictures difficult. Here are some of the best photographs I have from the exhibit:
After walking all the way through the exhibit, we went to lunch at the new, fancy [Chihuly] cafe at the Seattle Center. The food was not the best, but the french fries were fantastic! Overall, we had a wonderful outing!
After walking all the way through the exhibit, we went to lunch at the new, fancy [Chihuly] cafe at the Seattle Center. The food was not the best, but the french fries were fantastic! Overall, we had a wonderful outing!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Theo Chocolate Factory
Today Mom, Pat, and I took a tour of the Theo Chocolate Factory in Fremont. It was a short one hour tour of their small factory but it was a lot of fun! There were tons of free samples; my favorites were the dark orange, the dark sea salt, and the simple milk chocolate.
The tour started with a discussion of the process involved in making chocolate and then lead to an actual tour of the factory. Here are a few pictures from the main processing portion of the factory:
Our tour guide was very energetic and engaging; she made the experience very fun!
At one point in the tour, we were given the opportunity to try the bitter cocoa nibs produced after the roasting process. Mom found them to be incredibly bitter though Pat and I thought they seemed rather plain, almost like grape nuts.
We then went into the confection room in which the fancy decorated chocolates are produced.
At the end, we headed into the gift shop for more taste testing and some purchases. All of the chocolate (besides the spicy ones, yuck!) were delicious!
The tour started with a discussion of the process involved in making chocolate and then lead to an actual tour of the factory. Here are a few pictures from the main processing portion of the factory:
Our tour guide was very energetic and engaging; she made the experience very fun!
At one point in the tour, we were given the opportunity to try the bitter cocoa nibs produced after the roasting process. Mom found them to be incredibly bitter though Pat and I thought they seemed rather plain, almost like grape nuts.
We then went into the confection room in which the fancy decorated chocolates are produced.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Back to the Future
This evening Nick and I went to the Magnuson outdoor movie event. Tonight's feature was Back to the Future. I had never seen it before tonight, and found it very enjoyable and entertaining.
The evening started off with some food from the available booths as well as some entertainment in the forms of clowns, trivia questions, and more. We then met up with Nick's friend Max and Max's girlfriend Olivia at the start of the movie. It was a very nice day, though it got a little cold once the sun set. The movie was very crowded and very fun!
The evening started off with some food from the available booths as well as some entertainment in the forms of clowns, trivia questions, and more. We then met up with Nick's friend Max and Max's girlfriend Olivia at the start of the movie. It was a very nice day, though it got a little cold once the sun set. The movie was very crowded and very fun!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
User Testing: ASETNIOP
Yesterday I received an email from someone at HMC inviting a few students to help user test a new form of touch typing. I quickly responded and was invited to the small user test today. The system is known as ASETNIOP which reflects the systems' primary focus on these letters as the base for the most common letters used in typing.
The goal of this typing system is to remove the need for a physical keyboard and finger placement and instead focus on combinations of finger presses. Each letter in the alphabet is formed with the touch of either a single finger or the combination of two fingers. The letters are based on which two fingers are pressed down at any one time. This makes it a good system for touch screen tablets since it removes the need for a visual keyboard on the screen and instead focuses on calculating finger touch location and how it is paired with letters. The system also lends itself to future uses in which a keyboard is no longer necessary for computers or other systems as well. An additional feature suggested by this system is that the parings of letters are based off of the QWERTY layout which should allow for an easy switch between systems.
Today, I was testing the alternative keyboard on my iPad. The thing that I personally found most difficult is the strong reliance on the right pinky for backspace and other letters such as M, K, and P. In using this system, I came to realize that I do not use my right pinky while touch typing on a QWERTY keyboard for anything besides the enter key. The ASETNIOP system correlates how common a letter is with which fingers are easiest to control. It is a fairly easy system to pick up besides it's reliance on some underused fingers.
Another student asked if piano players have an easier time learning the system due to their practice with chords. The man leading the testing (a HMC alumni) explained that the system had only just entered a testing phase so he was unsure if this had a substantial effect.
You can look at the system here for some actual practice (under Tutorial) or more information here: http://www.asetniop.com/. If you have an iPad, you can check it out by appending "ipad-l" or "ipad-r" depending on whether you primarily use your left or right thumb to press the space bar.
The goal of this typing system is to remove the need for a physical keyboard and finger placement and instead focus on combinations of finger presses. Each letter in the alphabet is formed with the touch of either a single finger or the combination of two fingers. The letters are based on which two fingers are pressed down at any one time. This makes it a good system for touch screen tablets since it removes the need for a visual keyboard on the screen and instead focuses on calculating finger touch location and how it is paired with letters. The system also lends itself to future uses in which a keyboard is no longer necessary for computers or other systems as well. An additional feature suggested by this system is that the parings of letters are based off of the QWERTY layout which should allow for an easy switch between systems.
Today, I was testing the alternative keyboard on my iPad. The thing that I personally found most difficult is the strong reliance on the right pinky for backspace and other letters such as M, K, and P. In using this system, I came to realize that I do not use my right pinky while touch typing on a QWERTY keyboard for anything besides the enter key. The ASETNIOP system correlates how common a letter is with which fingers are easiest to control. It is a fairly easy system to pick up besides it's reliance on some underused fingers.
Another student asked if piano players have an easier time learning the system due to their practice with chords. The man leading the testing (a HMC alumni) explained that the system had only just entered a testing phase so he was unsure if this had a substantial effect.
You can look at the system here for some actual practice (under Tutorial) or more information here: http://www.asetniop.com/. If you have an iPad, you can check it out by appending "ipad-l" or "ipad-r" depending on whether you primarily use your left or right thumb to press the space bar.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
The Getty Center
Today I went to the Getty Center in LA with a large group of people from Mudd as a planned summer event meant to keep us entertained. The Getty is a huge art museum with multiple buildings and a beautiful outdoor garden. It is located on top of a hill which means it has incredible views in all directions and today the weather was fantastic. They had a large collection of art including work by Monet and van Gogh.
It was fun to look at all the different art in the numerous buildings around the Getty and to spent some time lying in the grass near the garden, enjoying the beautiful weather. Here are a few pictures of the Getty and the garden for your enjoyment:
It was fun to look at all the different art in the numerous buildings around the Getty and to spent some time lying in the grass near the garden, enjoying the beautiful weather. Here are a few pictures of the Getty and the garden for your enjoyment:
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| Taken while lying in the grass (straight up). |
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Moonrise Kingdom
After work today Tessa, Carling, and I went to the village for dinner and a movie. We went to a restaurant in Claremont called Eureka Burger which was a great choice! We were all really in the mood for burgers so they seemed particularly delicious. Then, we went to the local movie theater to see Moonrise Kingdom. Though none of us knew anything about the movie prior to seeing it, Carling's father recommended it so and we thought it would be a good use of our extensive free time this summer. The movie was fantastic!
The film style and decisions were unique and interesting; the humor was exceptionally clever and the writing fantastic. The characters were all engaging and overall the movie extremely enjoyable and even a little bit weird. Here is a movie poster and a synopsis for your viewing pleasure:
Synopsis from: http://focusfeatures.com/moonrise_kingdom/synopsis
The film style and decisions were unique and interesting; the humor was exceptionally clever and the writing fantastic. The characters were all engaging and overall the movie extremely enjoyable and even a little bit weird. Here is a movie poster and a synopsis for your viewing pleasure:
Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two 12-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore – and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in every which way.
Synopsis from: http://focusfeatures.com/moonrise_kingdom/synopsis
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