Happy Birthday, NASA!

NASA turned fifty today. Hooray!

Falling up.

In a new blog I've recently taken to, there's a story about a woman whose inner ear betrayed her, and what she did about it. This sort of thing always makes me sit up and pay attention. I love the idea of the human brain, and how it gets changed. The story includes a link to a book called The Brain that Changes Itself, but that seems a little misleading to me. Does the brain really change itself? I say, no.

That's not to say that the brain isn't an amazing piece of biological hardware, or that it doesn't change in strange and fascinating ways. But in this particular instance, the first change was brought about because of an overdose of antibiotics, and the corrective change uses some clever electrical engineering worked into a helmet. That's the brain reacting to outside influences in my book- something my car does on a daily basis.

Let's get a little more philosophical about this: both changes, the drug and the helmet, were the products of other people's brains. Human brains made these tools, and human brains decided to use them. And the decisions in this case were brought about because of the patient's brain going wonky. Shouldn't that count as the patient's brain changing itself, then changing itself back (albeit through a strange route)?

Again, I say no. Once you get back to first causes, the human brain seems to react to its external environment. Stuff happens to the brain, and it reacts according to a poorly understood rule-system based on its structure and chemical makeup. At least, that's how I understand it. People have evolved to have exceedingly complex behaviors, but I believe any given behavior is just the simultaneous expression of a number of rules, any one of which evolved because it gives an advantage for reproduction over competing rules for behavior in a given situation. And any given "rule" is really just a way for the brain to send signals around itself, or more specifically, for one part of the brain to send signals to another part, or even more specifically, for one neuron to either fire or not.

For more on the subject, track down the most recent episode of Radio Lab that I know of. It's called Emergence. Hey, look at that! It's tracked down.

Of course, I'm not a neurologist, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. Unless not doing so gives you a reproductive advantage.

A voice in the crowd.

Do you remember the days of pirate radio? Sure you do. Such carefree times, when a lone nerd could usurp some of the power of the major radio corporations, broadcasting to his/her entire neighborhood whatever s/he wanted. As long as you knew what frequency to tune into. And you were within range. And the playlist didn't suck.

Ah, but now, we have the magic of the internet. And it turns out, the internet is pretty damn big. It's bigger than magazines and catalogues put together (I assume). Follow the link, and you'll find that in 2000, the big milestone we hit was a thousand times smaller than this one. In eight years, the internet has increased a thousand fold. Much of it is for good, some is for ill, but mostly, it's a bunch of people just trying to find a way to pass the time.

And I, for one, am grateful. Now if only they'd invent a time machine so I could find a way to make it all go even faster.

From A to B.

Well, I did it. (I haven't spent the entire time from the last post to this working on it, just so you know.) Here's my list of links:

Reinoso
Spain
Water Sports
List of water sports
Water Polo
Water Polo World Championship
1998 FINA Men's World Water Polo Championship

I'm almost afraid to try this again. Well, we'll see how bored I get at work.

Kevin Bacon: Six degrees to anything.

There's a game out there. It can be played anywhere with an internet connection, has no time limit (unless you want there to be one), can be played with friends or alone, and the only skill it really requires is creative thinking.

The best way to play solo is to click on the Random Article link twice, then try to connect what you find. Seriously. Waste some time with this.

Incidentally, I just took my own advice, and came up with Reinoso and some sports thing. I have no idea how I'm going to connect anything to that first one.

Boomdeyada, indeed.

I don't know if you've been watching the Discovery Channel lately (over the past year or so), but if you have, you might have seen this commercial. It is, quite possibly, the best commercial ever. It is not a comedy or the intro to a porn, like so many commercials out there. It is simply a statement that, yes, the world we have around us is actually kickass. Go out and look at it.

Or stay in and make something. Or draw something. Just take a minute and think about the general kickassness of the world.

And if you still doubt the power of the commercial, know this: it has its own entry over at Wikipedia. Me, I'm gonna go learn to play the saxophone. Boomdeyada.

Today has been... interesting.

So, I went out book shopping today. I got up to the used book store in Mountain View. Funny thing about that book store: it's right next to one of the local branches of a particular well-known group, which tends to creep me the hell out. Outside, there were a bunch of folks in Guy Fawkes masks, or various other face-covering garments. They held signs saying "Ask me about my mask" and "Sci--------- Kills". I'm not sure what exactly they were all up in masks about, but they've got my vote. Hail Xenu.

Anyway, while I was in the bookstore, I picked up a copy of the camel book, which is well-known in the computer science industry. I'm very happy with the purchase, and having just tested out the first hundred pages or so, I already feel like more of a real, honest-to-nerdness programmer. Hooray for nerd fun.

I was embedded in writing some quick scripts for my own amusement, when, at about 7 pm, there came a loud thumping to my attention. At first, I thought, "Ho-hum, this must be one of those 'earthquake' things I've heard so much about. How interesting." But I quickly ascertained that the force that was rattling the structure of my bedroom was both rhythmic and accompanied by a melody. I grabbed my book and headed outside, where the source of the vibrations turned out to be the stereo of a car parked on our front lawn. I hopped into my own vehicle and headed to quieter frontiers. A few hours later, when I returned home, I found out that the police had been called. I have the vague feeling that someone around here might think I'm connected with the cessation of the impromptu concert, but so far, no one has accused me of anything. I think I'm in the clear.

Let's see what tomorrow brings. It might top today, but I'm hoping it won't.

I must be losing my mind.

Today, in a desperate measure, I searched out hospital job openings in the area. I don't want to leave my current job, but I figured an additional part time gig would help me make enough money to really spoil myself. I'm talking food every single day, and a bank account that doesn't go into the negative every single week.

Oh, to be rich.

Anyway, I found a spot as a phlebotomist at a local hospital. Not only did I consider it, I was halfway through filling out the online application when I remembered just how much I hate stabbing people for money. Then I remembered the corollaries that job would entail: crazy hours, crazy nurses, crazy patients. So I scrapped that idea, but now I'm at kind of a loss for what to do with the scraps of time I'm given; maybe I'll go apply at Ikea or something.

Back in black.

Ok, so the only thing on me that's reasonably described as "black" are my socks. But still, I'm back online, and from my very own bedroom. I went out this morning, got myself a decent wireless router, and haven't really left the room since.

I might've better spent that money on a mattress, but for the past ten hours (since I got online), I haven't really felt as pressing a need for one.

Anyway, now that I have my anytime internet connection back, I feel much more able to hunt around for the best deal in mattress technology that I can get. So if I save a few bucks on a mattress, it's like the wireless router has started to pay for itself, right?

My setup is interesting; my roommate pays for cable & internet. He let me set up the router in his room, because that's where the modem is. Once it was all done, he offered to chip in a few bucks for the cost of the router. He has yet to charge me for the Comcast bill.

Before you start the hate, I will tell you that no, I did not accept any money from him. There is some kind of a limit, after all.