After one day of listening to people talk about science, freedom, and freedom to do science, I've come to a conclusion very quickly and have stuck by it: I should have had more sleep earlier. I haven't slept, or even seemed extremely tired, throughout these, but I would have preferred it if my brain was closer to 100% capacity for function throughout the talks. I have to say, to the world, that I found every single discussion I went to (1/4 of the total, as many as using each time slot permits) was full of interest in the topic from, often, most of the people in the room. I would put in my own two cents, and in return people were glad to share their knowledge on what was being discussed. There was also a healthy dose of general hilarity at a number of the rooms, and at one point it sounded as if a bunch of Vikings had walked into the hallway and started singing loudly, which lasted a few minutes. At the last session, I was given a concise overview of Serbian history, relating to politics, the state of the people, and the state of science as a whole in the country. Though this account may have had some bias because of the person delivering it, my knowledge of the world IQ may have gone up a point or two at the end of an hour.
On a side note, we were walking down the hallway to our room in the hotel when my dad pointed someone else out to me walking towards us:
(Dad): "Hey Sam, it's Michael."
(confused): "Oh. Hi Michael."
(Michael): "Hi guys!"
(still uncertain): "Hi."
(Dad): "It's Michael Nielsen."
(enlightened): "Oh. Oh! *facepalm*"
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Going to North Carolina! WOOOOOOOOOOOO
If you're one witty, clever sleuth, then you've probably come to the conclusion by now that I believe I'm headed for North Carolina. If you haven't, you should probably read the title more closely. If you have, then I'll be there the 16th to the 18th.
FAQ time!
1. If you almost never post, then why should we care that you're going for one measly weekend?
Well, all of my blogging up until two summers ago had been for a school project. After that, it had culminated in this trip. I'm now being prodded by my dad to post much less frequently, and thus I am, but it's still fun to do it. I could have just decided to stop blogging (and staying out of Python too, which I mostly have save for the occasional revisit). In that case, I wouldn't have been scheduled for this trip.
2. So you're motivated only by this trip, and you'll stop blogging afterwards.
Lies. Your fiendish deductive ability may have lead you to this conclusion with what seemed like flawless reasoning, but *nay! This trip, contrary to popular belief, actually impedes my school scheduling substantially. I don't want to miss this time, mostly because I'll have to catch up on everything as opposed to getting a nice free pass like the good old days of early primary school, but I'm still interested in going. I like blogging, and will continue to do so afterwards (even if some prodding might be involved).
3. So from once a week, to once a month, you'll now blog once a year.
That isn't even an established trend, but I'll break it anyway. By blogging more often than once a year, not less.
------------------------------------------------------
In an entirely related issue, I've been researching 'Screens of Death', and the Wikipedia article is alarmingly vast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MacOSX_kernel_panic.png
I found the Mac screens of death, and they lack one thing very common to other personal computer operating systems: no technical information. After the sad face series, the developers of Mac are shown to be true diehards when it comes to errors: no ugly lines of code or even old-school fonts with non-artistic screens. There's a black screen, with an artistically faded on/off symbol in the background with the message to turn off the computer given in four languages. That's a classy kernel panic.
I just got this off of Wikipedia, but I don't believe this is the sort of information people would forge just because they felt like it. It doesn't mean it can't possibly happen, but I doubt follow-up research is strictly necessary here.
*For all those of you that saw 'neigh', I have little but this to say: oops. I had to be reminded how to spell that homonym, too. Well... now, hopefully I'll remember.
FAQ time!
1. If you almost never post, then why should we care that you're going for one measly weekend?
Well, all of my blogging up until two summers ago had been for a school project. After that, it had culminated in this trip. I'm now being prodded by my dad to post much less frequently, and thus I am, but it's still fun to do it. I could have just decided to stop blogging (and staying out of Python too, which I mostly have save for the occasional revisit). In that case, I wouldn't have been scheduled for this trip.
2. So you're motivated only by this trip, and you'll stop blogging afterwards.
Lies. Your fiendish deductive ability may have lead you to this conclusion with what seemed like flawless reasoning, but *nay! This trip, contrary to popular belief, actually impedes my school scheduling substantially. I don't want to miss this time, mostly because I'll have to catch up on everything as opposed to getting a nice free pass like the good old days of early primary school, but I'm still interested in going. I like blogging, and will continue to do so afterwards (even if some prodding might be involved).
3. So from once a week, to once a month, you'll now blog once a year.
That isn't even an established trend, but I'll break it anyway. By blogging more often than once a year, not less.
------------------------------------------------------
In an entirely related issue, I've been researching 'Screens of Death', and the Wikipedia article is alarmingly vast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MacOSX_kernel_panic.png
I found the Mac screens of death, and they lack one thing very common to other personal computer operating systems: no technical information. After the sad face series, the developers of Mac are shown to be true diehards when it comes to errors: no ugly lines of code or even old-school fonts with non-artistic screens. There's a black screen, with an artistically faded on/off symbol in the background with the message to turn off the computer given in four languages. That's a classy kernel panic.
I just got this off of Wikipedia, but I don't believe this is the sort of information people would forge just because they felt like it. It doesn't mean it can't possibly happen, but I doubt follow-up research is strictly necessary here.
*For all those of you that saw 'neigh', I have little but this to say: oops. I had to be reminded how to spell that homonym, too. Well... now, hopefully I'll remember.
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