HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Dream like you can touch the stars

Love like you have never been hurt

Dance like no one is watching

Moving Out Redux

    Everything fell into place much better than expected.  Last night my friend Tim and I signed a year lease on a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment out in Beaverton.  Our building is probably no more than 100 meters to a Max station.  It comes with a dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer in the unit.  $850 a month rent split between two people.  Not bad if you ask me.

    I've been gone before. Three tours, a year at the dorms in Western oregon University, this past summer subletting for Jamey.  This time is different however.  I signed a year lease.  I am moving out of my parents for good.  It terrifies me.  I have lived at home on the same plot of land for my whole life.  I am just use to it.  Mom told me that after I first mentioned about seriously looking at an apartment, Dad was sitting on their bed and said "I don't want him to go."  Dad suffered the worst when I first left to Western.  Just the look on his face every time I talk about it, and the things Mom says...

    I can't help but feel incredibly guilty.

What Sex is My Brain?

From the BBC

The scale below is an indication of where you fall in the male-female brain continuum. The results are based on the angles, spot the difference, 3D shapes and words tasks. Bear in mind that your performance may be affected by many factors in addition to gender, like age and intelligence. Your personal brain score: Average score for MEN who've taken this survey: Average score for WOMEN who've taken this survey: If you are using a public PC we strongly advise you to print out and delete your results if you do not want anyone to see them. back to top Part 1 Angles   This task tested your ability to identify the angle of a line by matching it with its twin. This is a spatial task, which looks at how you picture space. Your score: 16 out of 20 Average score for men: 15.1 out of 20 Average score for women: 13.3 out of 20 What does your result suggest? If you scored 0 - 12: You have more of a female brain. Scientists believe that people with a female brain find it more difficult to judge the slope of a line because they're not wired for spatial tasks. In past studies, 65 per cent of people who scored in this range were women. If you scored 13 - 17: You found this test neither hard nor easy. This suggests your brain has male and female traits when it comes to spatial ability. If you scored 18 - 20: You have more of a male brain. On average, men outperform women in this task and those with more mathematical knowledge tend to score quite high as well. In past studies, 60 per cent of the people in this range were men. Interestingly, men's testosterone levels fluctuate through the seasons and studies have shown that men's scores are lower in the spring, when their testosterone levels are at their lowest. Do our cave dwelling ancestors offer us any clues about why men and women score differently on this task? Find out more. Spot the difference   This task tested your ability to identify which objects changed position. You lost points, if you incorrectly identified objects. Your score: 64% Average score for men: 39% Average score for women: 46% What does your score suggest? If you scored between 0 - 33%: You may have more of a male brain. Scientists say men tend to under perform in this task. The corpus callosum, the part of the brain that links the right and left hemispheres, is a fifth larger in women. This means women can process visual and other signals at the same time more easily than men. There is also a theory that oestrogen levels in women give them an added advantage in spatial memory. If you scored between 34 - 66%: You may have a balanced female-male brain. If you scored between 67 - 100%: Those with a female-type brain generally score in this range. Your ability to remember where objects are may serve as an advantage to you when you're trying to find your way around places. You're more capable of recalling landmarks to get from one place to another. Find out more about our spatial abilities. back to top Part 2 Hands   You said your right thumb was on top when you clasped your hands together. Right thumb on top: This suggests the left half of your brain is dominant. Many studies have tried to establish whether there is a relationship between handedness and brain dominance. Some scientists believe that if you are left brain dominant, you would be more verbal and analytical. Left thumb on top: This suggests the right half of your brain is dominant. Some studies theorise that as a right brain dominant person, you may excel in visual, spatial and intuitive processes. However, these theories are debatable and leave much to be said about the small percentage of people who are ambidextrous. Find out why right-brained people may be better fighters and artists. back to top Part 3 Emotions and Systems   This task looked at whether you prefer to empathise or systemise. Empathising Your empathy score is: 15 out of 20 Average score for men: 7.9 out of 20 Average score for women: 10.6 out of 20 What does your result suggest? Empathisers are better at accurately judging other people's emotions and responding appropriately. If you scored 15 and above, you are very empathic and would be an ideal person to comfort people in a time of crisis. Women in general are better at empathising. Systemising Your systemising score is: 14 out of 20 Average score for men: 12.5 out of 20 Average score for women: 8.0 out of 20 What does your result suggest? Systemisers prefer to investigate how systems work. A system can be a road map, flat pack furniture, or a mathematical equation – anything that follows a set of rules. A score of 15 and above suggests you're good at analysing or building systems. Men in general are better at systemising. Scientists are keen to learn more about people who score high or low on both tests. They want to find out whether or not empathising and systemising are linked. Is a possible to make yourself more empathic? Some scientists claim that our empathy and systemising abilities can be traced all the way back to prehistoric times. Find out more. Eyes   This task tested your ability to judge people's emotions. Your score: 8 out of 10 Average score for men: 6.6 out of 10 Average score for women: 6.6 out of 10 What does your result suggest? If you scored 0 - 3: Do you think you're good at judging how another person is feeling? Your score suggests this doesn't come to you quite so naturally. If you scored 4 - 6: Your result suggests you have a balanced female-male brain and find it neither easy nor difficult to judge people's emotions. If you scored 7 - 10: Your result suggests you are a good empathiser, sensitive to other people's emotions. Women generally fall into this category. Professor Baron-Cohen at the University of Cambridge says that people usually perform better than they expect to on this test. Men often think a person's eyes are sending signals of desire when that's not the case at all. Find out more. back to top Part 4 Fingers   We asked you to measure your ring and index fingers. Your ratios came to: Right Hand: 0.98 Left Hand: 0.97 Average ratio for men: 0.982 Average ratio for women: 0.991 It's thought that your ratio is governed by the amount of testosterone you were exposed to in your mother's womb. The ratio of the length of your index finger to the length of your ring finger is set for life by as early as three months after conception. Even during puberty, when we experience intensive hormonal changes, the ratio stays the same. Men generally have a ring finger that is longer than their index finger, which gives them a lower ratio than women, whose ring and index fingers are usually of equal length. Studies have found that men and women with lots of brothers generally have more masculine finger ratios. Find out what other things scientists think our ratios may tell us. back to top Part 5 Faces   This task looked at how you rate the attractiveness of a series of faces. The images you looked at were digitally altered to create slight differences in masculinity. Your choices suggest you prefer more masculine faces. Highly masculinised male faces possess more extreme testosterone markers such as a long, broad and lower jaw, as well as more pronounced brow ridges and cheekbones. Interestingly, women's preferences are said to vary across the menstrual phase. A more masculine face is preferred during the 9 days prior to ovulation, when conception is most likely. A typical 'attractive' female face possesses features such as a shorter, narrower, lower jaw, fuller lips and larger eyes than an average face. Are you surprised at what researchers think they can learn from your answers? Find out more. back to top Part 6 3D shapes   This task tested your ability to mentally rotate 3D shapes. Your score: 12 out of 12 Average score for men: 8.2 out of 12 Average score for women: 7.1 out of 12 What does your result suggest? If you scored 0 - 6: Do you find yourself having to physically rotate a map to point in the direction in which you're travelling? This might explain why you scored in the lower range in the 3D shapes test. Twice as many women as men score in this category. Previous studies suggest that those with a female-type brain or with an arts background fall into this range. If you scored 7 - 9: In past studies, 50 per cent of the people who scored in this range were women and 50 per cent were men. If you scored 10 - 12: Are you an engineer or do you have a science background? People with these skills tend to score in this range. Past studies have concluded that people in this range have a more male brain. Nearly a third of men who took this test got full marks, whereas less than 10 per cent of women managed the same. Find out why. Words   This task looked at your verbal fluency. Your score: you associated 7 word(s) with grey and you named 7 word(s) that mean happy. We are assuming that all the words you entered are correct. Average score for men: 11.4 words total Average score for women: 12.4 words total What does your result suggest? If you produced 1 - 5 words: You are more of the strong, silent type with a male brain. You probably find it easier to express yourself in non-verbal ways, preferring action rather than words. If you produced 6 - 10 words: Most people in this range have a female-type brain. Women are said to use both sides of the brain when doing verbal tasks while men mainly use their left side. Studies have shown that girls develop vocabulary faster than boys. This difference in brain power is caused by levels of pre-natal testosterone. Find out more . Ultimatum   This task asked you how you would divide money. If you had to split £50 with someone, you said you would demand £25 So far on the Sex ID test, men have demanded 51.6% (£25.80) of the pot and women have demanded 51.0% (£25.50), on average. What does your response suggest? Sex differences are small in this task. Demanding less than 60% of the pot (ie £30) is more typically female. Demanding more than 65% of the pot (ie £32.50) is more typically male. Scientists believe that people with lower testosterone levels tend to take fewer risks so they are probably more willing to keep less for themselves. Those with higher testosterone levels tend to drive a harder bargain and are less compromising. Men's testosterone levels fluctuate over the seasons and are at their lowest levels during the springtime. This is said to influence their bargaining power. Find out more about the role of testosterone.

My Goodies

    For Christmas I got:

•  
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  • Fluxx
  • A watch
  • Black Holes and Revelations by Muse
  • Rehargable batteries for the Wiimote
  • 2 Candles
  • An 'atomic' alarm clock that projects the time onto the ceiling
    
  • A cooking spoon
  • A bathroom scrub brush
  • A cordless phone that I wont be able to use as our apartment wont have a land line
  • Candies and cookies
  • Dish towels
    
  • Oven mitt
  • Astronomy calendar
  • First book in The Lensman series (these books are considered the father of the space opera)
  • Sponges
  • Shampoo
  • Civilization IV: Warlord

Many Blessings

I wish all of you safe, fun, and wonderful holidays.

May we all be fat and happy.

-David-

Christmas Lists

    Christmas Eve is less that 24 hours away.  The past 365 days I have been pondering  the act of gift giving.  About a year ago I read a thread about giving gift cards as gifts.  Some occasions this is an acceptable gift.  Somehow it misses the spirit of Christmas.  Part of the idea behind giving gifts is to bestow upon someone something you want to share and think they would like.  Just giving giftcards is no different than giving people money.  Ideally if everyone is exchanging the same value of giftcards then there is no real reason to exchange at all as there is no net financial gain. My parents want lists from my brother and I.  Not only has it been more difficult for me to come up with ideas for the list, but it needs to be as detailed as possible.  I'd like a wall calendar and I asked for one.  Keeping the spirit of discovery and sharing in mind I wasn't very specific.  I was then submitted to interrogation.  Do I want a space or Dr Seuss themed calendar.  I had both the past two years and I'd like something new.  What kind of space calendar do I want?  The questions stopped just short of taking me to the store to pick out the calendar I want.  May as well just give me a gift card if it is going to go that far.  May as well not exchange gifts at all.

     There is nothing wrong with having a wish list especially with more expensive items.  These should be part followed and part guides.  Last year I gave my parents a steamer to make de-wrinkling clothes more easy.  They had no clue that such a thing existed and my dad has been quite pleased that I gave it to them.  If I followed a strict list they wouldn't of had a clue.  Yes giving in this was is risky.  Some things may bomb.  And that is alright.  No need for us to be spoiled brats.

     I'm not a terrible fan of giving or receiving clothes either.  I'd want to pick it out (or more like Derek pick it out) myself. I had no good spot to put that sentence hence I dropped it at the end.

Stormy Weather

    Major windstorm last night in western Oregon. The worst in a decade. The large storm a decade ago resulted in my house loosing power for six days. The funny thing is we had a major ice storm about three years ago and we kept our power. Here is the text message I sent to Derek (enjoying Disneyland that basdard!):

300,000 without power (I'm one of them). 40 ft swells at the beach. All highways to the cost are closed. Westside blue line and yellowline shutdown from fallen trees and no power. Tree fell closing schoolsferry road yesterday, fucking up Beaverton traffic (which is a nightmare to begin with). Tree fallen on my road with live wire last night, still there this morning despite call to fire department. All school districts from west hills to coast closed.

    I bet I will be without power for about two to four nights. My building my own router project will have to wait until power is restored. I did fail miserably at Risk last night however!

    EDIT: Woo I forgot to update this!  We only lost power for one night.  What is odd is that we got power back while there were still a good hundred odd thousand in the area without!

A Quote From Research

"There is a great battle going on in our intellectual culture today.
It is a battle between people who believe that science opens new
possibilities for human life and people who worry that it closes them."

--Louis Menand

Liquid Water On MARS!!!!!!

The Bad Astronomer has a very good description of what is going on, but I will show the picture anyways.

See that?  That is almost likely from WATER ON MARS! 

Now we just need to tell bush it is oil!

Faster I Say!

    One of the things I really liked about the set up for my site was that fancy fading menu. It kept things clean and prevented information overload. The problem is the javascript used to make the fading system was very big. Before I started site optimizations it would have taken over two minutes to load the site on a 56k modem. I removed a lot of the scripts and the fading feature. The site will now load in under 5 seconds on a 56k modem but now it feels cluttered. I think part of the problem is that the sidebar stuff loads first and then the content. I am going to switch things around in the code so the entries will load first. It seems to be a leftover design from one of the templated I used a while ago. I switched things around, but I am keeping the scripts in place for now. I am also on the hunt to find a lighter version of the scripting system. When I find it I will switch over and I hope things will improve. Comments are always welcome.

    Update: I just found a couple online compressing tools that remove whitespaces and comments. I shaved off about 20 kb right there. I'm looking into other ways of compressing things down more.

    Update 2: I found out about the defer tag used when calling scripts in the head section. This nice little tag tells the browser to load the script last allowing content to be loaded first.

    Update 3: I can gzip javascript files!  It just cut down the filesize by a third.  Quite amazing if you ask me.  One problem.  Now the fancy fade problem isn't working.

The Linux

    I am picking up the bat again to play with linux. I got two reasons for this. First is Derek's laptop is crazy slow. It's cpu is about equivalent to my desktop when one factors in the different architecture, but it runs so much more sluggish. I'm going to give him both Ubuntu and Kubuntu live cds to see if he would be interested in dual booting. The other reason is for my work flow. Trying to work in windows is so distracting because of all the games that are sitting there yelling "PLAY ME!" I am too use to dinking around in my room so I need to change something in my environment to help entice me to better productivity.

    I began to clean up my hard drives to make room for Linux until i realized that my windows partition was half the size of the physical drive it is on. I cracked open the computer management software in XP and saw that there were two partitions taking up the space. I downloaded Ext2 IFS to be able to read and write to the Linux partition. Indeed an older installation of Ubuntu was hiding in there. I am going to be using one of the Ubuntu distributions. So here is my question. Should I use Gnome or KDE?

KDE (0 votes)
Gnomee (0 votes)

I am so working for the Beaverton School District

    ...and here is why.  They (as in the district administration) believe that the mandated standardized testing is absolutely useless in assessing student, classroom and school achievement. They don't even release test scores, unlike Portland Public which have a wealth of score information on their public website, and don't use them internally in the district. It gets even worse.  They found that the most effective way of measuring these things is by actual student work samples. The blasphemy doesn't stop there.  This work sample based assessment is so effective that the district convinced the state of Oregon that they do not need to administer mandated standardized test in this subject field.  This precedent paves the way for other subjects to follow suit.

    I should note that the district statatician have a standardized test which is an effective tool in measuring certain aspects of achievement, but these results are not used as a major or final statement. As it should be.