tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239036802010-03-19T23:25:58.102-05:00Drew's DayAndrewnoreply@blogger.comBlogger201125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-27319458480416852972010-03-19T23:25:00.001-05:002010-03-19T23:25:58.175-05:00This blog has moved<br /> This blog is now located at http://blog.drewsday.com/.<br /> You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click <a href='http://blog.drewsday.com/'>here</a>.<br /><br /> For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to<br /> http://blog.drewsday.com/feeds/posts/default.<br /> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-2731945848041685297?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-4907302609831019162010-02-12T21:11:00.002-06:002010-02-13T08:14:19.252-06:00A. wins 365-267<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XVENPz3BlbM/S3YYcWZv2oI/AAAAAAAADms/ComECP0t6_c/s1600-h/2010-02-12+21.10.16-704117.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XVENPz3BlbM/S3YYcWZv2oI/AAAAAAAADms/ComECP0t6_c/s160/2010-02-12+21.10.16-704117.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437560475425430146" border="0" /></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-490730260983101916?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-54786378179409208982010-02-09T16:47:00.009-06:002010-02-09T23:01:34.131-06:00How powerful is a physics professor, anyway?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/van1-716899.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 414px; height: 253px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/van1-716894.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Over at <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/dotphysics/">Dot Physics</a>, Rhett has been <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/dotphysics/2010/02/i_can_pull_more_than_3000_poun.php">explaining the inaccurate calculation of power</a> on a TV show that I have never heard of or had the chance to see. He posted a video of himself pulling the family minivan with the family inside. He even posted a video of his 6-year old pulling the vehicle!<br /><br />I assume that in a future post, he'll be giving the right way to calculate the power, but I couldn't resist trying out video analysis in Logger Pro with his video.<br /><br />I analyzed the first 3.5 seconds after the van starts to move by clicking on the same point on the van every few frames. I used the wheel base of the 2007 Mazda 5 as a guess for the scale calibration.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/graph1-726600.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 254px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/graph1-726598.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I was pretty surprised that on my first attempt, the position-time data had a nice parabolic shape. I could have probably spent a little more time making sure that I always clicked on the exact same spot on the van, but for quick and dirty analysis, I'm pretty happy. Logger Pro defaults to motion to the left as having negative velocity. I didn't really try to reset this, as I only care about the magnitude of the rate of velocity change (i.e. the acceleration).<br /><br />The acceleration is the slope of the velocity-time graph, so let's look at that:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/graph2-778402.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 254px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/graph2-778399.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>Okay, so Rhett either wasn't applying a constant force over the 3.5 seconds, or my measurement uncertainties are starting to show up. Either way, the average acceleration can be estimated by looking at the slope of the best fit line. Logger Pro says that the average acceleration was 0.15 m/s<sup>2</sup>.<br /><br />So, using Rhett's free body diagram, we can apply Newton's second law:<br /><table bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><br /><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/img1-794972.png"><img style="color: white; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 153px; height: 30px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/img1-794970.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table>The friction force in this case is rolling friction, so we need a coefficient of rolling resistance. The friction force is equal to the coefficient of rolling resistance times the normal force. The normal force (on the level ground) is just the mass of the vehicle multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity.<br /><table bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><br /><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/img2-729629.png"><img style="color: white; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 30px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/img2-729626.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/img3-752942.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 137px; height: 30px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/img3-752941.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table>Rearrange to solve for the applied force:<br /><table bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><br /><tr><td><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/img4-778036.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 136px; height: 32px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/img4-778034.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table><br />I googled around a bit and found that a typical auto on concrete has a coefficient of rolling resistance between 0.010 and 0.015, so I ballparked it at 0.012. Rhett gave the mass of the car in pounds, so I converted to kilograms.<br /><br />Finally:<br /><br /><table bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><br /><tr><td><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/img5-791359.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 32px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/img5-791358.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table>I didn't carry out the video analysis the whole way through the entire movie. The van moves for about 9 seconds, and I know its acceleration was not constant, since the brakes were applied at the end. However, I'm sure that our physics professor could sustain the constant 300 N applied force if he wanted to all the way through the 5 yards (strange units they use in LA; we'll call it 4.57 meters). At the constant acceleration we measured, it should take him 7.8 seconds to pull the van that far.<br /><br />So the work done by our professor is equal to the force applied (300 N) multiplied by the distance through which the force acted (4.57 m). His power output during the pull is the work done divided by the time:<br /><br />300 N * 4.57 m / 7.8 s = 176 W<br /><br />That's a mighty bright light bulb, but it's just under twice the power radiated (on average) by a human that is just standing around doing nothing.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">I know he was pulling at an angle, so his applied force is larger by the cosine of the angle, which I guesstimated to by 15 degrees, so make the applied force 310 N and the power 182 W if you want to be nitpicky about it...</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-5478637817940920898?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-89406641504860225782010-01-28T19:30:00.003-06:002010-01-28T20:06:57.831-06:00Two in a series of past travel exploits.<center><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fachmorrison%2Falbumid%2F5431258894887551809%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" height="192" width="288"></embed></center><br /><p>This is another blast from our past travels that I'm posting photos now only because of the Metafilter postcard exchange.</p><p>Sometime in 2005, my good friend from grad school invited (or I otherwise wrangled an invitation from him) Renae and me to come to his family's cabin in the French Alps for New Year's Eve that year. We planned an entire Paris/London/Alps trip around his invitation.</p><p>We flew from Chicago to Paris, spent about 2 days there, then took a train to the southern French Alps. Our friend picked us up and drove us to his family's cabin <span style="font-style: italic;">up in the mountains</span>! Our first stop was at a small hut where everyone in his family was gathered to bake bread in a wood-fired oven. It was incredible!</p><p>The New Year's Eve celebration was outstanding! There was a multi-course meal, with oysters, foie gras, and many other delicious dishes. We started eating at 8:00 pm, and didn't stop until the champagne flowed at midnight. It was so, so, so cool!!!</p><p>Everyone in the family was so incredible hospitable and kind to us. We spoke not a lick of French, and they went out of their way to make us feel welcome. It truly was the best part of the trip.<br /></p><p>I think we were planning to leave on the 3rd, but because of the holiday and because we had not booked a return train ticket to Paris, we had to leave on the 2nd. It was our fault for not booking a ticket, but we were used to traveling in 1996 on trains where you could always ride on trains as standing-passengers. I guess times had changed. So we stayed overnight at a hotel in Grenoble, then went back to Paris to catch the Eurostar to London.</p><p>Somewhere in Paris, Renae got sick (actually, hadn't been 100% well in the Alps) and probably got a bit of food poisoning from a weird fish pizza that she ordered at a cafe. She hadn't slept the night before we were supposed to catch the first train out in the morning, so we were bracing for a crummy ride from Paris to London.</p><p>We had bought our Eurostar tickets online a few months ahead of time. When I ordered the tickets, I bought coach seats ($65 each, I think) for the return from London to Paris. But the Paris to London trip, all the coach seats were sold out. All the First Class tickets were around $500 or more, which was way more than I wanted to pay. After poking around on their website, I had found some middle class ticket that was something like "Business Economy" or something similar. From all I could tell, it was going to be a coach seat for $30 extra. Having no other options, though, we bought them.</p><p>When we finally got to the train platform and were directed to our seats, it turned out we were in First Class. In fact, the Eurostar only has First Class and coach. An in our car, there was only a family of four sharing the entire car with us. The seats were comfortable; there was a real table for us to use; and the breakfast was simple, but refreshing. We got toast with jam, which was the perfect meal for Renae's stomach.</p><p>London was great, but knowing that we'd have to cram a lot into a little bit of time, we chose to do only highlights. We spent a lot of time running around to some of the major sites. We paid for an all-city bus tour that allowed us to hop onto and off of any bus run by a popular bus tour company. We saw the Mousetrap. We shopped at Herrod's. We wandered through one of the residences of one of the Royals. We did not hang around for the changing of the guard. </p><p>After a few days in London, it was the Eurostar back to Paris. Coach was like riding in a plane on Southwest Airlines. It wasn't too cramped, but we weren't exactly comfortable. And no one brought us toast.</p><p>We had another night in Paris, then flew home. </p><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Somewhere in this post, I should have pointed out that right about the time the plane took off from Chicago to Paris, I looked at Renae and realized that having been married for five and half years, it was the first actual vacation travel we had taken that did not involve a physics conference in any way.</span><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-8940664150486022578?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-57561877430100651102010-01-26T21:32:00.003-06:002010-01-26T21:53:40.551-06:00One in a series of past travel exploits.<table style="width: 234px; height: 301px;"><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/achmorrison/July15To19NewYorkCity?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_XVENPz3BlbM/S1Ohx0kYpTE/AAAAAAAADeM/loNLpQaA5Ms/s160-c/July15To19NewYorkCity.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px; width: 191px; height: 164px;" /></a></td><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/achmorrison/July15To19NewYorkCity?feat=embedwebsite" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">July 15 to 19 New York City</a></td><td style="vertical-align: top;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>As part of the Metafilter postcard exchange, I decided to send out a bunch of old postcards that I have collected from past travels, but never got the chance to send out.<br /><br />I wanted to do something extra as a part of the exchange, so I thought I'd post some photos from my trips and include the links on the postcards.<br /><br />This trip to New York City was in the Summer of 2008. This was the last year for old Yankee Stadium and for Shea Stadium. Sometime during the early Spring or late Winter of that year it was announced that Billy Joel would play a concert at Shea. The concert was billed as "The Last Play at Shea". I'm a huge Billy Joel fan, and had seen him in concert several times before 2008. But, my wife had never seen him in concert, so I asked if she wanted to go. She said she would only go if my brother would go with us. We called him and he said he was totally in. That Saturday, we called for tickets and I was able to get through before they were all sold out. <br /><br />When we got to NYC we were supposed to meet my brother somewhere in midtown. It turned out that the spot we were supposed to meet at took us right to the Major League Baseball All-Star parade. The photo above is of Ryan Dempster, who was in the game that year. The All-Star game was playing that year at Yankee Stadium.<br /><br />We did lots of things on that trip, including walking from Central Park to Battery Park. We took pictures of our panda in various spots, including on the Staten Island ferry and in the terminal. <br /><br />One of the places we wanted to go was to a place called Peanut Butter and Co. They sell unique peanut butter, which my wife had given to me one year for our anniversary. But they also have a restaurant that you can go to and get different gourmet peanut butter sandwiches. At the restaurant, I picked up some postcards, and these are some that I am sending out to the Mefites.<br /><br />(The link below the photo will take you to a small gallery of photos from this trip.)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-5756187743010065110?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-80565584788725365232010-01-17T16:44:00.002-06:002010-01-17T17:28:48.570-06:00Since my last update on the <a href="http://www.drewsday.com/labels/2-for-1.html">2-for-1 project</a> in my room I have made some more progress. I've been able to clear off the table that does not have the computer on it. It was nice to be able to do a little grading on the table. I set up my roll of butcher paper on the top of the table and have been using that to take notes on as I'm working at the table.<br /><br />Here's the latest stuff to leave the room:<br /><br /><ul><li><p style="margin-left: 14px;" class="simulated-li bullet-type-0">A handful of tools went to the garage</p></li><li><p style="margin-left: 14px;" class="simulated-li bullet-type-0">2 collector mugs (still in their boxes) went to the basement and will probably go out of the house this summer.<br /></p></li><li><p style="margin-left: 14px;" class="simulated-li bullet-type-0">2 boxes of random projects and parts went to the basement where I'm putting all my current and future projects until I have time to work on them. </p></li><li><p style="margin-left: 14px;" class="simulated-li bullet-type-0">A craft kit that I haven't had a chance to try out yet went to the basement.</p></li><li><p style="margin-left: 14px;" class="simulated-li bullet-type-0">2 stacks of papers/magazines/journals were properly filed, a lot of which went out with the weekly trash.</p></li><li><p style="margin-left: 14px;" class="simulated-li bullet-type-0">My shop light for that I use for photography is going to live in the garage even though all my other photography gear lives in my room.</p></li><li><p style="margin-left: 14px;" class="simulated-li bullet-type-0">3 comic books that I discovered I had duplicates of were sent to a friend.</p></li><li><p style="margin-left: 14px;" class="simulated-li bullet-type-0">Another <a href="http://paperbackswap.com">paperbackswap</a> book (a biography of William Randolph Hearst) was mailed out a week ago.<br /></p></li></ul>Also, an update to a few of the other things that I posted about previously: my firewire adapter that I put up for sale on ebay was sold but the data cable for an old phone did not sell on craigslist. I'll try relisting it either on ebay or craigslist again and if it doesn't sell, it will go to Goodwill.<br /><br />Things that have come into the room:<br /><p style="margin-left: 28px;" class="simulated-li bullet-type-1"><br /></p><ul><li>Stack of Christmas presents including a farkel game, a small poster, a toy robot and a CD. These have mostly been put away.<br /></li><li>A book I bought at a used bookstore.</li><li>A power strip</li><li>An Ikea tin for storing little things that tend to collect on the desk in the room.</li></ul>Total items out for the year:<br /><br />38<br /><br />Total items in for the year:<br /><br />13<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-8056558478872536523?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-40171086702232671202010-01-14T22:47:00.003-06:002010-01-14T23:34:00.987-06:00Apple didn't like my homage to Nate Dogg<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/itunes-screenshot-small-783352.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 179px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/itunes-screenshot-small-783347.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> This is a screenshot of the podcast customer review page in the iTunes Store for one of the <a href="http://facebook.com/nickdshow">podcasts I listen to</a> regularly. If you go read the reviews in iTunes right now, you won't see my review. It was removed, probably by Apple, most likely because of the critical comment I made about how someone at Apple did not like my full review of the podcast that I had tried to post before the one in the screenshot was posted.<br /><br />When you write a podcast review on iTunes, you are presented with five "Tips for writing a great review":<br /><br /><ul><br /><li><blockquote>Keep them short and to the point. Average iTunes customer reviews are about 200 words.</blockquote> Mine clocks in at 238 words. Granted, it is formatted a little differently and looks longer, but it's no significantly longer than what Apple calls average.<br /></li><li> <blockquote>Praise podcasts on their own terms, not at the expense of other podcasts or the audience of other podcasts or genres.</blockquote> My review is nothing but praise, and says nothing about other podcasts or audiences of other podcasts.<br /></li><li> <blockquote>Take the time to copy edit your work so that you avoid embarrassing typos or grammatical errors.</blockquote> Good advice. Done.<br /></li><li> <blockquote>Do not use profanity or overtly sexual language.</blockquote> No problem here!<br /></li><li> <blockquote>Do not use language that can be construed as hateful, especially in regards to lifestyle, religion, or race.</blockquote> Nothing in my review has anything to do with religion or race, so that's a non-issue. With respect to lifestyle, I suppose you could make a case about the numerous references to drunks, but if you know anything about the podcast I'm reviewing, you know that the topic of alcohol and drunks comes up frequently in the podcast itself. In fact, it is often in the titles and descriptions of the podcasts as posted to iTunes. And, my review is not "hateful" with regard to any lifestyle, so I don't really see it as going against this tip, either.<br /><br />At the very bottom after you write your review (not to exceed 6000 characters, mine clocks in at 1200 characters) there is one more line:<br /><br /><bold><blockquote>If a review is deemed inappropriate, it will not be posted to the iTunes Store.</blockquote></bold><br /><br />I did some searching online to see if there were other people who had their reviews rejected from the iTunes Store. The only relevant information I could find came from a <a href="http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/creatorfaq.html">FAQ for Podcast Makers</a> on Apple's site:<br /><br /><h3></h3><blockquote style="font-family: arial;"><h3>Can I have a review removed?</h3> <p>iTunes does not remove reviews for editorial purposes. Reviews with profanity, hate speech, explicit/pornographic content, or commentary that is completely off topic are prohibited. To request removal of a review, click on Report a Concern for that review.</p></blockquote>Again, if you know <span style="font-style: italic;">anything</span> about the <a href="http://facebook.com/nickdshow">podcast I was reviewing</a>, you would know that every line in my review was completely ON topic for their show.<br /><br />My guess is that Apple doesn't want their Customer Reviews to become like the ones you see on Amazon. (e.g. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R2VDKZ4X1F992Q/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm">The Story about Ping</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/RXXPVOUH9NLL3/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm">Tuscan Whole Milk</a>) Which is a shame. Because if fans of podcasts (or any content on iTunes) can't have fun to promote their favorite artists, everyone sort of loses an opportunity to discover something new.<br /><br />Anyway, the full podcast review that I wanted to post is here. My apologies to Warren G and Nate Dogg...<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">[Andy:]<br />Podcasters<br />we podcast any speaking of his mind<br />and we download em<br />But you can't be any geek off the street,<br />gotta be out of your parents basement, if you know what I mean, earn your keep!<br />PODCASTERRS!!! MOUNT UP!<br /><br />[Broham:]<br />It was a clear black night, a clear white moon<br />Nick D was in the seat, trying to consume<br />some talk in the eve, chattin' with a drunk<br />I'm rollin in my ride, beers are in the trunk<br /><br />[Andy:]<br />Just hit the Northside on the Kennedy<br />on a mission tryin' to find Mr. Nicky D.<br />Got a 'dog with fries and I need to chew<br />all you drunks know what's up with 312<br /><br />So I hooks a left on Addison and Clark<br />The Cubs are out of town so I said "Let's park."<br />I jumped out the ride, and started to cough<br />Nick went on a rant and my pants fell off!<br /><br />[Nick D:]<br />Since Andy's tweetin' me I'ma check my phone<br />Laughin' so hard that I start to moan<br />Won'tcha load up your ipod with The Nick D Show<br />You can do it right now or at your leisure, bro!<br /><br />[Andy:]<br />He's speaking<br />about a previous era<br />Nick fans,<br />Brew and view,<br />I dare ya.<br />Drunks<br />Are in the News<br /><br />[Nick D:]<br />Wisconsin's where they're from and the "winner"'s gonna lose<br /><br /><br />Movies<br />Music<br />We brings<br />Culture<br />D-Funk<br />where Chicago is home<br />and home is Chicago</span></li></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-4017108670223267120?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-7484620242532692092010-01-03T12:10:00.004-06:002010-01-03T13:27:22.663-06:00In with the new<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/DSC_4929-778866.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/DSC_4929-778287.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> Now that I've started taking things out of my room, I can start bringing things into my room. One of the projects I've been working on in the garage (for way too long) was the bookshelf in the photo here. This was the first major woodworking project I finished here at our place in Montgomery. Before we left for our Christmas road trip, I had applied a coat of polyurethane and had intended to do a light sanding and apply another coat. But, the temperature in the garage has dropped enough that I don't really think I should work on finishing any more for the winter. So, I brought it inside. It should help with organizing some of the stuff that stays in the room.<br /><br />I took the cash that I got for the monitor I sold and spent it on a new USB headset for making skype calls, podcasts, and videos for class. I removed a microphone I got at <a href="http://sciplus.com">American Science and Surplus</a> to the basement.<br /><br />Also coming into the room are 4 books I received for Christmas. Even though I have room in my 2-for-1 ratio to bring in the books without anything else going out, I thought it would be good to try to get rid of some books. Tomorrow I am mailing out a book that was requested of me via <a href="http://www.paperbackswap.com">Paperback Swap</a>. We really like this site for getting books that we'd like to read without paying cover price. You send a book you don't want to someone who does want the book, and in exchange you get a credit that can be spent to request a book you do want to read from another member. In essence, you end up getting books you want for the cost of mailing your books (about $2.25) to other people. In addition to the book I'm sending out, I found 7 physics journals scattered around the room that are heading to the basement.<br /><br />Other things removed today: a Rubbermaid tub of physics stuff that belongs in the basement, an old computer plus keyboard and KVM switch, a box of photos, some broken glass from a photo frame<br />empty cups that I use to keep spare change in, 2 kick-disk hovercrafts (physics demo) and my stereo unit from college. I figured since I am sort of using fuzzy accounting to count the physics journals as books, I will make up for it by counting the computer, keyboard, and switch as one thing. So in total for the year I have:<br /><br />Total items out:<br /><br />25<br /><br />Total items in:<br /><br />6<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-748462024253269209?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-64509407356116585022010-01-02T12:22:00.004-06:002010-01-02T14:22:11.305-06:00Out with the old...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_XVENPz3BlbM/Sz-OlAQwkAI/AAAAAAAADbc/aI1tys3V5bk/s512/from%20droid.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 341px; height: 512px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_XVENPz3BlbM/Sz-OlAQwkAI/AAAAAAAADbc/aI1tys3V5bk/s512/from%20droid.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I've made a bit of progress on the great 2-for-1 exchange program in my room. In the photo are some of the things that have left my room, most permanently. I'm keeping track of the stuff going out and coming in so that I can adhere to my rule. I've been getting rid of the stuff in different ways:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Put away</span><br /><br />I decided to put my backpack that normally lives in my room in the hallway closet. The backpack only really gets used for biking, and I don't see any bike rides in the next few months.<br /><br />My old laptop is essentially dead, but I need to remove the hard drive before I can get rid of it. So it is going to the basement for now.<br /><br />I'm also putting away (in the basement) some boxes that have been taking up space in the room. One is empty (it had our digital photo frame in it) and the other is half-full of some of my stuff that I moved from Bloomington.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Throw away</span><br /><br />This one sort of breaks my heart, a little. I threw away a tiny USB laptop mouse. I think R. got it for me as a gift and I really liked it. But, it eventually wore out and stopped working reliably. I kept it to try to repair it or figure out something to do with it. I wasn't able to repair it and never came up with a great idea for it. I don't like the thought of this ending up in a land fill, but I wouldn't feel right with someone else getting frustrated by it like I did.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Give away</span><br /><br />One of the things to leave my room is a first generation DVD-recorder. It works, but it does not always read the DVDs properly when you first put one in the machine. I took it apart and put it back together hoping I had cleaned it up enough to make it work better but no go. I'm going to list this on Freecycle and hope someone can make use of it so that it doesn't end up in the trash. Otherwise, I'll have to find an electronics recycling event to take it to.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Sell away</span><br /><br />The other three things that are leaving the room are things that I'm trying to sell. I found out that eBay has a promotion where you can list 5 things every 30 days with no insertion fee. So, I put up for auction <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170426037994">a USB/Firewire adapter</a> that I had tried using for a project. We ended up using a different adapter for the project, so I no longer need this one.<br /><br />I listed on craigslist a monitor that I had purchased at a thrift store. I had fixed up the monitor and used it for about a year before getting my new computer last month and no longer needing the monitor. The monitor sold almost immediately after listing it.<br /><br />The other item I listed on craigslist is a <a href="http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/mob/1530863019.html">data cable for my old cellular phone</a>. I used it a few times, but I have a new phone and no longer need it. It's still for sale, make me an offer! ;)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Total items out</span><br /><br />8<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Total items in</span><br /><br />0<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-6450940735611658502?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-35525968467236964972009-12-30T17:44:00.004-06:002010-01-03T15:57:35.664-06:00The disaster that is my man cave.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/DSC_4902-764200.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/DSC_4902-763692.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/DSC_4898-796939.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/DSC_4898-796438.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/DSC_4901-763575.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/DSC_4901-763057.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />These out of focus photos reflect the horror that is my room. I have a plan to get the room under control. It is the 2-for-1 plan. For every one item that comes into the room as a new (or new-to-me) item, two items must be removed from the room. This plan will continue until no more items can be removed, or the room is just how I like it.<br /><br />Some of the ground rules I've set for myself include:<br /><ul><br /><li>A box of stuff counts as a single item. I can't count all the items in the box.<br /><br /></li><li>I can't count things like dishes or clothes that end up here. Those things have a place; they need to get there.<br /><br /></li><li>I should try to get the things that leave the room out of the house, but if I don't want to get rid of them, they have to go in the basement or the garage.<br /><br /></li><li>If something belongs in the room and I take it out, I can bring it back in without getting rid of two other things. For example, my laptop bag that I take to school everyday gets to come back into the room everyday.<br /><br /></li></ul><br /><br />I'd like to figure out a cool way to track all the stuff that is going out (and coming in) but for now, I guess I'll just list what I've done here in the blog.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-3552596846723696497?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-20609170426704574832009-11-06T16:07:00.001-06:002009-11-06T16:07:21.279-06:00R. wins 292-270<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/4080838623/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2593/4080838623_2c6f0c7c4b_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/4080838623/">R. wins 292-270</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/achmorrison/">achmorrison</a>.</span><br clear="all" /><p>At Molly's Cupcakes on a Friday afternoon. Renae had the bingo: gropers<br /><br />This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!<br /><br />To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit <a href="http://www.verizonwireless.com/picture" rel="nofollow">www.verizonwireless.com/picture</a>.<br /><br />Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-2060917042670457483?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-46126886971384165272009-09-25T21:25:00.001-05:002009-09-25T21:25:46.194-05:00R. wins 301-300<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3954085933/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2553/3954085933_a17b2f36ac_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3954085933/">R. wins 301-300</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/achmorrison/">achmorrison</a>.</span><br clear="all" /><p>R. wins again. Didn't hurt that she started the game with a bingo: braised. One point at the end was the difference.<br /><br />This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!<br /><br />To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit <a href="http://www.verizonwireless.com/picture" rel="nofollow">www.verizonwireless.com/picture</a>.<br /><br />Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-4612688697138416527?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-17973202041191927532009-06-26T21:54:00.001-05:002009-06-26T21:54:38.739-05:00R. wins 358-304<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3664424640/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3664424640_0894b4e7a2_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3664424640/">R. wins 358-304</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/achmorrison/">achmorrison</a>.</span><br clear="all" /><p>One bingo: painter, but didn't help me in the end.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-1797320204119192753?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-27338549235607900932009-06-20T15:08:00.001-05:002009-06-20T15:08:52.334-05:00It's not Scrabble it's Scrabapple! (R. wins)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3644952250/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3379/3644952250_4632a1b4a8_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3644952250/">It's not Scrabble it's Scrabapple! (R. wins)</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/achmorrison/">achmorrison</a>.</span><br clear="all" /><p>Scrabble Apple at Graham's 318.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-2733854923560790093?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-7922423272541358132009-06-10T11:34:00.000-05:002009-06-10T11:36:03.269-05:00Venn diagram of my day<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/venn-pdf-cropped-710208.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 64px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/venn-pdf-cropped-710207.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-792242327254135813?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-49629430071378332192009-05-23T00:36:00.002-05:002009-05-23T00:59:02.922-05:00The Girlfriends Got DumpedYesterday, I was syncing my ipod with freshly downloaded podcasts when I noticed that one of the WGN Kathy and Judy Show uncut podcasts was titled "The Final Kathy and Judy Show". BWAH?! K & J had been on WGN radio (AM 720) for 20 years, and both R. and I enjoyed listening to them. I never completely agreed with their opinions, and sometimes they were overly catty, but in general they were really good radio. They always had interesting discussion topics, even if sometimes the directions they took the topics were kinda loopy. You could tell that they let their show evolve naturally, never forcing anything.<br /><br />I have been reading some of the <a href="http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/towerticker/2009/05/wgnam-drops-kathy-judy.html">blog posts</a> and <a href="http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/wgn-ams-kathy-and-judy-go-off-air.html">articles</a> covering the cancellation. What was more interesting than the articles are the comments about the programming on WGN. I understand that not everyone who listens to a talk radio station will like every on-air personality on the radio station. Example: we don't go out of our way to listen to Steve Cochran. What surprised me was how vocal people can be about not liking whichever host they happen to not like.<br /><br />I'm surprised at the number of comments by people who don't like John Williams. I'm surprised there aren't more comments by people disliking Steve Cochran. Can you tell which ways my opinion tends to sway? What I learned is how varied opinions can be on the various shows.<br /><br />And this change to the morning line-up is just the <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/business/lazare/1550974,CST-FIN-lew30.article">latest in recent changes</a> to the programming, thanks to "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Metheny">Pig Virus</a>" programming director Kevin Metheny.<br /><br />So, I don't want to get all mad and huffy and threaten to never listen to WGN again, but I'm seriously going to look for other radio entertainment while the Cubs are not on the radio.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-4962943007137833219?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-83716814961615339392009-05-22T21:42:00.001-05:002009-05-22T21:42:20.529-05:00A. wins 303-288<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3555824152/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3577/3555824152_dc6f14abb3_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3555824152/">A. wins 303-288</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/achmorrison/">achmorrison</a>.</span><br clear="all" /><p>No bingos tonight, but we were at new (to us) coffeeshop in Batavia.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-8371681496161533939?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-60658872139601036452009-05-17T19:32:00.002-05:002009-05-18T00:37:55.486-05:00When I actually started to write this entry, it was Sunday, but now the clock has already flipped to half past midnight, and I'm not even remotely done with anything I wanted to accomplish before finishing a write-up of today's events.<br /><br />Our main activity today was a bike ride to Graham's 318 in Geneva. This place is rapidly becoming our favorite coffee shop. We rode our bikes there and back, 28.4 miles in a little over an hour and forty minutes. JB Weld, but never made it to the hardware store to get any. The adhesive worked well enough to keep the magnet on for this ride. Renae's bike computer and mine matched up until the last tenth of a mile of the ride, which was pretty impressive.<br /><br />Here's a photo of the magnet, and you can get a sense of how far away the magnet was from the pickup. No wonder it never gave very accurate readings.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/dsc_0658-702892.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="http://www.drewsday.com/uploaded_images/dsc_0658-702469.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-6065887213960103645?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-30392691195150151602009-05-12T21:44:00.002-05:002009-05-13T22:33:05.222-05:00I found the way to the Fox River Trail that starts in Aurora and goes runs along the the river. My goal was to bike to a coffee shop where I could work on my presentation for DePaul. I found that I reached Geneva in just over an hour, and it probably would have been quicker had I been more familiar with the trail. I'm not saying that the trail is poorly marked, but there were places where I pedaled into a town and couldn't see exactly where to pick up the trail again.<br /><br />The other thing I learned is that I tend to over-estimate the lengths of the trips that I am planning. I had assumed a ride to Geneva would be closer to 20 miles one way, but it was only 14 miles. Good to know; next time I can go further north and then come back to Graham 318 if I don't find a good cup of joe.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://js.mapmyfitness.com/embed/blogview.html?r=b905539cf515a6a35c322b9fe72571b7&u=e&t=route" height="450px" width="550px" frameborder="0"><a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/ride/united-states/il/montgomery/738124215411723970">05/12/2009 Route</a><br/><a href="http://www.mapmyfitness.com/find-ride/united-states/il/montgomery">Find more Bike Rides in Montgomery, Illinois</a></iframe><!-- MMF PARTNER TOOL --><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-3039269119515015160?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-151039975456953392009-04-29T18:13:00.001-05:002009-04-29T18:13:04.381-05:00The physics of revolving doorsI think that it is not at all uncommon for a child to be utterly facinated by the wonder which is the revolving door. I remember, as a young boy, getting to go somewhere with my mom or dad or the whole family, and if the building had a revolving door I would behold that door as if it were a wonder of the modem mechanical world. I don't really know why I was so intrigued by these portals to the inside. Certainly, it was not that we were going anyplace particularly upscale or posh. In my mind, I want to believe that we were going somewhere in downtown Des Moines, like the fancy hotel or department store. Likely, we were going to the mall.<br /><br />I remember the Mauker Student Union on the UNI campus had revolving doors. This was one of the most heavily trafficed buildings on campus. The doors were there to attempt to keep the energy costs associated with heating and cooling the building down. Flanking the revolving doors were standard doors for handicapped accessability. By the time I started college my mom had mostly been using a wheelchair for mobility. I remember many times passing those doors and being reminded of the trade-offs that must often be considered in pursuit of ecological design. <br /><br />These days, when my commute is such that I can take the Metra between Evanston an Chicago, I will typically have to pass through two revolving doors. One door is at the entrance to the Ogilvie Transportation Center; the other is between the main hall and the platform. A line of people start going through one of these doors, will each exert a torque about the axle. Once the inertia of the initially stationary door is overcome, the rotation of the door will quickly pick up speed such that I have occaisionally seen a nervous commuter elect to skip her turn to go through the door so that the friction of the door on its bearings can slow down the door enough to safely jump in a slot without clipping ones own ankle. <br /><br />I've seen purses, umbrellas, boxes and bags become temporarily caught in the door. I can't begin to count the number of people dragging their rolly-bags behind them and realizing too late that the bag is not going to make it through with them. <br /><br />To be fair, most of the daily commuters are seasoned pros at navigating the spinning gauntlet of the OTC doors. It's rare that I witness a revolver incident in the morning, when the vast majority passing through are regulars. Contrast that with the afternoon ride that I share with surbanites coming to the city for dinner or Chicagoans who live close enough to a Metra station to make it a convenient mode of transportation. Last Friday I was behind 6 teens who thought it was a riot that they went through the door at the platform two-to-a-wedge. In general there is a wider range of people riding in the afternoon. In general then, there are more people riding who are unfamiliar with the general ebb and flow of the train station.<br /><br />Today, I was getting off the train and was the last off the car, although I had been in the front car of the train. The platform has 2 revolving doors to choose from that exit to the main hall. One of the doors had 6-7 people queing up to pass through it. The other door had only 2 people approaching it, so I headed for that door. The person in front of me was moving slow enough that by the time I could start going through the door, I could have gone through the other door just as quickly. But, I was already committed, so I followed right behind her. <br /><br />As there was now two people pushing on the door the speed of the rotation picked up, as I explained above. Normally, this is not a problem for people passing through these doors. Except, the woman in front of me was looking at her phone while the door was turning. As soon as she detrmined she was "through" the door she came to a full stop. Of course, I was still coming through the door, and the turning door clipped her heel. <br /><br />This woman, about 10 years younger and 20 pounds heavier started barking at me. I made a quick determination that she had no business slowing down and stopping in front of a revolving door while people are getting off the train behind her. I had a brief notion to just acknowledge her and let her blow off some steam at me. But, even though I heard the sounds of her rebuke coming at me, I had no idea what she was saying. I was wearing my in-ear headphones which pleasantly block annoying sounds. <br /><br />Typically I think of annoying sounds as the chug of the locomotive's diesel engine or the rumble of the CTA cars on the elevated tracks. Now I can add another sound of those pleasantly blocked by these headphones. :)<br /> <br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-15103997545695339?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-24307701819585652752009-04-24T14:12:00.001-05:002009-04-24T14:12:32.031-05:00Test post.This is a test of posting from my ipod. <br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-2430770181958565275?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-69739204675108049612009-04-06T23:11:00.002-05:002009-04-06T23:21:50.843-05:00Job search woes n+1Today I found out that my one-year contract for teaching at the university has no chance of renewal for next year. The department had a record number of faculty on sabbatical this year, and next year no one was granted leave. I was getting to the point where I was about to ask for any update on next year, when my supervisor wandered into my advisor to deliver the news.<br /><br />As much as I am disappointed to not be back next year, I am not really upset. First, I knew from the outset it would likely only be one year. Second, the department informed me of their intentions as soon as they had figured out next year's schedule. That doesn't really excuse the lateness of their decision, but they are on a quarter system, so they feel they can be slower than other places.<br /><br />So, I have had 2 phone interviews this year that went nowhere. And, I have one application that I never heard back from one way or the other. So, I sent that place an email to inquire on the status of that search. Then, I sent an email to a contact I had made at a nearby university several years ago at a conference. I asked if he had any research opportunities available to apply for or knew of anyone in the area who does. Within 20 minutes, he replied asking for a resume! I'm certainly not counting any chickens on that front, but it was temporarily exciting.<br /><br />Keeping my fingers crossed!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-6973920467510804961?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-25076199327754175102009-03-08T17:50:00.001-05:002009-03-08T17:50:01.289-05:00A wins 215-214-82<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3338812629/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3338/3338812629_a718a6586b_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3338812629/">A wins 215-214-82</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/achmorrison/">achmorrison</a>.</span><br clear="all" /><p>Scrabble with the gals who were sock knitting.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-2507619932775417510?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-571767272874191012009-02-07T20:27:00.001-06:002009-02-07T20:27:14.081-06:00A wins 324-256<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3261342313/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3261342313_1039e7e926_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/achmorrison/3261342313/">A wins 324-256</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/achmorrison/">achmorrison</a>.</span><br clear="all" /><p>At Prisco's tonight...one bingo: opaques.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-57176727287419101?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23903680.post-17088550618579694292009-02-01T08:17:00.002-06:002009-02-01T08:52:16.008-06:00Link dumpI've got a bunch of links that I've been collecting in my browser that have nowhere else to go, so I'm going to plop them here. In no particular order:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/business/28digi.html?_r=6&partner=rss&emc=rss">What Carriers Aren't Eager to Tell You About Texting</a><p> This is a brilliant NY Times article that explains very clearly why text messaging in the US is completely overpriced. To me, it is no wonder that cell phone users in this country were/are slow to adopt texting at rates that far exceed any rational pricing structure. (Bonus part of this article was the explanation of control channels.)<br /><li><a href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/01/21/why-i-drive-a-13-year-old-car/">Why I drive a 13-year-old car</a><p> Read this article, then read the second comment after the post. The comment explains why although the spirit of the article is great, the math the author uses is slightly off.<br /><li><a href="http://playthisthing.com/candy-land">The case for Candyland</a><p><br /><li><a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2009/01/26/the-case-against-can.html">The case against Candyland</a></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/23903680-1708855061857969429?l=www.drewsday.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0