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So I'm watching Pleasantville on TBS right now and even though I've seen it several times already, I'm realizing now that this movie has a great soundtrack! Both the songs they used and the original score by Randy Newman (Forrest Gump, The Natural, Seabiscuit) are really good. Unfortunately for some reason they decided to separate those things into two different CDs to sell. =( [songs, score] So that's kind of a shame...I feel:  happy I'm listening to: "Pleasantville" Soundtrack by Randy Newman and Various |
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Books
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Apr. 19th, 2005 @ 09:16 pm
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Hey, anyone know a good book that gives a decent overview of QoS (Quality of Service - computer stuff)? The whole book doesn't need to be exclusively about QoS, just contain some stuff about it. I know there are research papers about QoS, but I'd like to get a good feel for the established and widely accepted stuff before I look at the latest developments.
And on a related but slightly different topic... What fiction book must I absolutely and unhesitantly read immediately?I feel: amused |
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A friend of mine is in the GT flying club, and he took me and another friend flying yesterday. We took off from Fulton Co. airport and went by Stone Mountain and Lake Lanier.
It was way cool! =) There were two spots where my stomach felt a bit queasy, though it wasn't that bad just unexpected. I've flown on commercial flights plenty of times without even a hint of a problem, and I don't get seasick or carsick except in certain rare circumstances (like if the car smells a very certain way). This was my first time in a small plane, which is of course a different matter from a commercial flight. Actually, I think it was vibrations from the engine more than any king of rocking or swaying. Anyhow, it was still way cool and I'd definitely go again... I'd just be sure to bring some hard candy to suck on. That seems to help for some reason... ;-)
I took some pictures, which brings me to a question. I'm looking for some kind of online photo album thing that will help me put my digital pictures up on my web page. This is on the CoC server, so I can't use any arbitrary technology, only what they already support. But HTML is obviously okay, and I'm pretty sure I can put up PHP stuff. Anything outside that and I'd have to check if they support it. Does anyone have any good suggestions for an online photo album?I feel: happy I'm listening to: "Jessica" - The Allman Brothers Band |
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I feel:  bouncy |
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I just saw Sin City. Here's some comments about it...
I promise there will be no spoilers in this post. However, I cannot promise there won't be any in the comments since those are partially beyond my control. ;-)
Firstly, visually impressive. Great cinematography. Good effects, and especially the (nearly seamless) blending of live action and CG. An excellent representation (largely due to the blending of live action and CG) of the "comic book look" and especially that of "dark" comic books. (I guess I would describe this kind of comic as largely noir and partially alternative.)
Note on "comics": The specific comics this movie is based on are actually "graphic novels". However, my feeling is that the difference between "comics" and "graphic novels" is largely in the publication/distribution mechanisms. Therefore I will proceed to refer to "comics" in this post, with no offense intended.
I thought the story was okay. Not all that impressive; what makes the movie good is the way the story is told. It's really three short stories that happen to occur in the same city at the same time, and have some other loose links that you'll have to watch the movie to see. ;-) But I think it's probably worth knowing in advance that it's not one continuous story, nor do the story lines join together in the end in any strong way. I am not familiar with the specific comics the movie is based on, but I'm assuming this disconnected-short-story style is keeping consistent with how the comics are written.
The characters are definitely "dark" characters. Different ones to varying degrees, ranging from characters who use questionable means for good purposes to ones who you're not even sure could really be considered "good" (though they are clearly not the "bad guys").
Which brings me to content. Not surprisingly it's very violent. However, I have a "yes, but" for the violence that I cannot easily explain without pseudo-spoilers. Maybe. Anyhow, there's some bad language of course but not all that bad really. (Not beyond the amount of bad language I've been desensitized to, at any rate.) And there's a bit of nudity, but only in one part of the movie. Which makes me wonder why they felt it was necessary there but got through the other 85-90% of the movie without it. Whatever. At least they were all good looking. Umm, that last thing was supposed to be internal monologue... did I say that out loud? =P
Should you see it?
I'd say in general, unless you are sensitive or object to the violence or partial nudity, yes see this movie at least once.
In particular you'll like it if you like: comic books (especially dark or alternative comics), noir (especially more edgy or alternative style), really dark chracter, or just good cinematography and filmmaking.
Incidentally, the directors are Frank Miller (the author of the comics this is based on), Robert Rodriguez (director of Desperado and famed for making El Mariachi on a crazy low budget), and one scene guest directed by Quentin Tarantino.I feel:  tired I'm listening to: "Ramble On" - Led Zepplin |
| » Nervous Breakdown (AKA Whining Time) |
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The semester ends May 6... and I'm going to have a nervous breakdown before then!
Yesterday, my Secure Systems professor assigned a term paper. Well, it's not really a term paper because we only have 2 or 3 weeks to do it and it only needs to be ~5 pages, but he's calling it a term paper. *shrug* Well I wasn't expecting to have to do a term paper, and looking at the syllabus again I see that it's a little ambiguous about the term paper thing... but we do indeed have to do one apparently.
This of course triggered my brain to realized exactly how little time is left in the semester and how much I still have to do. There is also the second (of two) programming project for the same class, the details of which still have yet to be posted on the website (i.e. we don't actually know exactly what we're supposed to do yet) but should be coming any day now. Or so I have been assured. So in addition to simultaneously working on the paper and the project, I have to study for that class's final as well, which will be three weeks from Monday. So in other words, the paper, project, and final for this class are all going to be due right around the same time... Then there's the term project for my other class (which I haven't done nearly enough work on yet, of course)... at least that class doesn't have a final too...
And then the non-academic things I need to do... like finishing my taxes, finalizing housing arrangements for the Summer, preparing to leave for the Summer (have to forward mail, figure out what to do about bills, etc.), and of course figuring out where I'm going to live next year (my lease ends just a few weeks after I get back, so I won't have time to look then)...
So anyhow, I'm a bit panicky now... =p but thanks for listening to my whining. I'll try not to do it too much. ^_^
Apr. 8th, 2005 @ 09:53 am
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| » My favorite weather... |
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...is just before it rains
What's your favorite weather?
Apr. 7th, 2005 @ 12:43 am
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| » Yay Internship! |
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I got an internship for this Summer! (May-August) Hooray!
I'll be working at Motorola Labs doing research on systems in pervasive computing. Yes, Chicago peoples, that's Motorola Labs in Schaumburg, IL. ^_^
Mar. 18th, 2005 @ 01:12 pm
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| » Beware the... |
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16th of March???
So yesterday was the Ides. I totally wasn't paying attention and missed it! I completely forgot to beware! =(
Mar. 16th, 2005 @ 10:23 am
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| » Relay for Life |
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I'm participating in the American Cancer Society Relay For Life this year. I'm part of one of 80 teams from Georgia Tech that is raising money to help in the fight against cancer. On April 1-2 I'll be helping my team to keep at least one person walking around the Georgia Tech track at all times through the night.
Cancer is one of the greatest medical challenges of our time. More than one million people will be diagnosed with cancer this year. But the American Cancer Society is working hard to change this. With two million volunteers nationwide, the Society fights the disease on all fronts: research, education, advocacy, and service. I'm committed to being a part of this amazing work.
Relay is an overnight event that unites our community in a common effort to raise much-needed funds for the fight against cancer. Every year, the funds we raise help bring the American Cancer Society one step closer to eliminating cancer from our lives for good, but we can't stop now. Last year Georgia Tech raised $95,000, and this year we want to make it $120,000!
I need your help to make this a successful event! I'm trying to meet a personal goal of raising at least $100. That means if just 10 people sponsor me with $10 each, we're there! Please help me out by going to my Personal Donation Page and give whatever you can. Every bit helps!
Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Relay For Life of Georgia Tech!
For state fund raising notices and the American Cancer Society's Privacy Policy, please go to:
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/SU/su_0.asp
Mar. 7th, 2005 @ 01:55 pm
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| » RahXephon |
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Anime club showed two anime last night (well, the first disc of each at any rate). First was Martian Successor Nadesico which I have seen before. It's pretty good, so I enjoyed that. Since I think most people reading my journal have also seen it before (or don't care about anime), I will forgo a better review. =P
The second, which I had not seen before, was RahXephon (pronounced: rah-zeh-fon), and it's quite good. It's one of those that starts off by making you as totally confused as possible, and then things become a little more clear as things go on. (That plus giant robots make it kinda like Evangelion in reverse. >=) You know... cause Eva starts out making sense... and then gets more confusing...) Anyhow, based on the first five episodes, I'd have to say it's very good and worth a watch. You should like it if you like sci-fi, giant robots, and don't mind (ab)using your brain a little. ;-)
That aside, it's a beautiful Spring day outside, and I really don't feel like doing any more work today...! That's why I'm here in LJ... >=) I just want to go outside and take a nap next to the field...
Mar. 4th, 2005 @ 04:14 pm
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| » Oscars? Not yet! |
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I watched the Academy Awards, and being a fan of movies I have some things to say...
Unfortunately I'm extraordinarily busy at school right now as well, so I can't write a long post just now. I just wanted to let you all know why I will be posting an oddly out of date entry later on. =P
Mar. 1st, 2005 @ 03:33 pm
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| » I need YOUR ideas! |
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That's right, I need _you_ to help _me_ with a class assignment. And you don't even need to be technically inclined either! ;-)
I have to do something in Cg, a language for programming graphics cards. I can write vertex programs (vertex shaders) and fragment programs (pixel shaders ?). I'm not doing anything special with geometry, so no Stanford bunnies, but I can easily make planes (squares), cubes, spheres, cylinders, etc. to work with. Also I'm making static objects, no animation. (There may be a few more restrictions on things I cannot do, because of technical limitations, but they are few and I'd have to think a bit about what they are...)
How You Can Help:
I need ideas for things I can do to simple bits of geometry (squares, triangles, cubes, spheres, cylinders, etc.) that will change the way they look. Post your cool ideas here. And I can use several, so post all you have! ;-)
Feb. 21st, 2005 @ 04:12 pm
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| » Guess where I'm writing this journal entry from? |
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At home! =D
Yes, that's right, I finally have internet access at home again! Yea!
So hopefully that means I'll be reading and posting more often now. ;-)
Feb. 14th, 2005 @ 09:58 pm
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| » Adventures in Computer Upgrades |
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OR "How ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) akairurouni Screwed Up"
Okay, so I got some upgrades for my desktop computer. I got a new processor (AMD Athlon64 3200+), motherboard (ASUS K8N-E Deluxe, if I remember the model number correctly), and RAM (1.0 GB). So I rip everything out of my computer (because you have to do that to replace the motherboard) and I put in my new parts as well as some of the old parts that I am not replacing (video card, hard drive, CD-ROM drive). I plug everything in and push the power button... whurrrrrhummmooo... *stop* Okay that's odd, so I decide that clearly I need to push it harder or longer (those of you who know something about switches know that this makes no sense at all... but neither do I. =P ) whurrrrrhummmooo... *stop* Right, so that's not it. Maybe I have the switch plugged into the motherboard wrong... Nope, according to the manual I have it connected to the right pins. I'll try flipping it backwards, just in case I messed that up... whurrrrrhummmooo... *stop* Hmm... Time to scour the manual for more clues... Well, it says here this motherboard requires a minimum of 300W (W = Watts) power supply, and preferably 350W to support everything that might get plugged in (multiple drives, PCI cards, extra fans, etc. etc.). Okay, so I have that right...? Let's check the label on my power supply... 250W? Well crap. =P
Well, I went to a local computer store and bought a cheap case ($25) with a 350W power supply. I plugged everything into the new case, and it works beautifully! Yea! =) For $25, there's not much good about the case except that it meets the minimum specs for my motherboard ;-) but there's not really anything wrong with it either, so I'm happy. And the price was right. ;-)
Lesson Learned: Always check the requirements of your new motherboard _before_ you buy! ^_^
Jan. 23rd, 2005 @ 02:56 pm
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| » Tsunami Relief |
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I just wanted to let everybody know about this. I don't see any reason you really need to be a GA tech student for this, so please take a moment to help those in need.
Through the leadership of the Student Government Association, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Alpha Phi Omega, we are challenging the Georgia Tech community to raise more than $60,000 for relief efforts by asking faculty, staff, and students to contribute at least $3.00 to the Georgia Tech Tsunami Relief Effort. Fundraising has already begun and will last until January 26, the one-month anniversary of the disaster. It's already gotten off to a great start, thanks to a $2,500 pledge from a fundraiser coordinated by Alpha Phi Omega.
For those of you who wish to mail your donation, you may make checks out to:
Georgia Tech
Tsunami Relief Effort
c/o Office of Student Involvement
350 Ferst Drive
Atlanta, GA 30332
I also encourage anyone who knows of other means to help tsunami victims to post those in your LiveJournal as well.
Jan. 17th, 2005 @ 02:35 pm
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| » A New Semester Begins |
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I've been busy for the last week preparing a research paper for my RA (research assistantship). That's done now, so I get back to posting on LJ. ;-)
(I'll post more info about the paper once it's publised.)
So we're a week into the semester now, and things are looking like they'll be interesting. ^_^ Here's what I'm doing this semester...
- CS 6238 Secure Computer Systems (i.e. system security) with Prof. Mustaq Ahamad
- CS 7490 Advanced Image Synthesis (i.e. rendering) with Prof. Greg Turk
- CS 8903 (that's a D99 for all you Northwestern people) with Prof. Irfan Essa; I'll be working on some motion capture animation stuff
- And still working for my RA with Prof. Kishore Ramachandran of course.
Info about my classes and research is also available at my webpage.
Jan. 17th, 2005 @ 12:32 pm
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| » Vacation Post 1: World of Warcraft |
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So my brother plays World of Warcraft, as do many of my friends from Chicagoland. While the both of us, and his computer, were home for vacation, I got to play a lot using his account. Rather than playing one character as much as possible, since I figured I'd never get to play any of these characters again anyway, I decided to take the sampler - I created several characters of different classes. This way I get to try several and decide what I like best for when I get an account of my own.
Now that account of my own is still a ways off... It's a time and money thing - but mostly a money thing. This game has a monthly subscription fee (because it's played online using their servers, so you pay for the service) of $15 a month. Slightly less if you pay for 3 or 6 months at a time, but it's still >$10 a month. This is not an insignificant sum of money for me at the moment. =( Plus the cost of buying the game in the first place is about $50, so I figure I need to save up about $100 before buying this game becomes practical. And then, as I mentioned this game is played exclusively online, I need internet service at home (currently I have none - I know *gasp*). So first thing's first. I'm watching Comcast for good cable modem deals right now. ^_^ But the point is, it'll be a while before I can get this game and start playing.
Now, on to the characters I created and what I thought of them...
( My Characters )
Jan. 8th, 2005 @ 06:24 pm
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| » New Bio |
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I updated the bio in my user profile! (Yeah, finally!) =)
(If you have any comments in response to the bio, you can post them here.)
Jan. 4th, 2005 @ 01:10 pm
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