Asymptomatic

There must be intelligent life down here

School-Sanctioned Egg Chucking
July 09, 2007

In sixth grade, I had an interesting science teacher. After our late-year lesson on simple machines - levers, pulleys, screws, etc. - we were offered a challenge: Create a device that used a simple machine in some fashion to launch an egg as far as you possibly can. The boy and girl that flung their eggs the farthest would be treated to a nice dinner out with the teacher.

The game was on! I came up with a few crazy designs on paper, but basically stuck to the same principle - using compressed air. Yeah, ok, not much of a simple machine, but in the end there wasn’t much to the device beyond a simple lever.

Someone I don't Know
July 09, 2007

I’m haunted.

About 8 years ago, I signed up for this very strange service. It purported to send daily email of the latest buzz on the internet. It would use some algorithm to come up with what it considered the ebb and flow of the net and boil it down to ten words that linked to specific things. They delivered something other than what they advertised.

The View From Here
July 07, 2007

Swingset BalloonIt’s been a week, I can tell you that much.

Independence Day is my favorite holiday, hands-down. This year, a bit of a wash due to the rain and some other circumstances. I think I’m becoming a hermit.

Alladin's Castle
July 03, 2007

Back in the day, we used to spend a bunch of time at Alladin’s Castle, an arcade in the middle of Granite Run Mall. It was one of those dark coin-op places, where our parents were sure drug deals were taking place in its shadowy recesses. And they were right!

The Impenetrable Schedule
July 03, 2007

I’ve got a bunch of really good topics to cover for blog posts, and it seems that I’ve not got enough time to sit down at the PC and do them justice. Instead, you get this. Sorry in advance.

Last week, Pat (my brother) flew home from working in Ireland to visit for a friend’s wedding. We spent some time together, and played some Guitar Hero II on the 360. This was fun. I have since played more Guitar Hero (which I specifically bought so that we could play) and am actually getting reasonably good at it. At least, I am much better at Guitar Hero than playing the actual guitar, which I should probably get out and practice some more.