Automatic CS Paper Generator

This is brilliant: an automatic computer science research paper generator. Just fill in the author names, and this does the rest. Probably convincing for those that don’t work in IT, too.

Here’s a sample, entitled Towards the Synthesis of Vacuum Tubes:

We motivate a novel methodology for the refinement of write-back caches (Quip), which we use to validate that telephony and the UNIVAC computer [1] can collaborate to answer this riddle. This is crucial to the success of our work. The shortcoming of this type of solution, however, is that expert systems can be made “fuzzy”, random, and introspective. Two properties make this solution different: we allow neural networks to harness low-energy methodologies without the study of active networks, and also our application is based on the principles of cryptoanalysis. However, this method is usually adamantly opposed. Nevertheless, the study of link-level acknowledgements might not be the panacea that cyberneticists expected. Combined with multi-processors, it synthesizes new symbiotic theory.

The Laundry Room Sessions

The Laundry Room SessionsSo it looks I might be working on some music with the drummer from my worship team. That’s why I spent some time last night recording new versions of some of my older songs. I wanted to get them down in acoustic, stripped down fashion, with no effects or anything, just guitar and vocals. So these are pretty raw, but you’re welcome to take a listen if you’d like. I’m hoping to see these arrangements change pretty dramatically in the coming days.

There’s not much new here, although I think this is the first time “Dirty Little Secret” was recorded. Otherwise, if you’ve ever been to one of my shows, it’s a pretty good bet you’ve most of these before.

Why did I call it The Laundry Room Sessions? Well, a few years ago, David helped me record some songs in our office (using just a PlainTalk microphone) and we jokingly called that The Office Sessions. Since I recorded these in my laundry room (which is also my home office), I decided to keep the joke going.

Grab individual tracks in MP3 format here:
Strange Days
Waste
No Soul For Sale
Sorry
If I Fell
It Happens All The Time
Forever
Dirty Little Secret

Or grab a zip archive of all eight songs here.

Thanks to GarangeBand for making it easy.

PS: For bonus points, listen closely toward the end of “Strange Days” where I completely blow the rhythm.

At The Movies. Kind Of.

Lately, three factors have converged to cause me to watch more movies. First, Jen haggled with Comcast to get us OnDemand service for less than our older service, complete with HBO. Second, as mentioned previously, I put in a home theater. Third, I’ve been sicker than usual this year, and many of those sick days have been spent watching a movie or two.

At any rate, I now present a list of movies I’ve watched recently, how they scored, and in which areas they gained or lost points. Not all of these are recent movies, nor are all of them movies I hadn’t seen before, so some of these are rediscoveries for me.

Little Miss Sunshine: 9.5/10
This was an awesome movie. I was expecting it to be good, but it blew me away. The whole “dysfunctional family goes on a trip and bonds” is tough to pull off, but they did better than it’s ever been done before. I especially liked the van and its issues. Earned extra points for Alan Arkin and Rick James. Lost points for a little bit too much swearing.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: 8/10
This was better than I expected. Val Kilmer is always good, but Robert Downey, Jr., is something of a wildcard: when he’s good, he’s really good, but when he’s bad, he just sucks. Thankfully, he was good in this flick. Earned extra points for Kilmer’s insults to Downey and for having the guts to feature a self-aware narrator. Lost points for wanting me to believe that Downey and Michelle Monaghan are the same age. As if.

My Girl: 10/10
This has been one of my favorite movies for years. I remember watching this when it first came out and thinking, “Wow, Dan Aykroyd can act!” This was under free movies on OnDemand, so Grace and I watched it together when we both had strep last week. To my delight, she enjoyed it, although she didn’t really get that Thomas had given his life trying to find Vada’s ring. Earned extra points for still being able to make me cry after all these years. Lost no points.

Curious George: 5/10
I was really disappointed in this movie. They could have done so much with such a lovable character, but they threw it away on an awful plot and extremely weak characterizations. Will Ferrell should be ashamed of himself, as should nearly everyone involved, especially the Reys for allowing this to come to fruition. Earned extra points for Drew Barrymore. Lost points for sucking.

Fever Pitch: 7.5/10
Speaking of Drew Barrymore, this one was better than I expected. Jen and I watched it together a few weeks ago, and it turned out to be a really sweet romantic comedy. Earned extra points for not having Jimmy Fallon be a complete goofball (although it was close at times) and for Drew Barrymore. Lost points for the shower scene; that was just weird and unnecessary.

Domino: 8/10
I really dug this movie. The ever-changing plot (complete with rewinding!) was a hoot, so I wasn’t surprised to see that it had been written by Richard Kelly of Donnie Darko fame. Jen and I watched it together, and when it was over, she immediately went online to research the real Domino Harvey. Earned extra points for Kelly’s amazing plot and for inspiring Jen to research. Lost points for the arm thing (if you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m talking about, and if you haven’t, you don’t want to know).

Ali: 5/10
This movie sucked. I hate to say it, because I think Will Smith is a truly gifted actor and I’ve held Ali himself in high regard for the charity he’s done, but man, this one was a stinker. The editing was poor. The script was too disjointed to tell me a story, but too compressed to give me a full overview of Ali’s life. And what was up with the club scene with Sam Cooke at the beginning? Earned extra points for Will Smith: he did a good job with what he had to work with. Lost points for skipping so many interesting parts of the champ’s life and for sucking.

School for Scoundrels: 7/10
The review said it’s “Napoleon Dynamite meets Bad Santa.” Well, that reviewer certainly reached down deep to write from his soul, eh? At any rate, it was a good time. Not exactly high art, but it was what I expected. Earned extra points for point blank paintball carnage. Lost points for expecting me to believe that airline security could ever have been so lax, even before 9/11.

In Her Shoes: 8/10
Jen picked this one, and I was expecting a total chick flick. But I was surprised: it was a good movie and not really a chick flick at all. At least, I wouldn’t expect a chick flick to feature Cameron Diaz in a bikini quite so often. Earned extra points for Mark Feuerstein’s portrayal of the strangely confident Simon. Lost points for some sappy sentimentality, notably the e. e. cummings poem at the wedding. Seriously, e. e. cummings? Couldn’t they find something by a poet with proper capitalization skills?

Stargate: 8/10
Believe it or not, I had not seen this movie up until a few weeks ago. I’d seen clips of a few episodes of the series, but never the original movie. It was really good. Earned extra points for a reasonable if not completely accurate portrayal of linguistics in action. Lost points for Kurt Russell’s hair at the beginning and for having French Stewart in it (who at least, thankfully, didn’t squint annoyingly the whole way through).

Johnny Mnemonic: 7/10
Yeah, I really watched it. Not a great film by any objective standard, but it made it easy to see why Keanu Reeves was later cast as Neo. Say what you want, I like Keanu Reeves and I think he’s a good actor. The movie was enjoyable if you shut down your brain while you watch it. Earned extra points for Henry Rollins. Lost points for Ice-T (for crying out loud) and for Dolph Lundgren.

Unleashed: 8/10
Jet Li’s best movie, in my opinion. I really dug Bob Hoskins as the gangster. Earned extra points for Morgan Freeman and Kerry Condon. Lost points for the fight scene in the pit where Danny was fighting like five people.

Well, that’s about it for now. More later, since I feel a couple movie nights coming on later this week.

Nice to be feeling better and blogging again.

Stupid Streptococcal Pharyngitis

I get sore throats pretty often. And I completely lose my voice once or twice a year, fairly consistently. Between leading worship on Sunday mornings and leading worship team practice on Wednesday nights, my vocal cords get a decent workout, so I figure it’s all part of the deal.

But not this time.

No, this time, I’ve become a victim of streptococcal pharyngitis, aka strep throat. I haven’t had this since I was a little kid, but I have it right now.

It started Friday night with a small tickle in my throat. No big deal, probably just need to drink more fluids in this cold, dry weather.

By mid-day on Saturday, my legs were aching, I was freezing cold, and my all of my skin was tender. And my throat was really beginning to hurt, but in a way that I’m not used to. Hot tea wasn’t helping. Lozenges weren’t helping very much. And Aleve wasn’t doing much at all. Oh well, I figured I’d feel better on Sunday.

Boy, was I wrong on that one. I woke up in a panic on Sunday because my throat was worse than ever. It hurt whether I swallowed or not. Doubting that I would be able to lead worship, I began to develop alternate plans in my mind as I packed my family and my gear into my car to get to church by 8:00 (I was late). Truth be told, I was partially hoping that the snow the weathermen were calling for would come early so that it wouldn’t be an issue.

But I got to church and told the team I probably wouldn’t be singing. We were down three people already between travel plans and tax season, so the others, while very forgiving and understanding, were justifiably concerned. We only had time run through one or two songs before the service, so re-arranging the whole service to rely on others’ strengths was out of the question. I decided I’d give it a try, even though my throat was still on fire and my legs felt like they wouldn’t hold me up.

To my astonishment, I could sing. We ran through two songs to warm up, and I made it through both. My pastor slipped me a couple lozenges and I kept sipping hot tea.

Usually our service has the bulk of the music at the beginning, followed by the sermon. Most of time, we’ll follow the sermon with one more song, typically a shortened version of a song we’ve done earlier in the service with just me on the guitar. By that song, my voice was starting to give out.

By Sunday evening, my temperature was well over 100, and I knew there was no way I was going to work on Monday. I wasn’t even going to try. So I emailed my boss and co-workers to let them know what was going on, took a hot bath, and went to bed.

On Monday, I didn’t feel any better. If anything, I felt worse. My fever was coming and going, but my throat was consistently sore. I made it to the doctor’s office to get checked out. The nurse swabbed my throat with that giant Q-Tip thingy and said she’d be back with the strep test results in six minutes. She was back in less than two with a positive result. The doctor put me on penicillin and sent me home.

Since then, I’ve been recoving and resting, but honestly, I still don’t feel that great. My throat is marginally better, and my fever seems to be gone, but I feel completely wiped out. I’m going to try to get to work tomorrow, but I don’t know if I’ll make it or not.

But it could be worse. A good friend of mine had brain surgery today, and another friend has had a really nasty sinus infection for more than two months, so I really shouldn’t complain about strep throat.

And yet I do.

REAL World 2007

Not only am I going to REAL World 2007, but I’m presenting again!

Not just a case study this time, either. I’ll be doing three sessions:
Understanding Open Source Licensing
Databases I
Cross-Platform Interface Tricks

This will be my fourth year running, and I can’t wait. I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone again. David is coming this year again, too.

Best part: according to the agenda, we’re going to Stubb’s for BBQ again this year!

Home Again, Home Again

Well, after about a six month lag in new posts to the multi-user version of truetech, I’ve pulled the plug on the group thing and reclaimed the domain for myself. I hope Dave, Tom, and Bill won’t mind, but I think we can declare our efforts at a group blog a dismal failure. Not to mention all the time it was taking to keep up the comment spam that WordPress kept getting hammered with.

So I’m back home at truetech for my personal blog. And life is good. Still need to fix up the template a bit and clean up the old posts, but otherwise, I’m back in business.

Wilhelm

The greatest sound ever: The Wilhelm Scream:

Since it was first blurted out upon the world, see the scream has been featured in over two hundred movies, cialis TV programs, pharm commercials, video games, and theme park attractions, and it has been heard by countless people. Notable filmmakers have also specifically requested the Wilhelm scream for their movies after learning of its history, including directors Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and Peter Jackson.

More at Wikipedia.