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These first few days of dent school have been a real whirlwind. Any moment of free time has become a precious commodity! As such, it has been a real challenge to find time for things that I once considered the highest of priorities. I made it over the hump (Wednesday) and am clamouring for the weekend. When your weekend consists of a “night on the town” with your lovely girlfriend, a visit from your sister and a rAdIoHeAd concert, you get pretty jazzed. (More on these events later!)
In other non-dent related news, I’m going to place my order today for my new notebook. I loved my x1000 notebook and its beautiful wide-screen display. However, the over-hyped tech requirements for school were just that–over hyped. With that in mind, I passed it on to my wonderful sister and am going back to the platform that I love–Mac OS X.
Now, I’m the first to admit that Mac’s aren’t for everyone. For example, if you’re a student/professional who has to run particular software apps that are only found on Windows, then the Mac obviously is not for you. (Gamers, you fall into that category, too.) However, if your needs are “standards-based”, that is, rely on industry standard file-types and technologies, then the Mac is a great choice–especially for portability.
It appears that my good friend, Stonebraker, is going to take advantage of some incredible Apple discounts and make the “switch” himself. Look for his switch commercial to show up any day now.
OK…time to head off for Day 4.
Remember those old health videos we had to watch when we were kids? Well, I’m watching one right now. I swear you would think something as important as infection control would warrant a video that was made prior to 1982. Oh well, that’s why Pocket PC’s come with Solitaire, right?
What’s that?
Oh swell looks like we’re going to be tested on this tomorrow.
Days of Dental School Completed: 1
Days of Dental School Remaining: 1,460
Let the fun begin…
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Today finished the 2nd of my 3 day orientation at school. Yesterday’s orientation consisted of everything from how to successfully register for classes to finding a bathroom at those critical moments. Today was more entertaining, as our class got the opportunity to break into small groups based on a personality test we were required to complete prior to enrollment. The results were interesting. Yours truly comes in as a ENFJ which is psycho-babble for Extrovert/Insightful/Feeler/Judger. Famous people who are also classified as ENFJ-ers include Gahndi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Moses, Jesus and Santa Claus. (OK, Eleanor Roosevelt really wasn’t a ENFJ-er, I just embellished.)
It was interesting to meet with my group of fellow ENFJ-ers. I had met a few of my group members prior to the discussion and it was intersting to find out that I had unknowingly associated with people of my own personality type. The speaker for the day, a successful author whose name escapes me at this late hour, says that people seek out similar personality types and almost inevitably chose these people as their closest friends. Even more interesting is that these same people will almost invariably choose an opposite personality as a life partner. What’s the saying? “Birds of a feather flock together.” & “Opposites attract”
So, lovebirds before you get too serious with Mister or Misses “Right” have them take the Myers-Briggs Personality Test to make sure you’re compatible.
Now, play nicely…
Tuesday Night:
Sometime Around Dinner Time
Brian>> Hey, do you guys have any cash to pay the pizza guy?
Me>> Nah, dude. Just write ‘em a check or something…
Scott>> Dude, just pay ‘em with all those rolls of quarters you’ve got stashed in there!
Brian>> Oh yeah!
[Brain retrieves three $10 rolls of quarters from his room.]
Scott>> Dude, you’re not really going to pay the delivery guy in quarters, are you?
Brian>> Why not?
Scott>> Because, he’s gonna be pissed when he get’s paid with $30 worth of quarters!
Brian>> Pissed? On a $3 tip? I don’t think so.
OK, just for the record if any of my friends or otherwise anonymous visitors are feeling compelled (Read: Pressured) into joining the RIAA’s little amnesty program, here is a link from the Electronic Fronteir Foundation’s (EFF) website that you MUST read. Basically, admitting to the RIAA that you have downloaded copyrighted material may absolve you from any legal action directly from the RIAA, but the statement you sign does not offer any protection from the legal wrath of other copyright holders and may subject you to unforseen legal liability.
Read the EFF’s article and before you reveal your identity and proclaim that you have infringed on copyright law, seek legal advice from an attoryney. Better yet, make a donation to the EFF (they are fighting for our digital rights–daily.) and don’t let the RIAA’s gestapo tactics frighten you out of your rights.
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Last night, Misty and I went out for a couple of quick things at Target. As we were strolling along, we were being bombarded with promotional material regarding the new Isaac Mizrahe clothing line. Yes, it seems that Isaac is joining Mossimo in hocking their goods at Target. As we walked by the women’s clothing, Misty couldn’t resist but model off some of Isaac’s latest offerings for my camera phone. Check out this shot from the Moblog. Isn’t she stylish? And yes, the name ISAAC MIZRAHI is splashed across the entire shirt!
Doesn’t MIsty look lovely in…well every color?
An author whom I have grown to respect, both for his writing and philosophies has just published his latest book, A Place So Foreign and Eight More. Cory Doctorow’s earlier work, Lost in the Magic Kingdom, was pure genius. Possessing a writing style all his own, Cory breaks from conventional distribution channels and makes many of his short stories freely available on his site. Stop what you are doing, navigate over to his site and download a few of his short stories. Then, purchase his book and support authors who utilitze Creative Commons Licensing.
A Place So Foreign
Links to Cory Doctorow’s Works (Right-Click and Choose Save As):
Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom
Microsoft Reader Format
ASCII Text File
Printable PDF File
A Place So Foreign and Eight More
ASCII Text File
I was thrilled to get to present my thesis work at this years Research Symposium. Everyone who presented has such incredible research and commits so much time to their respective studies. Being there and presenting along side colleagues, whom I respect greatly, was quite an honor. You can imagine how thrilled I was when I was awarded 3rd place for my presentation! Awesome! The judges made mention that the scoring was very, very close and I’m honored to have placed amongst such an awesome group of researchers.
Special thanks to everyone working in my lab. You all know who you are and I could not have even made it to this symposium if not for your help and support. So, where are we going to do with the prize money?
UPDATE: You can catch a few pics of the poster & symposium on the Moblog. (Even one of Mork deciding to sit on my poster hours before the competition.) I’ll also make my poster file available here (600K Download).
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Politics are becoming a topic of more and more blog posts, recently. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, or because I’m about to incur a huge education loan or maybe I just have more life experiences to judge what our “leaders” are doing to our world/country/state/city. Nonetheless, I’ve been trying to reason the latest tax refunds offered by the White House. In the past, I’ve subscribed to the economic thought that if you put money back in the hands of the populace then the capital system will work its magic.However, my philosophy has come under question as of late.
When the choice was made to invade Iraq unilaterally (without the support/financial backing of the UN) our government accepted that we would be paying hundreds of millions of dollars per day to liberate (Read: occupy) Iraq. Amidst all of this, came the Bush Tax Refund of 2003. The wealthiest Americans with children received a $400 tax refund per child, in an effort to stimulate a slumping economy.
This morning, I read an interesting article by Dan Gilmor. In his article, he reports that the latest tax cuts offered to parents aren’t really going towards books, clothes or other expenses. No. Instead, families are deciding which oil company will get their tax refund. Stanford economist, Frank Wolak confirmed the numbers. The average American household is spending an average of $520 more annually for energy use since Bush came into office. Apply that $400 tax refund to surging energy costs under the Bush administration and American families are not even coming out even.
Something doesn’t add up here….
Click over to Dan Gilmor’s eJournal to read the entire article. So, are you feeling the energy crunch?
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As you can see from today’s Moblog post, my poster presentation is done! What started out as a simple little poster presentation grew into a week long project! I’m glad it’s complete and with a bit of brushing-up, I’ll be ready for the Research Symposium on Thursday.
In other news, I think my computer blew out the circuits in my office and my living room. While working away on my computer, Misty innocently flipped on the T.V. in the adjacent room. Doing so quickly brought my computer and every other electricity-loving device in my office to its knees. Thank GOD that I had just emailed off the final copy of the aforementioned poster and archived a copy safely onto a Zip disk. (Yes, there are people in this world who still use these antiquated little devices. If you don’t believe me, just try submitting something for large-format professional printing on anything besides a Zip.)
For now, my computer is running safely attached to a APC Back-UPS 300watt battery backup. This device is of course connected to a 25 foot extension cord which winds into the power-friendly dining room.
So, how about it? Are you using zip disks? How ’bout electricity? Used any of that lately?
Over the weekend my good friend, Jeff Stonebraker, decided to make his presence felt on the web. Stone’s been involved in a couple of web projects, but the .com which bears his name promises to serve as his virtual soapbox. We’re looking forward to watching the site evolve and to read Stone’s take on everything from his beloved Mariners to technology’s place in an introverted society. Equipped with a background in journalism, Jeff’s writing style lends itself quite nicely to the web and promises to offer compelling content.
Head on over to his site and take a peak “under the hat”.
For your convenience, drag the link below to your bookmarks!
jeffstonebraker.com
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