Yes, I like taunting my plates. Yes, I played far too much ultimate frisbee in college, instead of studying:
Update: Oh, and yes, I was also the one taking these photos with my camera phone.
Back to more nerdy subjects:
This morning I finally got the code completion for the boo shell changes commited. Along the way I had to do some major refactoring of the completion interfaces, and move them out of the SourceEditor assembly and into MonoDevelop.Base proper. As an offshoot, we can now do fun things like have code completion for arbitrary text fields, etc. Should be interesting to start digging for places this would be beneficial. You can see some screenshots of the boo shell completion in action in my old post here.
I’m off to defcon next week. Should be fun. Get to see my brother while I’m there. Haven’t seen him seen x-mas time.
In other news, there’s a chance there may be some major changes for me coming up. Can’t say more than thatyet , but suffice it to say I’ve been a bit of a stress-ball recently. So it goes.
So, for those that don’t know, I work in the Network and Systems Administration group in the IT department at NYU: Stern School of Business. Much like a pool of stagnant water breeds rat sides mosquitos, Stern is the breeding ground for priveleged MBAs who, knowing nothing about computers or technology, will innevitably be my boss 5 years down the road when I move to the private sector. There is a massive painting that has hung in the lobby of the one Stern building for the past 5 years I’ve been around NYU. Here it is:
It’s a sh*tty photo from my camera, so let me explain. The left half shows vibrantly colored younger men, clawing their way over each other to reach some unforseen peek, while the right side shows gray and colorless old men, seemingly slipping and tumbling down the slope. Could the message be any clearer?
Life is a constant struggle. Forget your peers, they are just obstacles in the way to some unattainable success. And yet innevitably, you will end up old and tired and worn, only to be replaced by the next generation of drive men.
That’s my take on it. Notice there’s no women. Notice it’s insanely f*cking depressing. Notice how completely foreign and contrary to my beliefs the painting is.
Thank god there’s at least a haven of craziness here in our IT department.
To quote Christian Schaller, in his post about GTA and the recent hoopla surrounding a hack found to expose some nudity/sex scenes in the game:
I mean what kind of sick world is this when people think the image of a female breast is dangerous for a 17 year old person while an image of a guy getting his head blown off is by comparison safe? I think it safe to say that a female breast is only potentially lethal if it hits you at a speed above 250 km/h, and based on my own observations over the last 20 years female breasts very very rarely move as such speeds. Guns on the other hand tend to have a much much higher degree of lethality.
I, for one, am looking forward to advances in technology that will enable the common man to achieve such breast velocities on a normal budget. None of the NASA budget linear accelerator BS. I’m talking consumer grade, high speed nipple.
From here:
italicize the ones you saw, bold the ones you actually liked.
Titanic (1997) - $600,779,824
Star Wars (1977) - $460,935,665
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - $434,949,459
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) - $431,065,444
Spider-Man (2002) - $403,706,375
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003) - $377,019,252
Passion of the Christ, The (2004) - $370,025,697
Jurassic Park (1993) - $356,784,000
Shrek 2 (2004) - $356,211,000
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002) - $340,478,898
Finding Nemo (2003) - $339,714,367
Forrest Gump (1994) - $329,691,196
Lion King, The (1994) - $328,423,001
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) - $317,557,891
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001) - $313,837,577
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) - $310,675,583
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) - $309,125,409
Independence Day (1996) - $306,124,059
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) - $305,411,224
Sixth Sense, The (1999) - $293,501,675
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - $290,158,751
Home Alone (1990) - $285,761,243
Matrix Reloaded, The (2003) - $281,492,479
Shrek (2001) - $267,652,016
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) - $261,970,615
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) - $260,031,035
Jaws (1975) - $260,000,000
Monsters, Inc. (2001) - $255,870,172
Batman (1989) - $251,188,924
Men in Black (1997) - $250,147,615
Toy Story 2 (1999) - $245,823,397
Bruce Almighty (2003) - $242,589,580
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - $242,374,454
Twister (1996) - $241,700,000
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) - $241,437,427
Ghost Busters (1984) - $238,600,000
Beverly Hills Cop (1984) - $234,760,500
Cast Away (2000) - $233,630,478
Lost World: Jurassic Park, The (1997) - $229,074,524
Signs (2002) - $227,965,690
Rush Hour 2 (2001) - $226,138,454
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) - $219,200,000
Ghost (1990) - $217,631,306
Aladdin (1992) - $217,350,219
Saving Private Ryan (1998) - $216,119,491
Mission: Impossible II (2000) - $215,397,30
X2 (2003) - $214,948,780
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) - $213,079,163
Back to the Future (1985) - $210,609,762
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) - $205,399,422
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - $204,843,350
Exorcist, The (1973) - $204,565,000
Mummy Returns, The (2001) - $202,007,640
Armageddon (1998) - $201,573,391
Gone with the Wind (1939) - $198,655,278
Pearl Harbor (2001) - $198,539,855
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) - $197,171,806
Toy Story (1995) - $191,800,000
Men in Black II (2002) - $190,418,803
Gladiator (2000) - $187,670,866
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - $184,925,485
Dances with Wolves (1990) - $184,208,848
Batman Forever (1995) - $184,031,112
Fugitive, The (1993) - $183,875,760
Ocean’s Eleven (2001) - $183,405,771
What Women Want (2000) - $182,805,123
Perfect Storm, The (2000) - $182,618,434
Liar Liar (1997) - $181,395,380
Grease (1978) - $181,360,000
Jurassic Park III (2001) - $181,166,115
Mission: Impossible (1996) - $180,965,237
Planet of the Apes (2001) - $180,011,740
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) - $179,870,271
Pretty Woman (1990) - $178,406,268
Tootsie (1982) - $177,200,000
Top Gun (1986) - $176,781,728
There’s Something About Mary (1998) - $176,483,808
Ice Age (2002) - $176,387,405
Crocodile Dundee (1986) - $174,635,000
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) - $173,585,516
Elf (2003) - $173,381,405
Air Force One (1997) - $172,888,056
Rain Man (1988) - $172,825,435
Apollo 13 (1995) - $172,071,312
Matrix, The (1999) - $171,383,253
Beauty and the Beast (1991) - $171,301,428
Tarzan (1999) - $171,085,177
Beautiful Mind, A (2001) - $170,708,996
Chicago (2002) - $170,684,505
Three Men and a Baby (1987) - $167,780,960
Meet the Parents (2000) - $166,225,040
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) - $165,500,000
Hannibal (2001) - $165,091,464
Catch Me If You Can (2002) - $164,435,221
Big Daddy (1999) - $163,479,795
Sound of Music, The (1965) - $163,214,286
Batman Returns (1992) - $162,831,698
Bug’s Life, A (1998) - $162,792,677
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - $161,963,000
Waterboy, The (1998) - $161,487,252
Yes, I’ve seen way too many movies.
A not-so-brief history (some dates are fudged by my horrible memory for these things):
c. 1998 or 1997:
My father and his then fiancée purchase a roughly 10 acre tract of land in Brainard, New York. This is just out of Old Chatham, which itself is this miniscule town about 30 or so miles south east of Albany.
8.8.98:
My father and step mother are married on the property, in a small clearing my dad created there. The wedding is buddhist, and involvles lots of “smells and bells”. There is also sake involved in the ceremony. oh boy.
1999-2002:
Big chunk of time involving surveying most of the property, scouting out the best location to build a house, picking a spot, my father single handedly doing *all* the design work for the house (with my step mothers ample editorial input, of course), etc.
c. 2003:
The area where the house will go is cleared of trees, etc, and ground is broken! And by broken, I mean very, very scary “rippers” come in to trea out the solid bedrock that was where a big hole in the ground is supposed to be. The resulting hole in the ground is nicknamed the HFH, or Hole From Hell:
During this time, I actually get to help jack hammer the hole, clearing out some of the corners and edges that the rippers missed. The foundation gets poured, etc, etc.
2004:
The fall of 2003 and spring of 2004, while I’m going apesh*t with trying to graduate, the framing and exterior to the connected mother-in-law house is done. This house is slated to be finished first, both as a testing ground for things, and to let my step mother’s mother have a place for the following summer. Starting this summer, I decided to go up every other weekend to help my father with the house. Filial piety kicked in, what can I say.
During this time, the framing for the main house goes up:
The top ridge is three boards thick, in either 2 or 3 sections for the length of it. The boards are insanely f*cking heavy, and we have about 8-10 people crawling around like monkeys over scaffolding and beams to get the things up there.
During this time, the utilikilt given to my dad for christmas ages ago is still unworn, and I decide it’s high time someone enjoys its great… breeziness:
Man was that thing comfortable. I’d do it again in a heartbeat (I actually wore it a few weekends).
By wintertime the house is mostly whether tight, and work on the inside of the main house continues:
2005:
House building continues at a furious pace. Wiring, plumbing, central vac, cat6, coax, the works is put into the walls, and the walls are insulated. Sheetrock, taping, paint, etc happen at a furious pace. I don’t have much pictures of this available, although I know there are some somewhere. TBH, this time is largely a blur. Blur, I tell you.
Fast foward to yesterday.
Full stop.
7.11.2005:
House passes final electrical inspection after my dad pulls pretty much an all nighter to finish the last few lights and things.
7.12.2005:
House gets C of O (Certificate of Occupancy), and hours later gets approval by final bank inspection, after my dad pulls yet another all nighter to hook up the final plumbing bits in the utility room.
The house is now officially live-in-able, and there’s already some furniture in. 7 long, long years, which not a single person involved (and there have been so many) would give up. Congratulations to my dad and my step mom for all the work.
Innevitably, i’ll be up in two weekends helping with more things that need doing. Wouldn’t have it any other way though.
oy.
there are not words to describe this evenings events.
*passes out*
argh. i just accidentally deleted all the comments on my previous post while trying to zap a bunch of the texas hold ‘em spam. sorry everyone who commented.
often times one hears about all those people who’s fathers worked in bell labs, yada yada, or worked for apple back in the day, etc, etc. and how it explains how they got into computers and hacking (in the “figure out how things work, create cool new things out of them, etc, etc” sense, not the journalistic, “let’s break into computers and cause trouble”, sense.).
It’s dawned on me, that although my father wasn’t one of those involved in computers in the early days, he’s definitely a hacker, and on a philosophical level, was one of the ones, along with my brother, largely responsible for me being where I am today, hacking gentoo, boo, etc. My dad’s not your standard hacker though, he’s a construction/engineering hacker. I grew up watching my dad designing and building a house for us to live in (which sadly had to be sold when my folks got divorced), constantly finding things like f*cking *player piano restoration* to hack on, you name it. He took a completely non-functioning player piano, and turned it into beautiful music. wow.
It’s dawned on me just how really luck I am to have been helping him for the past year and a half with the new house he’s been building. It’s only been every other weekend going upstate, but I definitely feel like I’ve learned a lot. This weekend, I’ve learned the finishing pieces involved in the electrical of a house. (I’d learned all about 14/3 wire, GFCIs (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters), etc earlier on in the house building processes.), and other recent weekends I’ve honed my tile laying skills, roof building stuff, and countless other things. I’ve used a frickin’ jack hammer, for christ’s sake. Those who haven’t seen it, check out the photos of the house I took about a month ago. Lots in the house has changed, since these were taken, including all the trim being done, the kitchen being mostly done, and most of the electrical now being finished.
Anyway, just something I’ve been thinking about recently. Anybody else got examples of “hackers” they know that don’t fit the standard mold?