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From here

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Interview with Justin Frankel (the man behind Winamp, Gnutella and WASTE).

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Erin was through in Stirling yesterday, interviewing someone for an article and then hanging out with Joe.

I got a call from her last night asking for phone numbers of people based in Stirling, because she thought the last train was at 11:30 when it was actually at 11...Eventually the obvious solution was found - crash over at Joe/Gemma's place, which she did.

I called her at midday and got "ugh, blergh, ack, phhhht" from the other end, which I interpreted (from years of experience at dealing with recumbent Erins) to mean "I Was up until 7am, I am not awake yet.  Please be so good as to call back later when I am feeling altogether more chipper."

It's amazing how funny tired people are.

Weekend Plans

Off down to Cambridge for the weekend.  Well, briefly in Cambridge, meeting Lilian, then heading off to a party somewhere with her.

Nathan lives down there, but I'm sadly not going to get a chance to see him, as I'm liable to be spending mere moments actually in Cambridge in between heading off to other places.

Last Samurai

Not a review, but some thoughts inspired by it.  I'm not planning on including any serious spoilers about the plot.  Oh, and you should go and see it.
( Read more... )

Problem Solving

From a discussion on Slashdot on sleep and learning:

You load up your neural network with all the elements in the problem, and all the pieces of the solution that you know so far. Think about it a lot during the day to get the network good and excited, then take your constrained rational thought process off line.

The problem with many complex problems is that you can spin down the same logic paths over and over, and it feels like you're working the problem. The problem is that if the solution isn't down one of the paths you keep thinking along, you're not going to find it that way. Pulling the logic controller off the job (whether by sleep, running, music, whatever) while the neurons related to the problem are still in a heavily excited state (from all the active processing you've been doing) gives the neural net a chance to try some less obvious pathways.

I agree entirely.  This is how I do almost all my problem solving.  Learn everything I can and then go do something else while my brain solves it without me.  However this doesn't work terribly well with managers who want you to look like you're busy...

Dietary Advice

For those of you who watch what you eat... Here is the final word on nutrition and health, and it is a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies:

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans.

3. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans.

4. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans .

6. Ukrainians drink a lot of vodka, eat a lot of pirogees and cabbage rolls and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans.

CONCLUSION:

Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

(stolen from original_aj)

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Thanks to trashcanglam I just discovered that 99 Red Balloons is a protest song.

Golly

My Mind is Melting!

I scored 316.3

I bet you can't beat me.

Here

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My life has been rated:
See what your rating is!

213 things

That SPC Schwarz is no longer allowed to do in the US Army:

#  Not allowed to watch Southpark when I'm supposed to be working.

# My proper military title is 'Specialist Schwarz' not 'Princess Anastasia'.

# Not allowed to threaten anyone with black magic.

# Not allowed to challenge anyone's disbelief of black magic by asking for hair.

# Not allowed to get silicone breast implants.

# Not allowed to play 'Pulp Fiction' with a suction-cup dart pistol and any officer.

# Not allowed to add 'In accordance with the prophesy' to the end of answers I give to a question an officer asks me.

# Not allowed to add pictures of officers I don't like to War Criminal posters.

Update: Rest here

Ooh, scary gamer dudes

I first saw a Chick tract back in 1992-ish.  Fantastically funny, although I feel sure that some people believe them.

Dark Dungeons is by far the best of them, especially if you're a gamer.

Things I'd pay for on LJ #76

I'd like a style that's easily readable on a PDA - all text, nothing frilly at all, no images.  Ultra-light.

Anyone know how to make styles?

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This is my journal, on my palm.  The brightness has overwhelmed the phone's camera somewhat, but you can just about make out the entry directly below this one...

As you can tell, it's not the best browsing system in the world at the moment - definitely needs restyling somewhat.

Funniest Thing Ever

If you are even slightly on the goth scene then read this now.  It's a spoof of the Dark Dungeons Chick Tract I posted earlier and I just pissed myself 3 times while reading it.