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Friday, October 19th, 2007
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So yes, I haven't blogged in a while, but now I'm pissed.
http://www.hasbro.com/tonka/
Click on "watch video" when the 3-in-1 sit'n'scoot or whatever comes up in that main window there.
Does anyone else find that commercial to be really offensive?
"Built for what boys do NATURALLY! It's a SHAPE SORTER!" And the only other features are "it helps you learn to walk" and "you can ride around on it." So basically, the only difference from girls' toys is that it's a "shape sorter." Well, good thing we're establishing before those children can even WALK that girls aren't interested in shapes or geometry or building spatial skills, so that twenty years down the road we can be scratching our heads wondering why there aren't more women in engineering.
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I would like to take a moment to talk about how awesome Star Wars is. It's 30th anniversary time, and it was the 20th anniversary (oh my God, was it ten years ago?) that brought a small group of geeks together in middle school. I made friends bonding over the Star Wars newspaper articles and images we had all hung in our lockers. We saw the movies together and watched the whole trilogy back to back on Valentine's Day in seventh grade. We all dressed as Star Wars characters (I was Luke, Giselle was Leia) on eighth grade Theme Day (and while we were hiding under the stairs to avoid the teachers making us go outside, I gave away our presence when I accidentally leaned on my lightsaber and turned it on. The telltale snap-hiss [thanks Timothy Zahn!] apparently seemed out of place). We had epic arguments over whether Han or Luke was hotter. Our lockers, notebooks, and binders were plastered with imagery. Our backpacks were decked out with ridiculous Yoda keychains.
I can quote most of the movies. The music is just incredible. I love the novels. Star Wars gave me a reason to learn about CompuServe chatrooms (I was Luke Lover #7 in the Star Wars forum) and what a "wav" file was and how precisely I could set my computer to use Star Wars sound clips as replacements for standard Windows sounds (My parents loved that phase).
I'm watching a History Channel special on it right now -- they're talking about the cultural impacts of the movies, the aspects of mythology and Greek tragedy that are present in the movies, and the philosophy it presents. It's just so good. It's so cheesy and created so many cliches, but there's so much about the movies that are just timeless and classic and delicious to watch over and over.
Actually, maybe that's just me.
Regardless, it's a freaking awesome movie.
Everyone should go rewatch (or watch, Kim darling) the trilogy right now.
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Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007
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Giselle has been my best friend since we met in 7th grade when I switched schools. She was my "host buddy" at my new school. Our first phone conversation lasted more than an hour, and it was all downhill after that (to the point that my parents put in a second phone line for us). We went through school together, took most of our classes together, and then both went to Boston together for school (unintentionally, actually -- it just happened that she chose Harvard and I chose Olin. Not that anyone believed us when we told them that). She still knows my catch-all computer password, and I can still forge her signature and account number at the country club her parents belonged to. She came to Olin often enough that Rosemary knew who she was at brunch and she's actually in the Olin Rising video at a cookout our freshman year.
And now she's moving to New York City on Friday :(
It's the first time we'll be living in different states since ... forever :(
WHATEVER SHALL I DOOOOOOO
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Wednesday, May 16th, 2007
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So it is time to update. I need to get back in the blogging habit. Apologies to all of you who were lacking in your 30 seconds of wasted time reading my blog.
My ruminations of late revolve largely around managers and mentors. In particular, my project manager at work is a really wonderful guy. I really enjoy working for him. The nice thing, though, is that not only is he my project manager, he is uber project manager guru man. So since I am managing a project team this summer, he's been helping out a lot as I plan out my schedule, milestones, etc, gently guiding me in the general direction of not screwing myself over. He does an excellent job of explaining the larger context (what the project means for the company, why we're doing it, what he hopes we'll complete) to keep me from getting bogged down in hours per week and assignments and deliverables. It's helpful.
This is the same manager who sent me an email one day saying "So, [coworker] and I were deciding your future over dinner. Here's what you need to do..."
He's pretty awesome. He would make an excellent professor at Olin.
Lots of other folks are great, too. One of the department managers is particularly good at feedback, good and bad. He's very good at letting me know when I've done well, but he has also (very calmly) lets me know exactly how much money I've wasted when I have "fucked up" a board. El presidente is a lot of fun to talk to and is happy to share business wisdom with a lowly engineer (perhaps his engineering background helps. I respect that). I think I learn more during lunch hours and at Friday afternoon beer than I do during my eight hours of work each day.
I spent the last 2.5 days at the RoboBusiness conference here in Boston. It was a blast. I went to the IEEE Oceans conference last fall, but while being a much bigger event, it wasn't nearly as fun -- I only knew about a very small percentage of the technology there. This, though, was all robots, and I know about robots! I have to admit the Microsoft robotics studio looks pretty cool -- at some point I need to buy an iRobot Create and play around with that and the Microsoft studio (the iRobot booth had a video of someone having modded a Create to be directed by a hamster in a ball. It was beautiful). Hanson Robotics was there, the guys who do the robotic heads (like the Albert Einstein head that they tacked onto an Asimo base) -- they are definitely well settled in the Uncanny Valley. It's very creepy. Segway was also there. Without any Segways. Go figure.
So what is next? Olin commencement this weekend (good God, has it been a year?), going to my grandparents' over Memorial Day weekend, starting my new project with my interns, preparing for the CDR for my current project (400+ slides. Oh yes.), going to HAWAII at the beginning of July. (Recommendations as to places to see/things to do are accepted in the comment space below) Exciting things.
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Saturday, April 28th, 2007
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Mom is sitting next to me complaining I don't update.
HI, MOM.
I'll update later.
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Thursday, March 15th, 2007
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I think when your mom accuses your blog of being boring, it might be time to update...
So... wow. I guess it has been a while. I have a car now! It's a 2007 Mazda3 S Grand Touring, with sunroof, Bose speaker system, and spiffy auto-dimming rearview mirror, among other gadgets. It is "Pacific blue mica" color, which roughly translates to a dark teal -- looks more blue or green depending on the light. Her name is Kaylee (after the engineer in Firefly) and she is lovely :)
Work is very very busy. This summer I get to continue systems engineering on my current project and I get to be a part of a commerical R&D team, which is basically exactly what I want to do with my life, so I am immensely excited. Recent conversations and such with coworkers have introduced exciting new dynamics into my summer plans, so it will be interesting to see how it all goes. However, in general, work continues to go well, and I continue to enjoy it.
The Boston FIRST Regional is next week, and that's going to be INSANE. But hopefully it'll go well -- last year was apparently impressive for a rookie regional, so hopefully this year will be most awesome. Not particularly panic-inducing, but certainly stressful and exhausting. Woo boy. And I have to take two vacation days for it.
I really don't have anything else particularly entertaining to say right now. That's unfortunate, isn't it? You'll have to live with me being boring.
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Wednesday, January 31st, 2007
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The city of Boston was shut down for several hours today due to the threat of LED displays attached to various structures in the city. LED displays that had been present for at least two weeks. LED displays that have survived other American cities for up to three weeks without the Terror Squad coming to the rescue. Other than my severe annoyance at the interruptions in subway service and causing of people I needed to talk to at work to leave early to beat the traffic jams, the real redeeming factor in it all is seeing the word "Mooninites" used liberally throughout the media. Glorious.
Work is busy. Sometimes frustrating. Though I have been clued in to the fact that over the summer I will get to do a mini contained version of pretty much exactly what I want to do with my life, so I am immensely pleased. I'm off to Florida next week for a meeting at my project's program office in Panama City. Being the only female going, I have my own 2br condo on the beach. As awesome as that is, there are vast amounts of preparation to be done before the meeting (and much PowerPoint to go anal on), so I like to think of my off f coutime on the beach there as being well-deserved vacation. Mmmm sun and warm and ocean. Unlike Boston, which is sun and cold and ocean. And Mooninites.
Ummm, what else. I have discovered the Xbox Live Arcade game Lumines! While it in no way takes advantage of the next-gen console on which it runs, it is supremely addictive and, much like Tetris back in the day, I hear the music in my head while I'm at work and I see dual-colored cubes when I close my eyes to go to sleep. However, I greatly anticipate the relase of Guitar Hero II for the 360, at which point I may need to call in sick to work for a month or two.
However, I do have to bitch about Microsoft (su-prise). To buy games, I have to buy points. 79 points cost US$0.99. The game I wanted was 1200 points, or something, and after some calculations on Drew's computer we determined how much that was in real money. So you go to buy the points you need to buy the game. Ha ha, you can only buy a minimum of 2000 points! So now you have these other points. Stupid points. And then you download the game you have just purchased for $15 or whatever (which is basically free online, of course), but wait, it isn't even the full version! Only the basic version! That's another 600 points. Download that, oh, that's just the single player challenge upgrade -- it's another 300 for the multiplayer and another 300 for the vs CPU advanced modes. And, every time you download the upgrades, it wants you to reboot the ENTIRE BOX. Why? It does this with updates too on some of the arcade games and real games like Gears of War -- downloads and install some 5 MB update and then insists on restarting the box. I am impressed with the 360's performance, but good lord, Microsoft's involvement in its software design and economic system is painfully clear.
And to review, exciting things that will be happening in the next six months: Florida for work (Feb), parents come to visit (Feb), a cute car is purchased (Feb/Mar), Boston FIRST regional is run (Mar), I attend (hopefully) the FIRST Championship (April), I go back to Columbus for my five-year high school reunion (April), I go to Hawaii (hopefully) (June/July). Fun things are going to be happening! I can only hope MOONINITES can be involved somehow.
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Friday, January 12th, 2007
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I had my annual physical today, coincident with my first physical in which I had to find my own doctor. The doc was really nice, and during my checkup I asked if they had the cervical cancer vaccine yet, and if my insurance would cover it. Figured I'd be a good, healthy little feminist and get a vaccine that is a huge step forward in medicine, especially women's medicine.
He looked at me, blinked, and said, "I have no idea. You're the first person who's asked me about it." So he went out to talk to the nurse practitioner who does more of the gynacological stuff. Comes back in, says, "Well, your insurance probably won't cover it anyway, but... we don't have it, and the NP says if you're old enough to ask for it, it's probably too late." Meaning that by now I've probably been exposed to HPV already.
So, this was not at ALL the reaction I was expecting. First, I'm surprised I'm the only person so far to ask, given that (1) the vaccine has been in the news a lot and (2) this clinic is in Cambridge, and I have to imagine the many liberal college-aged women in Cambridge are interested in these sorts of things. Also, he never bothered to ask about my sexual history, so somewhere in the conversation with the NP came the assumption that I have risky enough behavior to have contracted HPV somehow (which I do not believe is the case). Plus my mom looked at the Mayo Clinic site, which says that the vaccine is recommended for women up to age 26, regardless of sexual histories, and that even if a woman has been exposed previously, it can still have some effect. And there's the fact that it's a nice contingency plan for that "what if I get raped?" scenario, which is really, I think, a good reason to get it. Sooooo... I'm a little confused. I have a gyno appointment with the NP in a couple of weeks, so I'll ask her about it again then, but... it was just really strange. Not at all what I thought they'd say. Anyone else asked about this? Anyone had any better reactions? I don't want to be one of those annoying patients who reads things on the internets and starts demanding the newest stuff just for the sake of it, but in this case I feel like it might be warranted...
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Thursday, January 11th, 2007
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My contract with Verizon is up in June. Must be fate!
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Tuesday, January 9th, 2007
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Yeah, so, that game. Um, given the amount of shit I was talking to, like, half my company today, tomorrow is going to suck.
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Saturday, January 6th, 2007
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I'm sitting on a couch in bare feet and a knee-length skirt with the windows open, and I'm really enjoying the nice breeze. And it's what, 6 January? Seriously, this is frickin weird.
Went to the FIRST kickoff in Manchester today -- this is the first time I've ever gone in person, rather than watching the webcast. It was fun! And for those who watched it, did you see my close-up? And the nervous eye-darting when I realized the camera was on me? (Yeah me!) So exciting. I didn't go to the party at Dean Kamen's house last night, because I had obligations for work and drink, but maybe next year.
Really, I'm just enjoying the fact that I haven't been kicked out of the location holding my entire life for a full month. Taking home one small suitcase for Christmas vacation and coming back to my bed, kitchen, etc mostly uninterrupted was really, really a nice thing. Part of that bonus is getting to do things like the Kickoff. I'm not bored, I'm not poor, and I'm in control (mmm control). Woo.
So work. Heheh work. We finished the PDR for the huge new project (to which I am supposedly devoting 80% of my time) right before Christmas giving me just enough time to find out how screwed I was in terms of getting three each of three different circuit boards programmed, calibrated, and tested for another project. For those of you who read this who are in to the "I'll start my own company some day" thing, here's a suggestion: WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN. EVERYTHING. AND WRITE DOWN WHERE YOU WROTE IT DOWN. Because some day some poor entry-level sap will come along needing to program something on a tight schedule, and the fact that you, the only person in the company who knew what was going on, have hidden the outdated but at least mostly complete documentation for programming and calibration in the wrong part number folder on a server she doesn't have access to will not help her. Particularly if even MORE outdated, but only half-complete documentation DOES live on the server she has access to. She's going to be REALLY confused for a very long time while she re-invents the wheel (or, in this case, the thruster). So yeah. Anyway, I have learned quite a bit about the boards I've been working on, and that is all very good, but I feel so bad for being slow on getting things to the project manager. And the head PM, to whom we all ultimately answer for these things, is a really fantastic guy to work for, but he reminds me very much of Mark Somerville (an Olin prof, for those who don't know)... he doesn't get mad. He gets disappointed. And there is nothing, NOTHING in this world that makes me feel worse than disappointing Mark Somerville. Or my PM. Oh, the guilt.
So I'm going in to work on a Sunday to try and catch up. :)
Damn does *my* documentation rock, though. When I deploy my collection of How To Do Everything, they won't know what hit them. That way, if I get hit by a bus on my way to work (which is inevitable, given the way people drive through Central Square and my complete disregard for crosswalks, traffic lights, and other safety mechanisms) things won't come to a standstill.
Oh, and in the midst of all this, they're shuffling everyone around the office to improve the use of space. So they want me to move my cube while my tables are covered with boards, wires, multimeters, papers, and all this other stuff in a delicate collage of chaos that I have catalogued in my head. If they move it, I will lose everything. Such timing!
Can you tell work has been stressing me out? I mean, it's all fun, I really do enjoy it, it's just been one of those weeks where as soon as I get one thing worked out, eight other things come up and start kicking my butt.
Though, I must say: nothing, nothing in this world makes me feel better after a long-ass day at work than playing "Damn, it Feels Good to be a Gangsta" at full volume on my iPod on my way home. I don't know if it's the Office Space association, or if it's just really that fantastic a song, but it is immediately soothing.
So I bought an Xbox 360 for me, Jon, and Drew as an apartment Christmas present. I made the purchase in anticipation of the release of Guitar Hero II for the 360 sometime in the next few months (and once it's out, it is all I will do), figuring it would be okay not having anything to play now. But now I want something. Problem: I'm not an FPS fan. I mean, socially, Halo is great. But the campaigns aren't particularly inpsiring to me. This may be why I suck at Halo. But the problem is that holy crap, like every game for the 360 is an FPS. Things I *do* like include games like DOA3 (I may buy DOA4, but given that Jon and Drew are immensely better at it than I am, buying it to get my ass kicked is not high on my list of enjoyment), and I am very easily addicted to RPGs (Pokemon, I must admit, as well as Final Fantasy). I also like games like Myst and Civilization on my computer. So. What's out for the 360 that I can play? Extra points for a cheaper game that's not $60, but if I'll be entertained, then it's worth it.
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Friday, December 29th, 2006
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I'm at work (I'm one of like three people here) and I'm pissed off at a board that won't do what I'm telling it to do, so I'm taking a break to blog instead.
A few rants.
(1) Two people from my (very small) high school have gotten engaged within the last week. One was a classmate, and the other was one of my small circle of friends. How did I find out they got engaged? Facebook relationship status changes. Sad, isn't it? Oh, and speaking of people getting engaged, if you got a ring for Christmas, and you're wearing it on your ring finger, but you're telling me it's not an engagement ring, I do not believe you. You know who you are. :P
(2) Also on Facebook, I belong to a group called Gay Marriage Killed the Dinosaurs. The "information" post is the oft-forwarded list of reasons gay marriage is bad, including lines like "Children must have both a mother and a father, which is why we do not allow single people to have children in America". I chuckled when I joined it and ignored it for a while. I happened to look at the discussion lately after I noticed this title in the group list of an individual I know to be fundie Christian. Turns out there are a large number of people joining this group honestly believing that gay marriage did, in fact, kill the dinosaurs. Now stay with me here a second. Apparently, you see, dinosaurs occasionally engaged in homosexual behavior (and, presumably, watched a lot of "What Not to Wear") and the more they did it, the more they enjoyed it. They enjoyed it so much, in fact, that they stopped breeding heterosexually all together, and poof! No more dinosaurs. And this is an argument, clearly, for why we should not allow gay marriage between people now. Sadly, I shit you not. The group is overrun by these people now. My only consolation is that most of them are not yet old enough to vote.
(3) I love all my friends very much, and I realize we are a product of a generation of kids with over-scheduled lives who have been in ballet, soccer, and opera singing lessons since conception. But I now have an 8-5 job and occasional commitments to a community service program I feel very strongly about. What do I do the rest of the time? Sit my hard-working ass on the couch and read. Sometimes I cook very involved foodstuffs for my enjoyment and others'. Sometimes I go out with friends from school and/or work. I do not do yoga, assist with political campaigns, find a second job, or run marathons. So when you ask me what I do in my spare time, and I say, "read, cook, hang out with people," and you insist that no really, I have to have a "hobby", I am secretly rolling my eyes at you. I'm very happy doing what I do right now. If I get bored, I will change that. But for the multiple of you that have suggested that I am somehow lacking in excitement in my life because I'm enjoying having relatively nothing to do for the first time since starting kindergarten, don't worry about me. I'm fine. :)
And reading's a hobby, dammit, especially when you go through books as fast as I do.
That is all.
Now this board is going to be my bitch.
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Friday, December 15th, 2006
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When machines do the reporting, I get a real kick out of the automated image match-ups.
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Monday, December 11th, 2006
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Over Thanksgiving, I inherited a little something from my grandparents. This baby was made in 1962, purchased by my great-grandmother, passed on to my grandparents, and now it is all mine.
Look on my aluminum Christmas tree, ye mighty, and despair.
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Felicitee Kertis has accused me of being lax in updating my blog. I almost protested till I checked the last date of post. It is true.
My six-month mark at work passed on 1 December, without much fanfare other than the fact that I still have a job and my boss and various supervisors seem pleased with the things I do. Despite not being at the end of an academic semester, I'm feeling "the crunch." I have a ton of circuit boards to program/test/fix/throw into trash cans in frustration for various projects that are in manufacturing. The big project I'm on has its PDR (preliminary design review) this Wednesday and Thursday for the Navy, and I in my masochism volunteered to be Powerpoint Nazi and do the "oh-no-this-text-box-is-one-pixel-bigger-than-this-other-one" kind of cleanup and merging for the more than 300 slides we're preparing to present. (At least my PM appreciates such work -- it is refreshing) It ate my soul last week, and I had to bring my laptop home to work on it at night, but I am most pleased with it and the preliminary feedback we got from the Navy was that it was looking good. Yay!
That said, there has been plenty of time for relaxing -- I've been reading a lot, cooking and baking a lot, writing Christmas cards, doing Christmas shopping (99% online - yeah lazy!), and doing what I shouldn't do and watching TV a lot. On the other hand, FIRST is gearing up, so I'm coordinating the Ambassadors for the Boston Regional, drawing on my relatively pitiful professional network to line up VIP guests for the event, and it sounds like there's a good chance I'll have a new team to work with in the spring. I think the lazy time I've been having since graduation may be coming to an end. It's been fun, but now I have good ways to be useful after I leave work.
In other news, I actually kind of enjoy staying late at work and working very intently on things for long periods of time. This may pass. But for now, it is good.
Also: on such nights when I *have* to stay late to get things done before deadlines, what will happen if I have scheduled time with a FIRST team that overlaps? I suppose I do what I'm paid to do, but I had not considered this issue. Hmmmm.
And finally, though I'm sure a majority of the people who read this are Oliners anyway, for those who are not and who had not heard, Olin is officially a real school. We received our accreditation from NEASC last week (at a breakfast for "newly accredited schools," which Jon rightfully points out was probably a pretty lonely breakfast for President Miller) making us a real school who can issue student visas, accept scholarships, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Also, after printing out the certificate forwarded to us and hanging it on the outside of my cubicle with the date highlighted, I discovered that most people I work with had no idea they had hired someone from an unaccredited school. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, I suppose!
That's about it. If anything exciting happens, you shall be the first to know.
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Thursday, November 30th, 2006
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... courtesy of Gui.
Haahaha, it's true.
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
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Yay for a new party in power of the House and hopefully the Senate. Don't screw it up.
BOO FOR STILL NOT BEING ABLE TO BUY FREAKIN' WINE AT SHAW'S.
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Friday, November 3rd, 2006
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So I guess the Daily Show has been filming their Midwest Midterm Midtacular at Ohio State all week. I've been watching the videos online. It is freaking HILARIOUS. And TRUE. All those things the audience is laughing at that you don't think is funny? It's because you're not from Ohio.
Linky link to Comedy Central's stuff. Windows only. :( YouTube may have some stuff back up, I don't know...
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Wednesday, November 1st, 2006
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Jon and Drew have been working for a long time on their software product, Thinkature, which lets people collaborate in a more visual way in real-time over the Internet. They went live last night. Y'all should check it out and give it a try -- it helps if you have multiple people to play with in the same workspace, incidentally, but you can do some fun things in an individual one (I enjoyed using it to plan an elaborate cooking fest). Anyway, yeah. Have fun.
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1) Democrats and Republicans, you all suck. Just so you know. You're all idiots. Third party candidates, you probably are too. Most people who go into politics, actually, I will assume are idiots. There are probably some smart ones out there, but none of you seem to be running for office.
2) I look forward to the day that I can watch a politician speak and somewhere in my mind I can honestly believe that he/she wrote the speech him/herself and is delivering it while truly believing in the words, rather than reading off what a professional speech writer wrote and gaffing it horribly and looking like a complete moron. This goes for all sides, but most recently for the good Senator Kerry, who should just never try to be funny.
3) Hillary Clinton. Intellectually intelligent? Sure. Moreso than other politicians? Sure. Truly smart? Well, she's still married to the husband who humiliated her in front of the entire world. She may be politically clever, but she apparently has no self respect. Sorry, not a fan.
4) Dear Massachusetts: SELLING WINE AND BEER IN GROCERY STORES WILL NOT BRING UPON YOU THE END OF THE WORLD. Most of the rest of the country does it. In fact, you let stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's do it, and so far it's been okay. And that whole "It will increase drunk driving"? Did you know that Ohio has drive-through liquor stores? That's not even just wine and beer. That's hard liquor too. And you know, it's okay. So lose the Puritanical bent and realize how stupid you look being the only state in the Union to have legal gay marriage, yet I can't pick up a six pack of Mike's at Shaw's.
5) Democrats: you need to start working on having a platform other than "We're not the Republicans." You'll get my vote this time because you're getting the benefit of the doubt from me, but next election, some sort of platform would be helpful.
6) I hate campaign commercials. I think I will purposely increase my rate of pirating television shows for the sole purpose of never having to watch those stupid-ass commercials again. I'm sure that's exactly what they intended.
At least it's almost over.
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olinerd's journal
pissed off.
tired.
random.
confused.
devastated.
amused.
chill.