I won't let Facebook take me alive!

For a while there, I was checking Facebook daily, but I suppose two days in a row doesn't really count. Turns out there's a UW Euchre club group. I'm now an admin, even though I oh-so-rarely use Facebook. I've just never really been an admin before...

This past weekend wasn't as productive as it should have been. I'm at the point in the physics course where I have to learn stuff I didn't know in High School. Seeing as how the assignment is due Wednesday (tomorrow), and I need to scan the assignment on campus during the day, and I have euchre tonight, it looks like whatever I have finished up until this point is what I'll be submitting, which happens to be three of the six questions. The real killer part is that I won't get the assignment solutions back in time to study the assigned questions in time for the exam (on the 8th). Then I've got to work on Crypto before Thursday so I can ask questions after class to finish the assignment for Tuesday, and Graph Theory is due on Friday as well. Assignments sort of crept up on me; I never saw it coming.

I can't view my blog from the lab here, so you'll have to forgive me if I repeat anything. I found my gloves that I lost a while ago. Turns out they were sitting in this lab the whole time. Over the course of a week, no one stole them or threw them out or anything. Just goes to show how little this lab gets used I guess. Since I bought new ones, and Andrea loves them so much, I gave the old gloves to her She seems to have taken quite a liking to them.

I got some of my grad stuff out of the way, but I guess I still have a bit more to do. I requested my three reference letters. All I really need to do at this point is send in my applications and wait. To do that though, I need a statement of interest, and before I finish that, I want to know if I have a chance of doing the NSERC research program during the summer. To know more about that, I'm waiting for the NSERC person at LU to get off their ass and let me know if any of the math profs have research interests in graph theory.

My parents want me to apply at more places like Manitoba and UWO. I really don't care that much about grad studies though, so I'm only going to apply to LU and UW. If the both accept me, I'll proabably just go to LU for laziness reasons. That is, if there is a prof with graph theory roots who will supervise me. Sure, LU isn't nearly as prestigious, but the way I figure, once I get a real job, I'll never see Thunder Bay again. Might as well get some time in before I do that.

I'm really looking forward to playing Catan with Sheena! She told me she's been wanting to play board games but can't find anyone. Good to know there's someone to do that with at home. Maybe we'll play some poker too. Maybe I should invest in another game or two at J&J...Bang! might be a good addition to my collection. No one here would play it with me, but I could say that about nearly EVERY interest I have.

I'm not entirely looking forward to exams next month, but I guess I never really am. I'll have very little time to study for Physics on the 8th. I'll have to put lots of time into Linguistics on the 13th since I've missed so many classes. Graph Theory on the 15th shouldn't take so much time since I'd say I have a pretty good grasp of the course material. Crypto on the 18th will be gruesome, I'm sure, but if I can get some decent studying done without putting it off too long, I should bo ok. Of course, the fact that I can't use Nathalie as an aid on the final will probably set me back a few points.

My schedule for next term got a little better. I found out about a CO course being offered next term, Network Design. I dumped Coding Theory for it, and now my schedule will be Crypto, Network Flow, and Network Design from 11:30-1:30 on MWF. Of course Euchre will mean I still have to walk to campus four days a week, but I still vastly prefer this schedule for both its relevance to graph theory and compactness.

I think I'm going to have to go get a donut. I'm pretty hungry.

Listening to... Fugazi - Lockdown
Link of the moment... FINALLY got this in the mail!

Karmic retribution in the form of cookies

Not a very apt title, but I like how it sounds. I'm trying to make sure that no two posts have the same title.

I'm posting from home today. I really don't know what it is in my body that makes me wake up JUST at the moment where I have to decide between getting to Linguistics on time or having lunch, but time and time again I'm looking at the clock between 11:03 and 11:18 (keep in mind my clock is 7 minutes fast for psyche-out reasons). Usually this only happens on Thursdays. I think this might be the first Tuesday linguistics I've missed. At least it will make my stay on campus shorter than the usual 10 hours.

I didn't do nearly as much this weekend as I had set out to do, but I set higher goals for myself than I expected to reach, so I guess it worked out. I'm still a bit uneducated about the grad studies application process, but I think I'm a few steps closer to knowing how to apply to UW. LU and the NSERC application are still foreign to me, though. I still have to get reference letters from profs, but before I do that I need to pick a C&O focus. I'm fairly certain it'll be graph theory, but I've only really done about 2 courses worth of graph theory, so I might just be interested in the baby part of it. Besides that, my next choice of focus would be either Cryptography or Algebraic and Enumerative Combinatorics, mainly because they both deal with group theory and modulo arithmetic, which is a shameful joy of mine. I wish I had more time to take courses related to the three areas to decide which one has a future with me.

I watched Steve's poker game on TV the other day. It was pretty fun to watch. He caught a LOT of really lucky breaks. There were plenty of times where he was a big underdog when he went all in and then caught a good card.

It's getting too effing cold out these days, and it'll only get colder once the blizzards come. I think I'm gonna have to start sleeping with some warmer jammy-jams, lest my roommates find my frozen corpse one morning.

Tonight is the last 'regular' euchre meeting (that is, random games that are counted towards the term scores). Next week will be a tournament, which I will hopefully win. I think maybe next week I'll put out a survey dealing with what people think of the statistics and how they could be improved.

I think everyone who plays RPGs has, at some point in their childhood/adolescence thought that they should attempt to make a game. After playing so many different styles and systems, each person thinks of ways to combine all the games they've enjoyed in some way to create some sort of master game. I know about a year ago (and just about once every three years before that), I started working on the basis of one of my dream games, but of course it never got out. The reason I bring this up is because since I've started playing FF5 again, I've been thinking about the parts of their class system that I enjoy and the parts that I would like to improve. Lemme tell you, if I was living with Phil and some other guy who enjoys sprite work, the three of us probably COULD put out a game (perhaps a crappy one, but it would be our child nonetheless).

Listening to... Dream Theatre - Under a Glass Moon
Link of the moment... I hope I make the right decision

Are bean bags an unhealthy obsession?

So, I was reading Dueling Analogs the other day (terrible webcomic IMHO but I thought I'd give it a try), and the strip was nothing more than an advertisement for the Sumo Omni beanbag chair. For some reason, my interest was sparked, and I started scouring about the internet for more info.

The more I read, the more interested I became, to the point where I'm really looking forward to getting one of these chairs. I've read nothing but great reviews, and $130USD for something that passes as a lounge chair, floor pillow, loveseat, and more really is a good price. There's no room in the TV room in this house for one, nor is there space for one in my basement at home, but I look forward to the day I have an apartment to furnish. Along with my futon, I have a fair idea of how I'm going to be furnishing it already!

I think it might be one of those cases of hyping it up too much and being disappointed with the reality. Anyways, I should get off this topic lest my blog become an advertisement itself.

I wanted to go bowling, but Andrew and I couldn't find two more people to go with. Everyone else seemed to have other plans. I suggested we go play pool instead, but I think the feeling was unanimous that we were just too lazy to go anywhere. We wound up going to Boston Pizza with Hugh. Good food. Next weekend, Andrew's going home, so no bowling next weekend either. Sooner or later we'll go, I hope.

I'm really enjoying my Nintendo DS so far. That's saying quite a bit considering I don't even have any DS games at the moment. It's just nicer to look at and nicer to play GBA games on. Considering my lack of time to play games, I'm thinking I should just invest heavily in DS games. Most of the time I'm playing by myself anyways.

This week I've got to get on my grad studies stuff. Contact profs about getting reference letters, mostly. I also am looking into NSERC, which would net me a job doing research during the summer (for money that could be considered chicken scratch, but it varies). To do that I'd have to go through the application process, part of which would mean finding a prof at Lakehead who would be willing to take me under their wing as a research assistant.

Well maybe I should get to bed. Tomorrow will consist mostly of cleaning and marking assignments.

Listening to... Metric - Soft Rock Star
Link of the moment... One of my favourite webcomics, and it's Canadian to boot!

Now with 120% more bloggy goodness!

I'm updating my blog in some way or another. I'm not sure if this post will even make it into the world. Something to do with Google being the new Blogger head-honcho. All I've noticed so far is that I can add labels (which I look forward to, but less useful for long posts that will problably span every label I can think of), and the text in this text box I'm typing into is delayed, making it VERY difficult to correct typos. Bear with me.

Saturday's euchre tournament was pretty disappointing. We BARELY got eight teams, enough for the bracket structure, and even then, one of the teams left when the movie started. We spent too much time waiting for more teams to show up, so we got a late start and got a little rushed out near the end of the ranking phase, but when we moved into the other room there was no rush and things were a lot more relaxed. The UWGamers were in the room as well, so I even got to fit in a song in Guitar Hero and a match in Smash Brothers Melee.

I placed fourth in the tournament with my makeshift partner. Brian won his second tournament for the term. If he wins the next one, it'll be a grand slam for him. The progressive scoring worked pretty well, we'll probably do it again.

The song I played on Guitar Hero was Monkey Wrench by Foo Fighters. I think I was pretty disappointed with the game and no longer plan to blow ~$90 on it. Firstly, the guitar controller feels like a small, plastic guitar, which is exactly what it is. When I was trying to play along with the song, I was playing the rhythm that I knew for the song and would have played on a real guitar, which sometimes is not always what is on the screen in the game. It's a game I'd love to play if one of my friends had it, but not something I plan to invest in myself.

As far as Smash bros goes, I played as Falco (my main man) against two links and Shiek. I was the first one to get knocked out, but considering I've never played against anyone other than Andrew, I'd say I did not so bad. After Andrew schooled me a million times the other day, though, I think I'm going to put that game on the backburner again. It's just too frustrating.

Andrew's family is moving into a new house, and the new house has two bigscreen tvs in it, so his family gave their current TV to him. It's sitting in our TV room now, and it's a pretty big step up from the other TV we were using.

I got a pretty good bargain the other day. Walmart had a misprinted price for Final Fantasy V Advance. They listed it as $16.88, which is actually the price of the strategy guide for the game. I brought the flyer to Zellers, who had the game for $39.99 and got them to price match it to get the brand new game for under twenty bucks after tax. I don't think I'd have bought it otherwise, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I think that for a lot of games (especially RPGs, and especially those with job classes), the best part of the game is the first five or so hours, when items, spells, and abilities are in short supply and you've got to figure out your own little arrangement for all your characters.

We plan to go bowling this Friday. I'm wondring who all I should invite. I don't want to mix up too many different groups of friends, lest I take over the event, but I want to see some people I haven't seen in a while.

Today I think I'm going to stay after Crypto for upwards of an hour to talk to the prof about the assignment. I'm having a lot of trouble with the questions I've looked at, and I'm sure the ones I haven't looked at will give me even more trouble. His hints have REALLY helped in the past, so I'd better take advantage of his help while I'm on campus.

Oh, as for that research thing I talked about last post, it turns out it's during the summer, so I'm not as interested. I'm almost contemplating staying during the summer so that I can get a 'real' job like that research position. There is absolutely no opportunity for people like me in Thunder Bay. Besides, I stayed in Waterloo last summer, and since I'm finishing my undergrad thisyear, I really think I could use a four-month break at home, away from UW. But, at what point should I be more concerned about getting on with my adult life and leaving my 'old' life in the past? I certainly can't live in Thunder Bay too long after I graduate. Even John is staying in Southern Ontario next summer instead of going back to Thuner Bay. Some people are lucky enough to live in cities that have some sort of opportunity, or at least that are within commuting distance of opportunity.

On a discussive note, what is your opinion on warranties? Should I get a warranty with a new camera? Cell phone? Should I have gotten one with my Nintendo DS?

Listening to... Monster Magnet - Space Lord
Link of the moment... Hugh schooled me last night

"Yeah baby, I can do it TWICE in one week"

I'm currently waiting around the MC on a Friday when I don't have any more classes. It makes me feel dirty and I don't like it, but I'd like to talk to my Graph Theory prof sometime today, and I know he'll be in his office *eventually*. I skipped class for some extra sleep on Wednesday, and Andrea has alerted me to the fact that he made some mention of looking for some students to do research. She didn't know the details, but if he's looking for next term or the first term of my grad studies (assuming I do them), rather than during the summer, it sounds like it could be a really good opportunity for me.

I've finally surpassed Andrew on the euchre rankings to take sixth place, and I'm within two points of Quinn who is in fifth. With only three meetings left, the rankings are more or less set in stone (unless the top three people fall ill and miss some meetings), but fifth ain't that bad.

I'm wary to say that after this weekend I'll be on easy street for a while, because I said something to that effect LAST weekend. I don't know what made me think I'd have it much easier this weekend, perhaps just because I thought I'd spend more time studying for my two midterms than I actually did. This weekend (and early next week) I'll have to finish my marking, physics assignment, and a crypto assignment. Unless I'm mistaken, next weekend the only thing I'll have on my plate is some marking. Of course, if I were smart I'd start studying for final exams that weekend, but exam studying is much more of a December thing, don't you think?

I'm come to the conclusion that if I had some romantic prospects in my life, I'd probably do a lot more stuff. I was looking in Imprint which had a few adverts for some plays going on, and I thought to myself "that would be something fun to do for a date". I wouldn't really go for many other reasons, unless someone was deadset on going.

I was watching some videos of Guitar Hero the other night...how lame is that? If one thing keeps me from buying it, it is probably the TERRIBLE vocals on the Bad Religion cover ("Infected"). It was actually quite painful to listen to after hearing the song so many times before. I think there was some other song where the vocals were quite questionable, but I forget which it was. Perhaps if I find myself with nothing to do next weekend, and a newfound research position, I could justify such a purchase (BTW Paul, how much did you pay and from where did you get it? FShop has it for $89.99 but I'm certain I could find it for $79.99 somewhere in Canada).

I almost feel like I shouldn't buy mcuh for myself for the sole fact that my parents never know what to get me for Xmas (and they really like to spoil me). A camera would be nice, but I would use it so rarely. GH2 would be fun, but I'd like that before Xmas. A Wii would be a great gift, but I have no time to play it. Maybe a list of DVD sets and DS games. I guess that's one of the VERY FEW problems with having enough money to buy stuff that I want (but of course I'm not complaining).

I wonder when Richter will be back in his office...I have to trek up two flights of stairs so I don't want to make a wasted trip if he's not back yet. I think I'll browse the internets for some 20 minutes.

Listening to... N/A
Link of the moment... Joystiq, a blog with gaming news and articles.

Sudden EMP shockwave?

I don't seem to be having much luck with electronic devices lately. My digital camera has recently been showing signs of being useless lately (fresh batteries usually take more than one picture) and more importantly, my cell phone isn't working. The inside display no longer shows anything, just a black screen. It would cost ~$100 to ship and repair it, and about ~$180 to buy a new rogers phone. I've still got 6 months left on my Rogers contract, so I'm going to try to get a phone off of eBay for less than $60 that will be able to last me the rest of my contract and however long I'll need a Pay as you Go phone after my contract is up. Thank god my DS and Zen are still in tip-top shape (knock on wood).

I've been sick as of last Tuesday night. I had a nasty headacke the first two days, and the usual congestion, but the thing that's really annoying me about this cold is the nagging cough. Most of the time it's a really dry cough so it really hurts my throat after a while. By the way, I recommend Halls over Fisherman's Friend by a long shot. It looks like I'm on the road to recovery though. I'm glad to get this year's cold over with, but that logic may be along the same vein as taking a bomb on an airplane because the odds of there being TWO bombs on the same plane is so drastically small.

Andrew and I (aka Smith and Wesson, he was Agent Smith and I was a cowboy, get it?) did alright in the tournament, but we caught an unfortunate break. We placed fourth out of ten in the pre-ranking games, so that got us started off in the quarter-finals in the knockout tournament (four teams had to compete to get in the quarter-finals). We beat the first team pretty easily, and in the semi-finals we held a two-point lead for most of the game. Unfortunately, they caught up on a couple of good hands and wound up beating us 10-9. I picked up the nine of hearts to give myself the Jack and nine of trump and some black kings. It wasn't a very good hand, but since I was the dealer I was more worried about being stuck and having to call one of my really weak black suits. The team that wound up winning was the one that was ranked tenth in the ranking, so good on them.

I was too lazy to update the euchre site this week since there were only a handful of new scores, I was hard up for a strategy article, and I didn't have any pictures of the tournament. This wekend, the club is holding a euchre tournament at the Warrior Weekends event (about time WW got back to us), and of course we'll be having an end-of-term club tournament at the last meeting in three weeks, so that's a pretty tourny-filled month for the club. I'm not sure if I'll be able to participate in the WW tuornament since I should be the one keeping score for the night. Such is the life of a club executive!

Looks like Guitar Hero 2 is currently carrying a 99% ranking. That $90 is looking like a pretty good investment for my Christmas holiday. Maybe (pimping DS) + (Guitar Hero 2) + (Buying Wii at presumed price drop in 2008) = success. It's not even a matter of having the money; I definitely do. It's a matter of not having the time for so many games.

Congratulations to John and Julie who have been together for a year now.

I looked at my notes and I've skipped four Linguistics classes that deal with the midterm on Thursday. Meh. I'm really not taking school seriously at all anymore. I have a crypto midterm in two hours that I'm very unprepared for. I don't know much about any of the signature schemes, or attacks on any of them, or any algorithms dealing with some attacks. My only hope is that the midterm is strictly easy number theory and hopefully an algorithm that is somewhere in my accessible memory. Looks like it's only worth 20%, but I suppose a bigger concern is that I'm even less prepared for the 50% final exam.

I don't know what to do for reading week this year. This is the first year that math students actually get a full week off, so I feel like maybe I should treasure it. Andrew is going on a ski trip and John and Julie are going to Las Vegas. My dad will have a condo in Florida again, but I feel like the trip is wasted unless I go with someone. My big plan was to have a girlfriend by now so that by mid-February we'd be in a position where we could go on a trip together and let our winter love blossom in the warmth of the Florida sun.

It was my mom's birthday on Sunday. I ordered a bunch of CDs and a Sudoku book for her. She went to the casino with some people (she only goes about once a year no gambling problem), and she wound up winning $1000! She was playing video poker as always, held the Jack of Spades, and wound up getting a royal flush! Good birthday gift, eh?

I really should find a second day a week to set aside time to make a post. Trying to sum up all the meaningless events of a week makes for too large of a post. Besides, as someone who checks for blog updates many times a day, I can understand that sometimes you people out on the interweb need something to keep yuo entertained throughout the week.

Listening to... Closed Captioned - Fugazi
Link of the moment... Honestly? Not entirely impressed with this either. Super Mario World was better...