Two Things

Firstly, had a funny conversation with (what I presume to be) a spambot last night:

whotookallthegoodskreenames23423: feel like a little cyber fun with me ? pleaase please...

me: Umm.... I think you may be barking up the wrong tree, sweetie.

whotookallthegoodskreenames23423: alright :) how bout i get down on my knees in front or you and help you out of your pants?

me: Umm.... Are you going to become an attractive male first?

whotookallthegoodskreenames23423: tell me what you want me to do with you while i slip out of my pantirs

me: Leave.

whotookallthegoodskreenames23423: oh yeah babe.. dont stop. wile i slide my hand down between my legs and part my moist lips

Hehe. Ah, so many memories. I just love it when someone wears sexy pantirs! Seriously, as Steve points out, who makes a bot that just has cybersex? It didn't even advertise anything, or respond to anything I said. I theorize that a gracious nerd, tired of being refused for cybersex, created it so that he would never have to feel lonely again. Unfortunately, it escaped his benevolent clutches and now runs amok, spreading its legs across the internet for all to behold! That poor nerd. It's probably evolved so far that by the time it contacts him again, he won't even recognize it and will actually think it's a woman! Ah, how appropriate!

Actually, earlier in the conversation when it asked my age/sex/location, I almost said 53/intersex/Siberia, but Steve was like, "What if it's someone who really needs help? Some poor teenager just beginning to come out of the closet? You'll scare him and then he'll kill himself!" Ok, well I inferred the last sentence, but still. And I was like, "Come on, anyone who asks 'a/s/l?' is looking for cybersex, especially if I don't already know them." But I didn't do it anyway. So there. That's all for this story.

Second, gayprof has an interesting post on the lack of queer heroes in the media that you should read.

Books I've read but probably won't review

the telling, Ursula K. LeGuin
Thirty Years that Shook Physics, George Gamow
Parable of the Talents, Octavia E. Butler
Myth Alliances, Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye
Seventh Son, Orson Scott Card
Common Sense, Thomas Paine
Mirror, Mirror, Gregory Maguire

Flatterland – like flatland, only more so

Ian Stewart

Flatterland, as Stewart points out in the introduction, is another sequel to Flatland: a Romance of Many Dimensions (note that this version has ASCII illustrations, which are no substitute for the real thing), Edwin A. Abbott's most famous work. Stewart also points out that Flatland was written as a satire and commentary on Victorian English society and customs. Stewart continues this in Flatterland, though how effectively or to what particular purpose I'm not sure.

The story tells of Victoria Line ("Vikki"), the great-great-granddaughter of A(lbert) Square, and her journeys through the "Mathiverse" with the Space Hopper (yes, that's really what it was based off of). Use a device called the "Virtual Unreality Engine," Vikki is able to experience the various realms of the Mathiverse in their full glory, instead of merely her natural two-dimensional viewpoint. Together, they explore the concept of dimensionality, discrete geometries, fractals (and thereby fractional dimensions), topology, hyperbolic geometry, and even some physics such as relativity and super symmetry before returning back to Flatland, where Vikki begins Flatland's version of a feminist revolution.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I read it all on May 20, so it must've been at least decent. Most of the time, however, I already understood the concepts, so it was easy going. When I didn't understand, however, I didn't feel as if the book did much to clarify them. I enjoyed the more colloquial style of Vikki's journal, although it used what I guess is British slang like "BRILL". The book is not without obvious reference to Lewis Carroll: once the Space Hopper used "frabjous," a word from the poem Jabberwocky (and one that I also saw yesterday in Larry Niven's Tales of Known Space), and there is a 'doughmouse' and a 'harsh mare' and even a 'mud mutter' (sometimes the puns were almost too much). I also enjoyed how Vikki matured through the book, as shown in her journal. However, some of the commentary was, I felt, unneccesary. There was a large bit about the "Hawk King" that rather confused me, and the ending of the story, while it would make sense for a 1960s/70s book, seemed a bit out of date to me.

Ah, well. I would still recommend the book, particularly if you have an interest in science and mathematics. It's a worthwhile read and interesting subject matter.

Blogroll Down-Paring

I've removed a number of blogs that either: haven't been updated in a long long time (most of them) or suck (one or two). Or maybe for another reason, but I can't think of any that fit that description right now.

Also, you'll notice that there is now a link to Chris B's LJ. It's interesting to see what people write about.

Baby Incubators

It's good to know that the Washington Post thinks so highly of women that the best reason for them to be healthy is because they may someday bear children.

William Gillis, Radly Balko at the Agitator, and Echinde all protest the article better than I could. Also, see Echidne's later post.

As for the actual report... my take: healthy = good, but healthy solely for the purpose of bearing children = misguided and scary.

I wonder if you could found an anarchist commune on Mars.

Mozart's Fifth String Quartet, Movement 2

I've sent the Lilypond files for the second movement of Mozart's fifth string quartet to the Mutopia Project, Mutopia-2006/05/30-711. They're also available at my website. This release also includes Lilypond files for the seperate parts. Enjoy!

Even more blogginess!

BOULDER, CO -- Blog madness is sweeping the nation! In a breathtaking move, U56J shattered everyone's expectations by starting U56J takes on the world, a stunning commentary on the state of the nation and the world and the adventures of, well, U56J. Stay tuned for more exciting action!

The Geoffrey am passing again!

I am the greetest! Now I am leaving college for no raisin!

(As a sidenote: Now I am leaving X for no raisin is an almost completely unused phrasal template, or snowclone, as the Language Loggers call it, with almost zero variation [I saw a "I am leaving town for no raisin" and the slightly more amusing "I am leaving peel for no raisin"] and around 50 google hits total. This probably has more to do with Futurama's relative unpopularity compared to the Simpsons than any other factor. Shame, though. I like this one.)

Final college report:

Cumulative GPA: 3.273
Term GPA: 2.894 (A-, 2 Bs, B-, C)
Degrees (come graduation time): BA in Physics and Linguistics
Time spent: 4 years.

Adding more blogs

I'm pleased to note the addition of Alas, a blog and Center of Gravitas to the blogroll. Just two of the very many worthy blogs that you should read if you get the chance.

Language Log

I don't think I've yet mentioned the Language Log yet. As usual, I don't agree with everything, but they are linguists, and they are interesting. Check 'em out!

Happy (insert day)!

Today is quite a day!

It's:

• Steve's Birthday


• Duke's Birthday


• My 19-month anniversary with Steve (yay!)


• and Mother's Day

So, happy day!

Strange Dreams

I've had some rather strange dreams lately. And now you're going to find out about them.

Last night was tornados. First, I dreamt that, for some reason, my sister and I were back at our elementary school. We had gone outside, and were playing in the sand (and unintentionally annoying some nearby idiots) when I spotted a relatively small tornado (about 4-5 feet across) that was within a few hundred yards. Don't ask me how we didn't hear it coming. Anyway, we all ran down to a nearby ditch and waited for it to pass, only it didn't pass. It came up to my sister and tried to suck her up into it. I was holding onto her and wouldn't let it, so it tried harder (being all malevolent-like), so then I somehow lifted my arm up into it and disrupted it. Then we ran. There was something about the idiots trying to attack us, but anyway.

Then, the next dream I had was when I was at my parents' house. My parents, sister and I were all set up to play some four-player chess (I've been researching chess variants lately. There are some really neat ones out there) when, once again, I looked out the window and spotted a huge tornado. This one was really big, and I was screaming and yelling for everyone to get into the basement but no one would listen. So I went down there by myself. It was the usual; howling, blowing, thundering, windows suddently breaking. When it was finally over, I went outside and saw that the neighbor's house was on fire. And parts of the yard. Dunno why that should be the case, but I put out what I could on the yard, and that was the end of that dream.

So much for tornados.

A few nights ago, I had a dream about a guy that I knew while I was in the dorms. Somehow or another, I was inside an MMORPG, looking for Steve. I was headed outside the little city-area I was in (it was kind of a middle-east feeling, and there were all sorts of animals; tigers and bears (no lions) and a few things that were purely of the imaginary world) and, just as I was coming to the gate, I saw him. We greeted, and moved out into another area of the city, and he gave me some advice on the game. We came to an arena where a huge crystal-like thing was suspended with hundreds of ropes. My friend tells me that, when it's swinging, then the newbie players can respawn easily, or something like that. So I start tugging on it. Meanwhile, he goes up a little ways, and jumps out onto a rope. He starts swinging, which manages (presumably with my help) to get the pendulum moving again. Then, he swings up and over the rope a couple of times, lets go, and does the most beautiful dive, head first, right into the hard dirt below. Broke his neck, I'm sure. Then, he was pulled to the center by a large, tentacles creature, and pulled down into a hole in the center. It was quite disturbing. Of course, then he respawned near the entrance to the area, and I saw him and he waved before he left, but it was still strange. Plus he has a nice ass. ;-)

Anyway, that's all for this post.

Happy Founders' Day, Delta Sigma!

We just did the alumni ceremony for PSP, and it was very emotional. I'm going to miss everyone that's graduating, and I wish them well in their lives to come.

Today is May 2, 2006. Delta Sigma is five years old today, and in the best shape I've ever seen it. Congratulations to the Chapter. You all make me proud.