Quaternion

If you haven't noticed, I am up late. I should be working, but I've hit a stumbling point. I'm sure we all remember those points in school when we said, "When am I ever going to use this?" and felt smug and self satisfied about only spending enough time studying to pass the test. Once again, I've been bitten by the shortsightedness of my younger self. Right now, if I could, I'd be beating the 23 year old me about the head and shoulders for not paying better attention in Vector Calculus class. Yeah yeah, I know nobody will ever need this again. That's what I thought and I was right for about 11 years. Now that decision has come back to haunt me. The 3D application that I'm writing is suffering from a gimbal lock problem and the best way to fix it is with some fancy matrix math and Quaternions. Baby Jesus please help me. I can't figure this out for the life of me and I don't know if there is much chance tonight. I am fading fast. The only source of caffeine in the house is a bag of chocolate covered cranberries that I threw in the trash because I couldn't stop eating them. Damn you chocolate covered cranberries and your yummy goodness.

Jumping the Sharks

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Originally uploaded by iammonkeyboy

This is a picture of Riley after he landed a massive jump on his scooter. He was jumping the sharks (rocks) on the sidewalk.

Who wants a squish?

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Originally uploaded by iammonkeyboy

Picture of Lola taken in the Sears parking lot of Columbia MO. We'd had a flat tire on the way to St. Louis and in this picture she'd just eaten.

What's a girl to do? Run!! There's a creepy BMX bunny rabbit doing tricks right behind you.

More creepy bunny videos.... Tell me that bunny on the right doesn't look like Frank from Donnie Darko. It is stuff like this that will forever doom me to crazy dreams of rodents.

While I'm thinking about it, I should pull up the Donnie Darko Soundtrack and listen to it. If I don't, I will be singing Mad World all night long.

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
And their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cos I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World
Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me
(via pownce)

How to kill a chocolate Bunny

Well, happy easter everyone. (via pownce)

Arthur C. Clarke

By now many of you will know that Sir Arthur C. Clarke has died. For those of you who don't know who Clarke was, let me put it this way, with the possible exception of Werner von Braun he did more for ushering in the age of space flight than any other person. He is credited with inventing the communications satellite. But probably more important is the fact that his fiction is the source of inspiration for so many scientists, astronauts and engineers today. This is a fact that he was aware of. In his address to congress he even said so, "I'm sure we would not have had men on the Moon if it had not been for Wells and Verne and the people who write about this and made people think about it. I'm rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books." While it might sound like great hubris for someone to say this, I don't really think he was a man of great ego. From everything I've read, Clarke seemed to be a man of insight, willing to state his point, taking pride in his role as a founding father of the space age, but not being so egotistical to think that he did anything more than plant the seed in some young minds and suggest a direction. In my standard fashion, I'd rather let the man words do the speaking. Here are a few quotes from Clarke that I think sum him up well.

It may be that the old astrologers had the truth exactly reversed, when they believed that the stars controlled the destinies of men. The time may come when men control the destinies of stars.

At the present rate of progress, it is almost impossible to imagine any technical feat that cannot be achieved - if it can be achieved at all - within the next few hundred years.

There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.

A hundred years ago, the electric telegraph made possible - indeed, inevitable - the United States of America. The communications satellite will make equally inevitable a United Nations of Earth; let us hope that the transition period will not be equally bloody.

This last quote may disturb a few people. Just know that Clarke is not speaking in the New World Order sense of a United Nations of Earth. He just saw the potential of man and recognized the uniting factor that the new frontier of space might have for us. I find the hope and love that he had for humanity to be refreshing. Sadly he is gone.

Update:
Here is a last message.

Random Mind Vomit

So here is just a bunch of random things

I had an odd sense of deja vu this morning as I got out of my parked car on the way into work. I was greeted with the combined smells of pipe tobacco, rain and an engine that is running just on the rich side. The combination of tobacco, rainwater and uncombusted gasoline triggered memories of my father. He didn't smell like that, but those three scents had the effect of bringing him to mind. Interestingly, it wasn't a specific memory, more an intense feeling of being in the presence of someone.


Motherfucking cunt pussy licking tit fuck bitch face?

On Friday I noticed that my bank account balance was about $11,000 larger than when I last looked. The gubment finally got around sending us our tax refund. I know that money isn't everything, but to be able to pay down some debts was killer.

In the same vein, I have a credit monitoring service. It reported recently that I had a new negative entry on my credit report. Even worse, it dropped my score by about 70 points. What is the real kick in the pants is that it is a collection notice for $18. Somebody decided to ruin my credit for $18. Still trying to figure out what to do about that.

This little game sucked up about thirty minutes of my time.

I wish this didn't sound like half of the meetings I have to go to at work:


And just when I was about to start making my own biodegradable laundry soap I come across this gem:


Which in turn makes me believe that descendants of this robot will probably be what will inherit the earth once we screw up and put a gun turret on the top of it.

To quote space cadet, "ALL HAIL MATTE BLACK METAL MASTER". I would also like to add my hearty welcome to our new machine overlords.

George Carlin

There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past.

Andre Gide

Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.

TED - It's alive!!!!

I love how he barely stifles the maniacal laugh and rubbing his hands together. Actually I find his approach very interesting. The notion that the cell is merely a biological computer and the chromosomal molecules that inhabit the cell are the software has very interesting implications to the future of humanity. Many have asked if this is right. Are we playing god? Craig answers this question very well, "We aren't playing." People's knee jerk reaction to this statement is of course, "WTF??!?!?! HE THINKS HE IS GOD!!!!! INFIDEL!!! BURN THE WITCH! ARGLEBARGL BLAH BLAH BLAH JESUS" The problem is that this is a very unsubtle interpretation of his words. Yes there is a bit of hubris there. The guy has led a team that has taken the first steps to creating life. You can see the pride in his face. It is unmistakable. The thing that I think people are missing is the framing he puts around this talk. Our population is growing at an exponential rate. We are facing several crises with regards to our planet. We are running out of energy resources. We are polluting the environment and believe it or not, we are on the verge of starvation. The technology he is describing has the ability to address each of these. I, for one, can't wait to see what he does.

George Jackson

Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice.

Thomas Jefferson

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.

I see what you did there.

So rather than spend time keeping track of two different blogs that nobody reads, I decided to combine this one and the other one down to one. I've moved all of the quotes over to this blog and they are just tagged with Quote. You are free to go now.

Mark Twain

When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.

How I know she is my daughter

Yeah yeah. Stories of other people's children are insipid. This is your opportunity to go kiss off.

Today I had my daughter demonstrate two things to me. First that she can roll over and back. Second that she is truly my daughter. Not only did she roll over, but while on her belly with her diapered butt pointed right at me, she dropped ass and then rolled back over onto her back and laughed. I can ask for no better proof that she is the fruit of my loins.