In hindsight, I probably should have known that an astronomy textbook would be written by star-worshippers.
Dammit, I just want to learn some neat stuff about space and pick up some miscellaneous science credits and not be made to feel broken. Is that really so much to ask?
Tags:
#Brin is touchy about stars #was already a tag #adventures in University Land #oh look an original post
there has never been a 0 in my url
I have never once been able to read your URL as “Ozymandias Two Seven One.” It’s always “Ozymandias 27182818…”, “Ozymandias e”, or in extreme cases “ozymandiase”, and I don’t speak enough biochemistry to know what that enzyme even does.
On the other hand, it took me MONTHS to realize that was e. Embarrassing.
It helps to have known their previous username :D
I did! I still didn’t figure it out!
…well shit.
Um.
*awkward*
(I never noticed and it’s been maybe a year and I’ve been working with natural exponentials and logarithms in math class)
Tags:
#(although to be fair I’ve been using the e button on my calculator) #(so the actual *value* of e doesn’t come up that much) #(maybe if we were using approximations I’d have figured it out) #reply via reblog #math
Consider the set S of people living in the town of Newville. Which of the following correspondences specify a function? Explain.
(A) Each person in Newville (input) is paired with his or her mother (output).
[…]
[Answer section:]
(A) This correspondence specifies a function; each person has exactly one mother.
@sinesalvatorem, saw this in my math textbook and thought of you.
(“But have you considered lesbians? Therefore, your argument is invalid.”)
Tags:
#I’m going to throw in a complaint while giving them a list of the typoes I’ve noticed in the first two chapters #apparently a bunch of errors snuck in during the ebook conversion process and they didn’t think to have it re-proofread afterward #they haven’t managed to get it proofread *properly* (i.e. by someone getting paid to comb through it carefully) #but they *did* fix the typoes in Appendix A I pointed out to them #so I’m going to keep them updated on the others I stumble across for the good of the class #(I’m not going to call them homophobic or anything) #(I’m going to say that the phrasing was ambiguous about whether to account for the possibility of lesbians and it confused me) #(which is true) #oh look an original post #adventures in University Land
vaaaacaaaationnnn
eeeeeeeeeeee
(I didn’t talk about finals here while they were happening because I was worried it would make it seem too viscerally, overwhelmingly real. But, now they’re over! I got an A in English; I don’t have the results for Java yet, but all of the exam questions were about very familiar stuff, so I feel really good about my answers.)
Tags:
#adventures in University Land #oh look an original post #we are going to the local Italian place tonight to celebrate
Fuck you, spell check, “smartphone” is totally a word.
Tags:
#and when you’re writing a thing about natural language processing it’s a pretty *important* word #adventures in University Land #oh look an original post #(don’t worry I finished the thing *before* going on Tumblr to make a post about it)
My first plan for this post was to have the entirety of the text body be “Massss Effffectttt”, tagged #I’ve finished my #adventures in University Land #for the semester.
My second plan was to acknowledge the first plan, then say that I was instead off to go have that quality time with my new phone, and I’d get around to Mass Effect later. (Possibly after hunting down an external mouse, as I’m finding this trackpad to be rather finicky on Windows.)
This is the last plan:
Finals were hellish. I’d say I understand now why people get so freaked out about finals, but I’m only going half-time. If two classes are like this, I can’t begin to imagine four.
(Why did I have to be someone whose psychosomatic stress-response is gut problems? Why couldn’t it have been…I was going to say headaches, but rumour has it that sufficiently severe headaches can induce vomiting. Surely there must be some set of physical symptoms stress can manifest that doesn’t involve nausea, is what I’m trying to say here.)
(No, I didn’t puke, but it was a close thing.)
But. All of the dice have now been cast, and enough of them have landed high enough that no matter what the remaining dice land on, I won’t lose either game. (Though I still want them to roll high, of course.)
It’s bedtime now, so I can’t play with my phone just yet. Tomorrow morning, I will. Maybe then it will start sinking in that it’s over. It’s finally over.
Tags:
#adventures in University Land #oh look an original post #emetophobia tw
Finished the geology project. It almost reflected the geology of Ontario. No idea where the hematite (real hematite, not artificial magnetic hematine) came from. Not confident it even is a hematite. I decided to speculate that perhaps it made its way over here from New York or Michigan, acknowledge that “mis-identification is also a possibility”, and move on.
That was the last geology assignment (I did the exam on Tuesday, after confirming that I was allowed to complete the project after the exam), but for comp-sci I still have fifteen textbook chapters to review, an exam to complete (and get up early for, because the invigilator* only does mornings), two articles to write (they’re not full-on formal essays, at least), and a set of linked HTML documents with embedded Java to create. (This being an introductory course, they don’t expect you to write the Java code, but I haven’t gone through the tutorial on how to embed it yet. And I’m “encouraged” to “create an original ‘look and feel’” on the HTML pages.)
I have ten days. They are shaping up to be very long days, but I think they will be long enough.
*“Proctor”, in American.
Tags:
#oh look an original post #oh look an update #adventures in University Land #after this I’m taking two months of winter vacation #(my longest consecutive break since November 2011) #but I can’t use that to motivate me because then I just get distracted thinking about how I would rather be playing video games
The Twisted Land by Greg Boratyn
(White Pocket, Arizona, US)
Tags:
#pretty things #geology #a picture to accompany me while I write my geology course project #about how some rocks I got from a stream in a local park reflect the geology of Ontario #(I haven’t actually studied the map in enough detail yet to determine if they *do* in fact reflect the geology of Ontario) #(god I hope they do) #(that would be awkward if they don’t) #(would probably mean I mis-identified something *again*)
Hello from my new (well, refurbished) Dell Inspiron 15R M5110! (Wow, Dell nomenclature has gotten complicated.)
My crappy old Latitude D620 was finally starting to die of old age, so I got this one instead (for less than the D620 cost me three years ago; after researching used computer prices I’m beginning to wonder if the brick-and-mortar used computer store I bought that one from ripped me off). It arrived Monday morning, and this morning I pretty much finished setting it up how I want it. It has six gigs of RAM and a Radeon HD 6480G graphics card, and do you know what that means?
Masssss Effff–
Wait, no, I have a final exam next week to study for, plus one and a half school projects and two articles to complete by the end of the month. I don’t have time to get into a new game. (No matter how tempting justice-turtle is making Flight Rising look.)
December 1st, maybe sooner if I manage to finish early:
Masssss Effffectttt
Tags:
#Brin owns a 2010’s computer now #media I consumed primarily to know what all the fuss was about #seriously I’ve owned Mass Effect for *two years* without a computer that could play it #I have waited *so long* to find out what you people have been getting so excited about #and that day has nearly come #oh look an original post #Mass Effect
Last Person That:
Slept in your bed besides you? Nobody else has ever slept in my bed. In October 2007, when I had the mattress but the rest of the loft bed hadn’t arrived yet, our dog slept on the mattress with me (and was very upset when my parents tried to make him stop).
Saw you cry?: Mom
You went to the movies with? Mom (in an unrelated incident)
You went out to dinner with? My parents and brother
You talked on the phone to? Mom
Made you laugh? Some TumblriteWould You Rather:
Pierce your nose or your tongue? Nose, I guess
Be serious or be funny? I dunno
Drink whole or skimmed milk? Whole
Die in a fire or drowning? I suspect drowning would be less painful, but I’d rather not find out.
Spend time with your parent(s) or enemies? ParentsAre You?:
Simple or complicated? Complicated, of course. Isn’t everyone?
Straight, gay or bisexual? A few weeks ago I was taking one of those surveys that pays you pocket change (I’m saving up for a Mass-Effect-capable laptop), and the demographic section had eleven different options for sexual orientation, with “asexual” top of the list (despite not being in alphabetical order). That was nice. Mostly they just give this “straight/gay/bi” crap, and I have to settle for “prefer not to answer”, even though I’m perfectly willing to answer if they’ll let me tell the truth.
Tall or short? Fairly short
Right handed or left handed? Right-handed
A lover of music or a lover of books? Both, but I’m capable of six-hour binges only with books.Do You Prefer?:
Flowers or sweets? Chocolates
Grey or black? Both
Colour photos or black-and-white photos? Colour
Sunrise or sunset? Sunrise, though that might be the rarity value.
M&Ms or Skittles? M&Ms
Staying up late or waking up early? Waking up early, unless I’m expecting a particularly unpleasant schoolday. That’s why I woke up half an hour late today. (Yes, it’s Saturday, but I took Thursday off, so fair’s fair.)
Sun or moon? They’re both pretty awesome, though I do like looking up at the moon and knowing there are people’s footprints on it. Makes me feel proud to be Terran.
Winter or Autumn? Autumn
10 acquaintances or 2 best friends? Best friends sound nice. It’s been ages since I had them.
Rainy or sunny? Probably sunny
Vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream? Chocolate
Vodka or Jack? I’ve never had either of those, so I can’t say.About You:
What time is it? 10:44 AM
Name? Brin
Nicknames? None online
When is your birthday? November 14 (no, I was not conceived on Valentine’s Day)
What do you want? For my computer science class to not have sprung a five-part writing assignment on me. (At least it doesn’t have a deadline beyond “get all of your coursework for the class submitted by the end of November”.)
How many kids do you want? The first three years or so (counting pregnancy) of child-raising sound extremely and near-unrelentingly unpleasant. I could maybe handle an older kid, but I’d really rather not.
What would you name a girl?: Naomi’s a nice name that doesn’t get enough use.
What would you name a boy? I haven’t thought about it.
What kind of music do you like? See this post.Unique:
Nervous habits? I don’t know about nervous. I rub my fingertips together when I’m anticipating something.
Are you double-jointed? Don’t think so
Can you roll your tongue? Hmm…*tries* maybe a little?
Can you raise one eyebrow? Only my left one
Can you cross your eyes? Probably?Random:
Which shoe goes on first? Right
Ever thrown something at someone? Of course
On average, how much money do you carry with you? Somewhere between $3 and $30.
What jewellery do you wear? A steel wristwatch (on my left wrist) and a hematine ace ring (on my right middle finger, of course).
Have you ever eaten Spam? …no.
Favourite ice cream? Thin Mint
How many kinds of cereal are in your cupboard? I’m not sure if we have any Cheerios at the moment. If not that, then nothing.
Can you cook?: A bitLast:
Alcoholic beverage? A sip of grasshopper, New Year’s Eve 2012. I could have had the whole glass if I wanted, but I don’t like eating so close to bedtime, and it felt too much like eating.
Car ride?: Coming back from Buffalo Wednesday evening.
Song played? Um…*checks* “Believe Me” by Fleetwood Mac.
Person you saw? Mom, though she was asleep at the time so it might not count. But the one before that was also Mom, so I guess it doesn’t matter.
Tags:
#meme #Brin talks about herself for no particular reason
Brinens and Things 