Rich Seymour's stochastic statements.

Out with the old, in with the new. Classes have begun, writing here has reduced to a trickle. I will post some code that I have been writing to make up for it. Here is a simple fortran 90 (f90) function to take a vector and transform it into another vector by multiplying it by a transformation metric… for example to change the basis of a space, hence the name of the function “change_basis“.

function change_basis(vector, tm) result (trans_vector)
    real, dimension(3) :: vector, trans_vector
    real, dimension(3,3) :: tm ! the transformation matrix
    ! one could use dot_product below and tm(:,n) notation
    trans_vector(1) = vector(1)*tm(1,1)+vector(2)*tm(1,2)+vector(3)*tm(1,3)
    trans_vector(2) = vector(1)*tm(2,1)+vector(2)*tm(2,2)+vector(3)*tm(2,3)
    trans_vector(3) = vector(1)*tm(3,1)+vector(2)*tm(3,2)+vector(3)*tm(3,3)
end function

Also I wrote some ruby stuff using REXML, but that’s not really relevant to my Fortran stuff. REXML is very nice, but given that I use it about 1-2 times a year I always have to reread the documentation to get it to do what I want.

Perhaps someday I’ll wrap some Fortran in ruby, but honestly except for the rather quick compile step the Fortran is just way faster (way over 200 times, IIRC?) and just as quick to write at the level I write it. F90 and f95 just aren’t the nightmares that people have seen with the older FORTRAN languages. They are really good for, get this, formula translation. Never mind that my Mom used a bit of FORTRAN in her dissertation. She also used things like paper and pencils which still haven’t gone out of style. It’s all about the modest single capital F. For a good intro to modern Fortran check out the 90/95 subset language F.

While we’re on the things that start with F, let’s have a link to FEMA. I figure that is better than a link to the fearmongers known collectively as ‘corporate media’.

“I see you’ve survived a ‘NIGHTMARE’, would you like to hear some horror stories!?” –Media

It reminds me of the sickening video clips they fed us on repeat like America’s Most Totally !@#$(*@ Home Videos after that fateful day some September’s ago. And then the corruption of patriotism to an advertising jingle. Just remember, you own your attention, don’t give it away to their advertisers seek out better sources and do what you can. Some of these are interesting:
http://flickr.com/photos/deaah/sets/692663/
http://www.directnic.com/katrina.php

With the death of Robert Moog (obit), it seems apropos to play some Wendy (née Walter) Carlos when I get home today. I’m sure I have some. A friend of mine lived in Asheville, N.C. and always talked about Moog’s presence there.

I’ve barely laid eyes on a Moog, but I am lucky enough to have a Yamaha DX7s (big ups to Johnny B. on that one, he knows.). It’s a fine fm synth and a nice midi controller. I hardly ever get to use it as such, though. There always seem to be interesting and new sound apps for Linux, though.

Taking a peep into my head last night:

I should water the plants. Oh, and I need to start composting my kitchen waste. How do I do that? Isn’t there some brewgroup bucket thing that I saw. Which reminds me, I need to buy more coffee, and a grinder… Yeah a Zassenhaus grinder. Man I wish I could afford a Rancilio Rocky, but I need to take care of my Chase situation and get my finances in order… That’ll take a while, should I use Quickent or GnuCash or KMyMoney or Moneydance or Excel or OpenOffice or a Dome budget book. Oh… what is this watering can in my hand for?? I’m such a scatterbrain.

Where did all of these responsibilities cluttering up my head come from? I’ll save looking at the origin of the sense of responsibility as I often take it to mean, which is responsibility to the past. What I would like to examine now is the concept of responsibility to ordering one’s perception of the now. Ok that looks weird there on the screen, but stick with it for a sec. All of those thoughts running through my head last night, or at any given moment, are just a lavaflow of memories and selfish regret. My example above is superficial, but the same branching thoughts can overwhelm me with feelings of anxiety or shame or paranoia or hate or neurosis Z.

All of those thoughts, fears, etc. are within me (perhaps within you, I don’t know you have to ask yourself that not me). At the point of the very feeling of “Hey I want that” or “I need to take care of this” one needs to take a deep look at that feeling. In the jargon of the GTD cult this could perhaps be called determining the next action, but it is really much deeper than that. What if the thought itself is meaningless? What if it is nothing but unfounded negativity? I cannot shy away from those thoughts, but I don’t want to be overcome by them.

Coming in That Scattered Brain of Yours: Part 2 – How can I deal with my life? Perhaps by looking where I’m not looking?

So here (o’reilly) and here (43folders) are both onto this tried and true (aka .plan and .project files from nearly before my time) method of keeping things organized. The concept of organization on a computer should be seamless, which can be seen in the usage of spotlight, google desktop search, and the inotify enhanced beagle (for gnome but also works under kde, buggy as creepshow at the moment). I would love to be able to keep said text file on a bluetooth enabled phone (mine is just usb now) so that I would just have it. Of course then I would have to worry about it getting jacked by some bluetooth cracker. When is bluetooth2.0 coming? I suggest it be called graytooth, just for the record.

Also I commented there (on 43folders) a little tip on how to save vim settings at the bottom of a text file. There are lots of ways to do it, they can all be found by “:help modeline”. I’m finding the folding to work quite nicely in a todo.txt. I also cleaned up my desktop and worked on debugging some code today.

Chemically Imbalanced (espresso-jogged screeds) This is the most intense thing I’ve read in a while. Like, it just overflows with excitement for the trivial, somehow I like that. Plus the coffee orientation is just so wonderfully single minded.

Jucifer the band. I haven’t been as blown away by a band since the first time I saw sonic youth (1995, post-something, lollapalooza, not ‘elite’). You have to read about it, because they are bonkers. It contrasted well with the White Stripes show that I went to on Thursday, since the genders are switched btwn the two groups. According to their site, Jucifer packs 7000 watts of amplification and I’m pretty sure I counted over 70 individual speakers (in over more than ten cabinets I think).

The visit to Napa, CA was awesome, we even extended it by a couple of days. Some suburban (/rural) fun was had. It was great to see some people I hadn’t seen in a long time. I will put pictures up soon.

Hanging out with the old crew up in Napa Valley. We went to see the White Stripes with the Greenhorn(e?)s opening at the Greek theatre on the UC Berkeley campus last night. That was really cool, Berkeley is a very nice area as is Napa. Talked with S.B. about his plans for graduate school. We also toured the Mondavi To Kalon winery, which was rather cool in a sort of wine empire way.

We are going to go pour water on S.B. to wake him up now.

I am just about ready to leave work. Cleaned my desk, gathered about 7 or so papers to read and (hopefully) tied up any loose ends around here. I would’ve liked to have gotten the two websites I’m working on up, but that will happen in due time… ie next week. Here are some cool pictures of bacteria. Hopefully I will be able to understand a bit more intuitively the relationship between a spacegroup 1 glass and those little buggers.

I have a feeling that the conceptual continuous random network that is believed to exist in glasses is more of a continuous nearly random network in reality. Possibly there are patches of it which could be looked at as a group with some degree of symmetry. Or perhaps I’m completely wrong, but in a phase transition boundary these things are bound to occur… Time and some work will hopefully tell.

Also, check out Whine Country for a blog by the guy who Cindy and I are staying with.

Here is a simple look at the cost of coffee from a standpoint of an office (maybe 2000+ cups per year for my small group):

Just something to ponder as the price of the machine itself means less and less. I used the prices from Whole Latte Love as a guide.

I’ve always found it strange that I drink so much coffee. I like it, but generally I like espresso. In fact, my girlfriend and I have the (Rancilio Silvia) machine mentioned in this article: Boing Boing: Espresso crema shots. I think this has inspired me to get a hand grinder for coffee beans, in that it is cheaper, lasts forever, takes up less space, and looks nice. I am currently researching an espresso machine for my lab group. I am leaning towards getting the Gaggia Classic, which has many similarities to the Silvia only it is a bit easier to use and can be used with espresso pods (little plastic containers of preground coffee).

I think generally they overlooked the fact that once you get in with your local coffee shop you can get pretty nice grinds from them. Something that no one in the online coffee selling world would want you to believe. The rockers down at Gorilla Coffee in my old neighborhood would always hook it up. They are also fair trade only, which is no joke. They have a crazy italian roasting machine that looks like something out of a Terry Gilliam movie, which is worth seeing if you’re ever in the 718 area.

Also, I’m not sure if I am one with the snobbery attached to espresso. I mean I like a great espresso and the art and science (Percolation Theory?) of making one, but still love a cup of Folgers instant.

I dig this rambling here: dirtSimple.org: The Multiple Self. The writer is on the right track, and I can respect his use of system administrator lingo, although it does seem to be reaching for something. The entire issue with writing about the self-image and the self and the truth that they are inseperably the same creates an entire third thing that one starts worrying about. Namely how do I fit that concept into my daily life?

My conception of the purest existence has always been the concept of living life without inhibitions. In otherwords, never having to stop oneself from doing something such as: eating a candybar, driving too fast, getting caught in the web, editing one’s thoughts and statements. I have heard this described as flow in some circles or just being in others.

Now, I think a most interesting question then becomes how do I do something I’ve never done before. For example, how do you learn how to program Fortran in the year 2005. Well, you just do it. In the case of a programming language so often hurled about as painful, etc., one really has to disregard a whole lot of negativity. Then one can jump into it. There are rather clean implementations now (the most accessible probably being ‘F’ which removes support for deprecated constructs completely). One can then start fresh.

Yet another question becomes one of relationship with others. This is perhaps the most difficult question, but I believe, although I can’t yet resolve many of my own inner conflicts, that this too can be solved from within.

So one ramble gets another, the circle is complete for now. Oh, one little food note: Ethiopian Kitfo is a sort of a warmed steak tartar, very simple and insanely good. I haven’t ventured to make it, but I had it last night at Meals by Genet, 1053 S Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90019, (323) 938-9304.

A micro vacation has now been planned. Cindy and I are heading up to visit with some friends in the Napa Valley region. Not much is certain about this visit other than it will include a white stripes concert (which I think my friend will want me to reimburse for, I may only do so on the condition that I don’t fall asleep during the show) and wine. I must say I am looking forward to this, but also to the starting of my second year of graduate school shortly after I return. No, I’m not kidding.