The Sniper's Den

Return to Queens Blvd

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:12:00 GMT

Ok, I couldn't resist that title since I am kind of a fan of Entourage. Anyway, it's less of a return to and more of a welcome to Queens Blvd.
Anyway, things here in Virginia are wrapping up pretty nicely. This weekend will be kind of boring, but whatever, I'll manage.
So updates on life:

I got into grad school! I'm doing a Distance Learning Master of Engineer in Systems Engineering through Cornell University (my alma mater). I'm pretty excited, I know a few people doing this and they are extremely satisfied so far with the coursework, etc. My employer is paying for this, so I'm pretty happy not to have to fork over another fortune to Cornell this time.

I'm going to be living in Queens starting either Monday night or Tuesday night, for the foreseeable future. As you can tell from the title I'll be living on Queens Blvd in Forest Hills. I really like the neighborhood, I'm close to the E/F/R/V subways and I'll finally be able to drink in Manhattan without worrying about driving, etc. It's a pretty sweet pad, a 1 bedroom with a nice living room, nice kitchen, cool terrace, and lots of closets. I don't have nearly the amount of stuff I guess they figured I'd put in the closets, oh well.

So I've been pretty quiet on this journal for the past few years, maybe I'll start it up again, who knows? I'm quite happy with my current job and my prospects, so that's good. Things are a bit complicated on the love front right now, but I'll bear through it, overall I'm pretty stoked to be returning to NYC for good this time. Coming for a weekend or a little more and then having to drive back to Virginia or Ithaca, etc is pretty depressing. I will not miss those drives. It's interesting how, in the past year or so, I've gone from embracing driving to really spurning it as much as I can. If I wanted to, I could take mass transit to work when I get back to NYC and forgo even having a car. Anyway, that's not going to happen yet, but I am excited about a pretty decent commute (about 24 minutes with light-to-moderate traffic and it's a true reverse commute, not like that hellish 'reverse' commute from SI) and the prospect of not really driving after work or on the weekends.

I'll have to see how everyone else is doing and how to keep incorporating them into my plans since going from SI to Queens isn't exactly easy sometimes. Oh well, there are always trade-offs in life and I think this is one I'm more than willing to make.

It's been a long time

Sun, 03 May 2009 22:04:29 GMT

It's been a long time and a lot of things have happened/are happening. I guess I'll start to blog a little more frequently now...
I guess the big things to catch up are that
1) I graduated from Cornell last May (a year ago)
2) I have a good job and I am in a leadership development program
3) I'm applying to grad school (for a MS or MEng in systems engineering)
4) I will finally be back in NYC (most likely Queens) by July 4... and I am counting the days (I'm currently in Manassas, VA)

2008

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 07:02:35 GMT

    Ok, well we all made it (not that I was really worried...) and it's now 2008, which scares me. It scares me because the invitations to Commencement say May, 2008 and I'm sure those numbers being the same is no coincidence...

    I made a few resolutions, but I will see how that goes. I don't tend to make resolutions much in the same way I don't make promises to break promises.

    The other thing I'm going to say is a little personal insight into the upcoming election. Well, for starters, seven years down, only one more to go! Too bad I have a feeling this is going to be in the suck just as much as the last year...
    So the only candidates I really like right now are Mike Gravel, Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich is starting to grow on me a bit. I really like Ron Paul because he's a libertarian and would, in my opinion, make the US freer and restore a lot of lost liberties. Frankly, this is the most important thing. Restore liberties, personal freedom, faith that our government is following the Constitution and defending it, just like it swore to do, and a lot of other problems will resolve themselves. That said, the economy will only grow worse, unfortunately. Unless Mike Bloomberg magically confirms that he's running and now just yanking our chains, because if he did - I would be ecstatic and would probably campaign for him.

    Ok, so that was my little, itty-bitty shpeil on the current political climate. The other thing on my mind lately is this growing trend of people taking the lazy, easy way out of things. I mean economically. Look how we're producing now, we're a country about financing and we're not even that great at that. Frankly, we will lose the tech market to Asia because they're interested, fueled, and we're teaching them here. Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't do this, but we should at least do this less. Look, Apple's not going to exist forever and it will certainly not drive the entire economy. Intel and AMD are doing well, but ultimately they too will spread too thin and I think more Asian companies will start debuting low-cost, low-power processors that appeal to more portable applications, as this tends to be where we are moving towards. Microsoft dominance won't last forever (fortunately for me, unfortunately for the US economy). We're not that bastion of manufacturing we once were. The only thing it seems as of late we're great at producing are weapons, aircraft, and software, but that won't last forever. We can't even produce good food anymore, our agriculture business is in the shitter and most countries don't want to import things from us anymore. As our economy continues on this spiraling road, the financial sector will go with it as more and more companies change from the NYSE and NASDAQ, etc to foreign markets with foreign currencies.

    It's bleak, I know, oh well, we should stop living in a fantasy and tackle this head-on.

    Anyway, have a Happy New Year!

              -Matt

Life

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:58:54 GMT

So we haven't had a chat in a while. Life's going great, but I am at a crossroads. Nothing love-related or even job-related, more of something personal and intellectual. I have been doing a lot of reading online and I essentially read rehashes of the same articles, "we are all stupid for choosing the lazy path and the path of enjoyment and in time it leads to a lack of fulfillment and growth." I've seen this theme hashed in political articles (namely people being lazy and following the same established parties and ideas), computing articles (sticking with Windows, etc), and personal articles (TV, fast food, etc).
Now I don't feel that someone in an online article or blog is really going to convince me to change my ways, and you know it really hasn't. But I've personally noticed a bit of a down-turn. I am not learning enough anymore. I am wasting my free time essentially doing nothing and proceeding to bore myself with the usual activities - namely watching reruns of the same shows, reading stupid articles instead of books, etc.
I've decided to take a chance and implement change. I am going to take this writer's strike as sign. I am going to finally pull myself away from this incessant TV watching. Granted I watch very little nowadays, but I feel I need to watch even less. I am going to get back into the habit of pleasure reading, coding, and learning. I am going to use this time to develop the photos I took over the summer and much of the fall and really get into taking more. I want to learn php, relearn perl and python, and use linux more frequently. Lastly, I'm going to work out again and attempt to instill a healthy routine.

I guess this is my New Year's resolution come about a month too soon.

-Matt

A small update

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:11:57 GMT

Summer was interesting - I made a nice chunk of money, bought some stuff I wanted/needed, wish I spent more time in SI / NYC - but the house was awesome

DTD - I love living in the house - too awesome to describe, great time, great people, etc.

Classes - Interesting, difficult, I'm doing well so far.

Life - AWESOME

Why so awesome?
Alexis

...I'm so in love with that girl it's not even funny :-)

-Matt

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:50:53 GMT

So I got my grades from the semester and I actually kicked ass, the classes I thought I did poorly in I did really well.

The job's nice, the money's even nicer and the car's nicest.

So far so good. I can't really say anything about my job since I'm under FAA Top Secret clearance.

-Matt

Summer 2k7 the revenge

Sat, 26 May 2007 18:40:29 GMT

So the semester ended quite uneentfully, save for a little car trouble I'll mention in a bit. Finals were, well, I have fucking asshole professors, save for Kleinberg and Easley. Oh well, I honestly have no idea how I did and I don't want to worry about it, whatever happens, happens. I did well in that Networks class and I should get an A in my Computer Organization class (where we built the pipelined MIPS processor).

So on the Thursday my finals ended I mentioned to my parents that my car had been driving weird as of late, namely it would smell occasionally of burning, the steering felt very loose as well as a host of other noises and issues. My parents normally scoff at any problems my car has, simply because they think I'm trying to get them to get me a new car prematurely, but in this case I was genuinely concerned for my safety driving the Civic LX ("Phantom Menace"). So I took my car to a few places and finally got the Monro Muffler in Ithaca to check it out Friday. The guy called me back and he starts to divulge what's wrong with the vehicle. In the beginning the damage is around $485, below what my parents dubbed the limit on repairing the car; then the guy continues to talk. All in all, the cost to repair my car was $1400, well above that limit. So I ask the guy if it's drivable and he says "for a few hundred miles, but honestly I wouldn't drive it more with that type of damage to the engine and suspension." So I made it home Friday night in an uneventful drive.

The next stuff is boring, so to save the typing I picked up my new car on Wednesday. It's a 2007 Honda Civic Si in fiji blue (a gorgeous color as far as I'm concerned). Also it's manual (stick shift). So I've been spending the past few days getting used to driving stick and getting the feel for the car.

So lemme list what I love about the car:
a) the lights are BRIGHT, much much much much brighter than the old car (the lights on that car were so dim).
b) she can move - her hp is 197 hp @ 7800 RPM (redline is 8000RPM).
c) It's a coupe and quite roomy in the front and it has some mighty comfortable seats.
d) the dashboard is absolutely awesome. The way it's configured, the speedometer is digital and within eyesight when driving since it's mounted higher and to the back of the dash separate from the tach. The dash and radio have this ambient red glow which is REALLY comfortable to see both during the day and especially at night.
e) the trunk is larger than my old trunk.
f) 17" wheels with rims and ::gasp:: Michelin tires! (I love Michelins, they used to be a big supplier to F1)
g) Fog lights as well as an iPod connector (unfortunately it doesn't work with my 3G iPod... maybe if I have money to spare over the summer I'll look into a video iPod...) (but it does work with my nano :) )
h) steering wheel mounted audio controls.
i) ABS and this new thing called Active Vehicle Stability which is like what the 4x4's have which transfers braking and power from wheel to wheel.
j) a crapload of compartments for various things and 2 power sockets (no more cigarette lighter).

things I don't like so much:
a) I have to buy new snow tires.

Ok, so that about sums up the car and what I love/dislike about it. I'm still getting used to driving stick, but the ride is much less jerky and I don't really stall anymore.

Also, I've been more tired every night since stick is a bit of a workout if you've never used your left foot for that kind of precision before.

-Matt

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 05:21:38 GMT

So things have changed considerably since the last post. My summer plans so far involve
a) making money - check, I'm working this summer in Syracuse actually using what I know, and making a pretty penny for it (enough to buy everything I've wanted for the past 2-3 years (less a car, of course)
b) running / working out - I think without all this work in the afternoon / evening, this should be pretty easy to maintain, I was doing pretty well until all this work came.
c) Doing things at Cornell I was never able to do during the semesters here - rock climb, gorge jump, go sailing on Cayuga Lake, hike (a lot), make a mock hammock in the backyard of the house and lounge during a Sunday afternoon, visit the Plantations, walk around Ithaca aimlessly and go to places I've never been to, etc.
d) Hanging out with my friends at home (I'll probably be in SI/NYC every other weekend or so I think.

That's about it. I have a lot of work to do this week to finish up the semester. Then Slope Day on Friday!! T.I., getting drunk, etc. Then Cinco de Mayo on Saturday, Grad Formal (in the house) on Sunday, and then relaxing during the whole weekend, niiiiice.

-Matt

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 06:31:08 GMT

There was a point in my life where everything changed. I don't really know what time or part that was, but it definitely happened. I used to be such a bad-ass when I was little, I regret changing. I used to express my ideas and my thoughts with no thought of the consequences, and that was better. Even in high school I did that, now in college I don't. In high school I never cared what anyone thought about me or anything I did, not even about how Yury, Jared, etc. cared about it. Now I care, but I don't want to. I think it's because I'm being brain-washed by my fellow students. I fall into their paranoia and their fear and they're wrong. I was better off not listening to them. They told me to raise my guard, to be pessimistic, and to genuinely fear about not getting a job. When I stopped caring about that I got a job. Yet, I have fallen back into my usual state. I lament this deep down. Even in my dreams and nightmares I am completely complacent with what's going on. I used to question everything and everyone and for good reason, now I don't. I sit back and take it and continue to hear about how I'm making the right choices. They're wrong. I'm right and I have been all this time. I should never veer from my opinion, especially on aspects of my life. All the changes that have been made were from me, for me, and not for anyone else. And they were good. The bad changes, were all products of other people. Other people aren't me and I will, thankfully, never be them. When I was a little kid I would respond to everything and answer everything to the best of my ability. Now I don't. If I can't guarantee I'm 100% right, then I don't respond. I've become part of the silent majority and I want to be part of the vocal minority.

I'm right, they're wrong. Fuck that.

Time for a post I guess

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 08:11:26 GMT

So this semester has been going really well so far and I'm very excited in general about things going on. On a geekier note since this is my monthly journal entry, heh, I haven't used Windows (except for the 318 lab, which I rarely go to) in about 3 weeks and have no reason to use it. I also have become really excited about OS X and my MacBook in general after delving into a book entitled, "Mac OS X Tiger for UNIX Geeks" (from O'Reilly, of course). For my Computer Organization class (which I'm LOVING) we are going to design and build a full computer in 3 months (including designing the processor, programs, etc). The entire coursework is done in the linux lab using a pool of linux servers. Because of this there is a lot of stress for the student to at least know some UNIX by the end of the course. A lot of extra credit (actually of it) offered during the semester is on UNIX. Let's just say that I'm really happy that I've been using Linux now for the better part of 9 months regularly. I've learned a lot more commands and now do way more things in the CLI than in normal windows. As a matter of fact I'm starting to get used to linux more than windows, I hope after this 214 class I'll automate a lot of my tasks and really open up the power of bash and tcsh.
OS X has become somewhat of a hidden gem - much in fact due to its UNIX-based operation and its simplicity. At first I was confused and a little annoyed with how OS X operates and I thought, 'wow... these mac users are idiots,' but I was wrong. In fact I find OS X so friggen simple to use and how so many things are straight-forward and make so much sense that I question the sanity and capacity of Microsoft to make anything 'simple.' I know why there wasn't a second mouse button in OS X and I've pried myself away from using it. Sadly Linux is a kind of bizarre mash-up between OS X and Windows, simply because GNOME tries to act like both environments. I will state that Linux is NOT either OS X or Windows (although it is very similar to OS X and using one will build proficiency in the other believe it or not). I don't use Linux to seem elitist or try to prove a point. I use Linux because I like it. It makes sense to me and it runs quite well. The uptime on my machine with Linux is 5-7 days and that's just because I tend to fuck around with Xorg.conf a bit to get some more usability out of things. I have my MX Revolution mouse doing more in Linux than it did in Windows. I also like having Tetris built-in. I miss computer gaming a little bit, but it's on Linux, just not too large yet, but hopefully one day.
Ok, I'm tired, I'm going to sleep.

-Matt

Signs that Birthright has totally fucked with me...

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:30:45 GMT

-I'm now on an 8 am to 1 am schedule (as opposed to my normal noon to 4 am schedule that I love during vacation).
-Salaam has become the theme song to my dreams... yeh it's weird
-I wake up with the odd taste of schwarma in my mouth
-I walk around the island comparing people's hygiene to that of a camel's.
-I can finally say I've seen worse drivers than those where I live.
-Why is it everywhere I go there's karaoke, especially in places and times there shouldn't be.
-The 718 will never compare to the 052
-I miss having oranges everywhere and now really want an orange grove in my yard.
-I now know that the hasidim everywhere are odd, not just in Brooklyn.

Okay... so this really became more of a 'things I've learned from Birthright,' oh well. It proves but only one thing - I'm very sad still that the trip is over and I can't wait till the next time I'm in Israel (which by the looks of things may be sooner than I think).

-Matt

Hmm... I guess

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 07:32:40 GMT

So I saw Casino Royale for a second time this evening and, to be quite honest, I think it's the best James Bond movie ever. Seriously. I feel that Daniel Craig did a terrific job at portraying the book Bond, Eva Green (who I saw in another movie previously and thought she was terrific) was absolutely engaging as Vesper Lynd, really making her an incredibly great character. What really annoys me is how they could possibly top this. In all honesty, after Die Another Day, I felt that the franchise was over. Then I heard about this new guy and initially I did not like him. To boot, he was being deemed in the Bond circles, from what we heard from filming, as a very weak person (in real life) with many issues in doing the movie. A wimp? Unbelievable, my two favorite - Bonds, previously, Connery and Brosnan (yes, and only for GoldenEye) - were such badasses in real life as well as on-screen, but this guy a wimp? I felt that he would be a wimpy Bond as well. Absolutely not. This is the Bond we have all been waiting for. He is doing a very good job currently at redefining the character and I think he does a spectacular job of maintaining Bond's debonair etiquette as well as improving on his humor and thugness (yes, this is important). Anyway, I am tired and I need to clean up my apartment and continue with this project. Two more weeks until I return to the island and then I think I have a week and a half until I depart for Israel.

-Matt

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 08:00:18 GMT

So I won't go into the past few weeks, etc. All I have to say, I guess, are five words I never thought I'd say.

I am a frat brother.

Specifically one of the Beta Omicron chapter of Delta Tau Delta.

-Matt

A long time and no update

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 19:47:05 GMT

I really don't have much to say. Politically... read Yury's journal. Personally... actually I've been having a damn good semester. My grades are looking really good so far and I've been drunk every weekend since I've been back in August.
I decided to pursue another facet of college life and I got a bid from Delta Tau Delta fraternity during the week. I really can't say much more than that, so don't ask.
One thing I will say... is that I've finally found some type of niche now. This is how I see it
Going to Oakie's for dinner with friends while working on some problem sets = the breakfast table @ Tech
Hanging out at the house = weekends when I was in high school
Strolling around campus = the Friday afternoon cruise around the Island I used to do

So I have my new stuff I suppose. I like this, besides the work (which is just too much now), I'm having a really great time.

-Matt

Things Change

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 06:17:15 GMT

So I guess I'm about, oh, 3 years late for that 'things change' entry or how we mature steadily over time, or how college changes us blah-blah-blah.

I guess I'm making note of this because I've noticed a few important, at least to me, changes that have occured over the pastfew years (mostly food-related) but some others that I thought were worth mentioning.

When I was growing up I was a very picky eater. Actually it's because of my pickiness as a child that I'm in the shape I am today... meh, I'm doing better - you'll see. So I used to never eat a sandwich (a normal sandwich) cheese never touched meat and god-forbid if lettuce or onions did either. I hated tea, coffee, vegetables, etc, etc.

I guess the changes started occuring a few years ago, probably when I went to White Castle, of all places. This was when I got annoyed with continuing to act like a fool and get my hamburgers without pickles or onions, so I stopped specifying. Lo-and-behold, I liked them with the toppings. Actually... this started on a 4-year trip to having sandwiches now with lettuce, onions, pickles, carrots, spinach (although not recently due to the whole E.Coli thing), and other things as I please. I know this doesn't mean a lot to my few and non-diverse readership, but it means something to me. It was the sign that I was maturing. This is further evidenced by my less-than-stellar week I had. (By less-than-stellar I mean being sick as a dog with a 102.0 F fever since Wednesday doing a shit-load of work along with a CS project [which my group did extremely well on ;) ], reading, getting my bibliography for my jewish studies paper [which really isn't on anything Jewish in the end anyway... go figure] , and this virus culminating in destroying my weekend). Actually I planned on going home Friday to celebrate Rosh Hashanah as I usually do, with my family and friends. Oh well.
Anyway, when my mom learned that my fever wasn't breaking by Friday night and that I was still not feeling anywhere near mediocre, she suggested, no, demanded that I buy some tea and brew myself a cup. I don't like tea, actually save for the occasional chinese restaurant tea, i have never even remotely found tea to be ok. At this point in time I was up for doing anything short of defiling myself to get rid of this thing. So I made the tea, put some sugar and honey in it and voila! I like tea. Actually, I felt that the tea was so great (the taste as well as the fact that my sore throat seemed non-existant after I had the drink as well as my fever breaking) that I ended up having another cup. Today I drank some more tea, actually I think I like tea better than coffee.

Me a tea drinker, who would've known? Well, I'm tired and I'm going to go to sleep in a few, but I know how irrelevant this news is, but in my mind, it's a big step forward.

-Matt

A hopefully unbiased review

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 06:39:25 GMT

So now that I've had my MacBook for a little over 2 weeks and that the novelty of it has somewhat worn off and that I've given it a nice burn-through and have taken it through my daily grind, I offer a hopefully not too biased review of the machine.

First of all, I want to answer some questions people ask me:

1) Do you use GarageBand? No, I don't because I honestly have no reason to at the moment, but I have fired it up a few times.

2) Isn't OS X just a nice shell on a POS kernel? Absolutely not, Windows XP is :P (without the nice shell, c'mon OS X is absolutely breathtaking whether it be your first time using it or 1000th)

3) How Unix-based is it? Quite. Seriously, Darwin, OS X's CLI is pretty much a touched-up version of BASH (Linux and Unix CLI), so migrating to it was seamless for me. File storage, access, etc. on HFS+ is very Unix-like, down to where files are located and names of certain folders.

4) Macs underperform, right? Nope. This Mac has been doing my homework consistently faster than the Alienware (when it's working). Intel Core Duo @ 1.83 GHz is mighty powerful imho. Oh and btw, doing my homework - compiling large Java programs, running intensive MATLAB programs and a host of other technical applications.

It really is amazing how different the MacBook is to the Alienware. I absolutely love it. I love it for its size (13.3" widescreen, significantly thinner than the Alienware, I think it's roughly an inch thick), I love it for its weight (much lighter than the alienware), it runs colder (big thumbs-up), and best of all - it goes into and springs from standby in about 1 second, which is very, very, VERY useful for popping it out briefly to check something in-class or go from one class to another. The batt life is amazing, I've never had a notebook that could get 6 hours before, I know it's somewhat less compared to other machines on the market, but for how I use it, I can leave the machine on for 2 days straight without recharging it, which is terrific.

So... have I made the switch? Yes and no. I fell in love with the MacBook over the summer when I first read about it and used one at the mall on SI. When the Alienware died a few weeks ago, my parents and I decided to throw in the towel with the machine and venture into getting me a new one - so the MacBook came to mind and for its price tag (under $1000 with Cornell discounts), it was very affordable. I love OS X, I really do. Migrating from Windows to OS X was a breeze since all of my apps pretty much work on x86 OS X - like Firefox, Thunderbird, Gaim (in the form of Adium X), MATLAB, iTunes (obviously), M$ Office (although OpenOffice.org 2.0 is ported to x86 Mac), my Java IDE, python's native in OS X as well as Java, VLC player, and my BitTorrent clients, not to mention Shakespeer is a far superior DC client than DC++ :). I have not made the switch since this will probably be my only Mac ever. I love it and I hope it gives me quite a few years of good use (I love the fact that I can take it with me anywhere, and I have been really enjoying getting my work done in new and unusual places - like the outdoors, the nicer libraries, etc.). I also like the fact that I now have an uber-portable machine to take with me when I travel. I like Linux and other Unix-based OS's (like BSD, etc) and I feel that OS X is heading in the right directions. I don't think I'll get another Mac since by the time I'd need a new notebook (hopefully not for a very long time) there will be very mainstream Linux ones and I will pick up one of those. My desktop is already Linux and I have absolutely no reason nor desire to get an Apple desktop. For notebooks, however, I think OS X and what it offers is terrific and for most people it's certainly easier to use and much less of a hassle than Windows.

So... I didn't get taken in by the ads or the cultish atmosphere Apple has nowadays, I took one for a test drive and used it while doing my normal stuff and it far exceeded my expectations. Kudos Apple for a slick machine with nice power under the hood and a crisp finish.

-Matt

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:45:39 GMT

Why does everything I like end up getting taken over either by a corporation or a bunch of people that make it a shitshow? Oh well... RIP Facebook (2004-2006), you were a good website until you decided that 18-22-year-olds wanted to compete with the juvenile MySpace.

-Matt

P.S.: I'm still loving my MacBook... oh god it's great

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 00:41:55 GMT

So... my time up here's been great and referring to my last entry, some changes have occurred. I got the cheapest MacBook yesterday and all I can say is 'Wow... just... wow.' I love it. It's really fast, extremely portable and since it's UNIX-based, I'm already pretty comfortable using it. It even read the "wiped" drive (which really wasn't wiped). Anyway, after 2 days I finally got back into ubuntu, so I am currently running the latest stable versions of the big 3 OSes - Windows XP SP2, OS X 10.4 (I believe), and ubuntu 6.06 linux. Sweet... anyway, I gotta start getting ready for tonight - I love Friday nights :)

-Matt

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 04:08:53 GMT

So I'm back at school... or rather I've been back at school for quite some time now (roughly a week and a half). I'm kinda lazy / tired to make a full post or write anything remotely interesting. So far this semester looks to be unfolding nicely. No major problems with anything (except something which happened tonight that I'll mention later) which is nice. I've been getting a lot of sleep and reading in believe it or not. I have a lot of work, but I've been going to lectures and sections and getting my work done in the afternoon instead of procrastinating / napping. It works. I'm usually done with the work I set out to do that day by 10 pm. So I get to watch an ep of House (which I recently finished Seasons 1-2, and I think the show is phenominal) and then the Daily Show / Colbert Report and then I read for a half-hour and go to sleep by around 12:30am. Tuesday/Thursday I have an 8:40am class which kinda sucks (the class is great, but the time really blows). MWF I have ECE 303 at 10:10 am (which is really interesting, albeit incredibly calculus-oriented [think Stokes, Green's theorem and beyond]).
My schedule is pretty good except that Tuesday/Thursday is jammed with classes, but my Friday is still pretty free except for 2 (and CS114 for a month) classes from 10 to 12 :)

Anyway, so I brought the 'newly fixed' notebook with me this semester and it's been pretty good - until tonight. Fucking thing overheated and died. Now, this wouldn't have really pissed me off much if not for the fact that it wrecked my ubuntu partition as well as my 320GB external harddrive eliminating all data on both. Luckily I didn't have anything important on either (save fore some... files). So I've been talking to my mom for a little while about picking up a cheap MacBook to take to class and do some work on and let this machine rest and I think I'm going to go down that direction. Unless someone tells me about a bad experience they had with it - I'm thinking of using bootcamp to dual-boot OS X and ubuntu. Fuck Windows. Anyway, I'm tired, so I think I'm going to sleep.
And, yes, I know I can recover the data from the 320 GB, but I can't even get it to mount in Windows (I think I need to reinstall linux and try from there)... fucking machine. I swear to god, if I get that notebook I'm gonna back up everything on the notebook and trash it. During Fall break I'll bring up the desktop and use that as a centralized machine and server. I'm still waiting on ordering my Asus WL-700gE router for the apartment, which'll kick ass. Oh well... damn you Alienware and your shit, hopefully by this time next week I'll be on a better, more stable machine.

-Matt

Why now?

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 00:22:10 GMT

Seriously, why the hell do we really care that Iraq is a democracy? We didn't care in Peru or Iran before the Ayatolla or even in South Korea or South Vietnam, why Iraq? Why now?

-Matt

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 17:03:22 GMT

So I haven't posted in a while, I try to avoid making 'catch-up' posts as I know no one else wants to read them, nor do I. So I really won't.

Things that happened in last week or so:
Finished House season 1, phenominal.
Finished BSG 2.0, equally phenominal.
Went to visit Ayan in Maryland for 3 days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), he came back with me on Friday and we went to the city where I met up with Yury and then Yury and I saw "An Inconvenient Truth," which was amazing and everyone should see it regardless of political tendencies.

I also found out something interesting in the past few days - I remember how to play guitar and a bulk of the songs I used to play, so I'm very happy about that. (I haven't really played since the summer before freshman year of Cornell).

Also. I know what I want to do / where I want to be after colllege. Here. Ok, I'll elaborate. Everyone at schools talks about going here and there and working for so-and-so, but I realized that this is my goal in life - to live in Manhattan. It really hasn't changed. Manhattan gives me such a rush, I'm never bored there, I feel at home - always. Also, I don't want to follow a job, I think that degrades someone and makes them a slave to the system, I'd rather fill one of the many tech-related engineering jobs that NYC has to offer (and yes, they do have jobs to offer to the jealous out-of-staters who think not).

Also, I don't want to makes a shit-load of money, I don't think I really ever wanted to. I want to live in comfort and have financial security and some money to piss away on technology, that's it. I'd like to have a Porsche or a Ferrari, heh, but that's a dream and not within my actual goal in life. I want to enjoy myself, I'd rather live in happiness than wealth.

-Matt

A Little Update

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 02:57:29 GMT

So I've been generally happy these past few weeks. I guess it's a combination of seeing real results from my lifestyle change as well as getting out of SI/NYC/USA for a little bit. I've also been doing a bunch of reading as of late, which I'm ecstatic about as I've been trying to jump-start my reading for a while now.

I finished Neuromancer, which was a phenominal book and I recommend it to anyone interested in cyberpunk, the net, etc.
I'm more than halfway through Snow Crash which is unbelievably fun to read and amazingly well-written (I know that isn't the best English I have, but meh).
Next I'm going to read In the beginning... was the command line by the same author as Snow Crash, Neil Stephenson. It started as a /. flame so it should be pretty damn interesting.
After that I plan on finishing Casino Royale and Goldfinger as I've been reading them on-and-off for a while now and they're so short compared to what I've been reading that it's about time I just finish them off.
Then I shall read Time and Again which has been on my bookshelf for years now...
Then I'm gonna read another Stephenson book since he's quickly becoming one of my fave authors, as well as another William Gibson book (definitely from the Sprawl trilogy) - he's the author of Neuromancer.

Ahh... tomorrow I'm going to visit my friend Ayan in Maryland/DC for a few days, chill with him, play some guitar, see some sites, get drunk - you know, the usual.

Friday I'm chilling in the city at night with Yury and then Saturday I'm going to see Jersey Boys with my family and then eat at New Corner, sweet.

-Matt

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 19:36:16 GMT

I can´t wait till the 1.0 internet collapses and it becomes the Metaverse. I´ll be in the bar, having a martini... come by and maybe we´ll have a sword-fight, or race motorcycles into the crisp, dark night.

-Matt

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 15:09:38 GMT

So my stay in Argentina is coming to a close within the next few days, but to no avail I got a little nostalgic for home and for the things they dont have here. Of the things Ive noticed here is the poverty, its around - not that much, but definitely noticeable. Also theres a lot of homeless people and grifters, especially on Florida and Córdoba. I miss the US, I really do and I think I´ve gained a profound respect for our nation despite its international foibles and the media that makes NY seem like a never-ending bloodbath. I miss the sense of security, I know that sounds odd, but we have it in the US and you don´t realize how much you miss it until your outside of the country. I finished the New Yorker I took with me this morning as well as Rolling Stone, a few PC magazines and Max PC as well as put some more damage into Neuromancer, but reading the New Yorker really triggered it for me. There are a lot of problems we as a nation don´t discuss because we don´t need to. The economy of Argentina is coming back, but it will never be anything like the stellar beast we have in the US - it´s very agrarian here and if you talk to the people they´ll corroborate this. It´s quaint and nice, but things here seem oddly out of place - the parks, trains, etc are absolutely immaculate, very well kept and incredibly clean. Yet I can´t help but shake this Pleasantville feeling. I remember that movie, I liked it quite well and I remember the firefighters not knowing how to do more than save a cat, much less stave off a fire. The police are like that here, they give off this abundant sense of community and security, yet they don´t seem to do anything more than tip their hat to you or give you directions. Traffic and driving here in general (which I don´t do) is horrific and I will elaborate on this when I come back to the States.

I like this place a lot, but I could never live here full-time, maybe come back for vacation or family reunion, but nothing more...

-Matt

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 16:35:03 GMT

So I pretty much saw everything I wanted to see and took a lot of pictures, although I´m not coming home for another 4 days.

However, I will note on a quick thing before I go to lunch and galavanting for the rest of the day - Argentinian TV.

I remember in JSA a few years ago (when I was still in Tech, obviously) and Giancarlo made mention about how the TV in France was soft-core pornographic even on the broadcast channels. Well, it´s like that here too, not only that but a lot of the shows we watch in the states are subbed or dubbed and rebroadcast here - they get Season 5 of 24 in about 2 weeks here.

The commercials in TV here are pretty odd too, but I won´t divulge into them except one, which one of my friends will find hilarious. If you remember, there was an early episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! about the health industry and the ´make yourself better´ products and their debunking. In a ploy on people to show how gullible and desperate some people are to try new things to combat wrinkling and aging they set up a stand in a mall and put snails on people´s faces for about 10 minutes. According to them, the residue from the snails moving around combats aging. So I´m watching TV here a few nights ago (around 2-3 am, when I got back from some place) and I see this commercial (in spanish, obviously) aimed at the nations of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay in which they show a snail, focus on the residue and explain (from what I could barely get) that this residue is in their product and it combats aging and cellulite growth in women. Unbelievable! Amazing how this is probably making a nice amount of money here...

Oh well, I´m hungry and I´m gonna go,

Chau,

Matt