new website & new journal
11.12.2003 21:46
alright, so if you haven\'t noticed, I finished my new website, with that I have created a brand new journal... which I will be posting to from now on.
So from now on, go here.


               new site
08.12.2003 22:52
my new site is really coming along. I will be posting it as soon as I get a majority of the site complete. I am revamping prettymuch all the core pages and adding a few others. The idea is to create a portal for potential employers and present them with all of the relavant material they are looking for. I also cater to friends and family who just want to know what I\'m up to, but it\'s not the main attention getter of the site. I\'ve created some cool automation effects too. I now have the weather, and webcam on my main page. I also designed and devloped a brand new journal which I will start posting to when I get it all complete. The latest posting from the journal will appear on the main page. It probably doesn\'t sound as neat as it really is. Oh, I also fixed the \' thing in the new journal :-)
Thats all for now, cheers!


               double u double 0 t !
07.12.2003 17:03
So, I\'m done with 15.5 years of formal education. It\'s good to be out. Fortunately there is still a lot here to keep me busy with activities and projects. Today I did a bunch of housekeeping and organized my semester coursework and downloaded copies of class assignments and lectures. This week I will be updating my website to reflect my new status. A major revision to my portfolio is now on the table as I need to add things from the past two semesters. I will also be changing e-mail addresses. I have not decided exactly which one I will use yet. And, I will of course be working on some random projects such as connecting christmas lights to our server etc.


Here is a bunch of cool products from this year.


               woofta
05.12.2003 05:24
Well, this has got to be one of the longest weeks I've had at RPI, and it's finially Friday! This morning I have a presentation and that will be the last academic mark for the semester, year, and my entire undergraduate experience. Yesterday became an all hands on deck race to complete two team projects as fast as I could at the same time. It is times like these when the full potential of having multiple monitors is realized.

One of my projects is a geeked out version of Hollywood Squares. Our RPI version pits student up against some of the most recognized Computer Science Faculty at RPI and it's president. I will be making a full website and all to show it off in my portfolio and make it widely available to thos on the internet, but if you want to play a game just click here. The file is pretty big, so you may have to wait a while for it to load. Be sure to have the latest version of macromedia flash.


               back to gradeschool
03.12.2003 18:03
Today I got to help teach a whole bunch of 2nd graders about Matter and the properties of various states of matter. It was a lot of fun. We had 4 groups of experiments, and games. There ended up being 3 classrooms, so Every 15 minutes each group would rotate to the next classroom giving one group a break. Each group consisted of two of us. It was a lot of fun for the students and we recived a TON of complements.

Two more presentations and projects left.


               It's ready for launch
02.12.2003 18:45
I have completed the final version of my model rocketry site. Click here to view


               one of the longest weeks.
02.12.2003 14:40
w00t, Monday & Tuesday down. 1 website complete, 1 presentation complete. Tomorrow I'm teaching matter to 2nd graders. :-)

Thursday Presentation & Project due.
Friday Presentation & Project due.

wooop wooop


               zip
30.11.2003 15:33
woofta, I had a great Thanksgiving break. Things are really wrapping up here. One cool project I hope fo finish tonight is a website on model rocketry.


               -schweet
26.11.2003 15:41
never underestimate the benifits of planning.


               web client quotes
26.11.2003 08:00
oh, this site is really funny... Web designers will appreciate it. Here


               uhh there is a little place
21.11.2003 05:06
I ordered chineese last night. That's the first time I've done that since I came to RPI, well, ever actually. :-) it was... interesting. Good food. Anyways, a bunch of meetings today, hockey game tonight, and pledge party tonight. Weeeeee.

My stocks are doing quite medium. I'm hoping for a rally sometime soon. Last friday and this monday were really brutal and I haven't thus far recovered.


               update 6
19.11.2003 12:48
Alright, it's been a very busy week, and things aren't slowing down.
Quick update:
I finished the Glump site.
I gave a presentation on interaction & usability design.
I'm now working on a Hollywood Squares type game for HCI.
I have a meeting this afternoon.
Hockey game Friday and Saturday!
APO stuff Friday and Saturday.
Parents come Sat night.
Monday: stuff Due.
Tuesday: stuff Due.
Wednesday: Thanksgiving Break.
Due after thanksgiving break:
One large project, two presentations, one website.
Senior Thesis.


               mmm :-)
16.11.2003 22:34
Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
there's a land that I've heard of once in a lulaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow, skys are blue
and the dreams that you dared to dream really do come true.


               update5
16.11.2003 07:55
Things are going pretty well here. Classes are REALLY coming to an end soon. It's pretty weird. I have lots of presentations and project to finish. Fortuantely I enjoy working on them. The APO pledging process is also coming to an end. This week I need to talk with all of the brothers. That will make for a busy week. This weekend I've been prepping for an test for APO. I'm also putting together a presentation on usability and interaction design for my Software Design & Documentation class. 15 minutes of Dustin genius. :-) I'm finishing up the Glump website which is due Monday. It is really funny.
I have one more website to do for WWWW, a project to code for SD&D, a website composit & paper for EUI, a game to program for HCI, a presentation to do in ML, and of course my senior thesis. Thanksgiving in next week. That leaves me 19 days until I graduate; 12 days of school; 10 days of classes. I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving break, we haven't had a break since October 13th. I fly out to SD on Dec 17th, and then I'll come back to Troy on the Jan 6th. At the moment the plan is to start doing freelance website work when I get back while I look for a job. So that's the scoop.


               risk
12.11.2003 22:50
"The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny. " - Napoleon Bonaparte

-risk


               heh
12.11.2003 19:58
Ok, I'm a little addicted to the stock market competition. It's a good thing it is only open 9-4.

Fortuantely this is a light week for group meetings, but I do have a bunch of projects I'm working on.

23 days left


               glump
11.11.2003 21:21
I'm working on a Product Support Website for one of my classes. I didn't want to use a real product, so my partner and I thought it would be cool to make up products using the APO EZ Glump. :-) View it here.


               stock competition
10.11.2003 21:46
I started a stock competition on virtualstockexchange.com I just bought stock in 8 companies after looking through around 30. Good times. :-) I invited a bunch of friends and family in on the competition, so it should be a lot of fun. Thus far all I've heard is a bunch of talk.

Anyways, all is good.


               desktop google
10.11.2003 07:39
here is a really cool tool offered by google :-)


               rockets! zoom
09.11.2003 20:18
I was watching Discover Channel while at IPAC and there was an awesome program on about rocketry... Rocket Challenge I miss building rockets. This summer I'm going to buy some kits and build some of my own. :-D


               doh
08.11.2003 15:29
My Dell laptop died last weekend. I'm currently re-installing everything. It got quite messed up. Hopefully things run more smoothly now.


               APO family feud game
06.11.2003 07:41
Last weekend APO had a Family Feud game. I recieved a respectable percentage of the votes in the following categories...
  • Most likey to take over the world
  • Most likely to get nurfed
  • Is too far from help
  • Most outgoing brohter
  • Most likely to pull a prank

    The catagoy I actually won at:
  • Next Bill Gates

    Overall, if this is what people think of me... I think they are pretty much on target.


    •                rocks
    05.11.2003 15:27
    I was watching TV and there was this comercial about stuff. One of the lines used was.. "stone ornaments liven up your home" .. that was just too much. I had to share it with all. :-)


                   ... and I'm back in the game.
    04.11.2003 05:27
    The end of last week got really busy. Friday we had our 3rd annual halloween party. Pics to be posted soon. We went all out with a fog machine and rented sound sensitive lights from the student union. At times there were around 50 people at the apt.

    I went to Delaware for a second-round interview this weekend. It was a lot of fun. While I was in NYC I saw the empire state building which is pretty cool. And also taking the business express train from Wilmington to Penn Station rocked!

    Now I have a bunch of work to catch up with.

    20 Days of classs left!!!!!!


                   news article
    27.10.2003 05:56
    I haven't posted any disturbing news articles in a while, so here is a new one. Apparently the only way the government can provide any form of security to the american people is to identify and track everyone. Their creativity is pretty shot on this topic. In the ideal setting, it woud certainly provide the protection they are looking for, however no system is perfect. A good understanding of any system will reveal its flaws and those flaws can be exploited. Current ID security methods issued by the government have all failed at some point(airlines, gun regulation, drivers licenses...) so in the end it has become false impression of security. I think it will simply be an inconvenience.


                   hockey
    26.10.2003 06:27
    Last night was an excellent hocky game. RPI vs ARMY -- score 6-0 :-)


                   hrm
    24.10.2003 22:16
    "It is all a matter of what you can and can't do."


                   Game
    23.10.2003 20:10
    It was a very busy day and I'm glad it's done. The cool part is that I found some time to work on my HCI project and got a good start on our game of Hollywood Squares. At the moment I have put together a game of Tic Tac Toe which you can play here.


                   glass ball
    22.10.2003 17:22
    The free dinner was awesome tonight. It also snowed. I have an exam tomorrow which I need to study hard for. Busy Thursday, busy friday, busy saturday, busy sunday.


                   new pics
    22.10.2003 08:16
    Pictures added.


                   rejected rejection letter
    21.10.2003 21:30
    This was a creative note I found online...

    The next time you get a rejection letter from a hoped-for employer or publisher, just send them the following:
    Dear [name of the person who signed the rejection letter],
    Thank you for your letter of [date of the rejection letter]. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me [employment with your firm].
    This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates, it is impossible for me to accept all refusals. Despite [name of the co or agency that sent you this letter]'s outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting [applicants], I find that your rejection does not meet with my needs at this time.
    Therefore, I will initiate [employment] with your firm immediately following [graduation/job change, etc. -- get creative here]. I look forward to working with you.
    Best of luck in rejecting future [candidates].
    Sincerely,
    [your name]


                   :-)
    21.10.2003 21:22
    A man goes to the Doctor with a piece of lettuce hanging out of his ear.
    "That looks nasty" says the doctor.
    "Nasty?!?" replies the man, "this is just the tip of the iceberg."


                   etiquette dinner
    21.10.2003 20:34
    Tomorrow I have an Etiquette Dinner! Last semester it was foiled by a very sad event, so I'm really hoping for the best.


                   hehe
    21.10.2003 20:29
    Things are getting ridiculously insane here. I have a bazillion things going on, several group projects now, and now finally a senior thesis! APO is awesome and fortunately I am able to spend my time with that without much interfearance. Iris and I are doing a Website Re-Design project for EUI. We have decided to redesign the www.petsmart.com website. I have been doing almost 20 hours a week of work/study so I will most likely be cutting that down to 12 or so. And I need to stop volunteering for things. Its kind of funny though, because I get a rush from having so many things on my plate. Unfortunately I always want to do more, but I just don't have the time. This is probably why I'm an effeciency phreak and always looking for the most logical and fastest way to get something done. It dramatically improves my time managment and ability to work under stress. Fortunately as a senior my classes are classes I've chosen for the most part and I am able to do things that I really enjoy doing.

    I'm freakin good. :-)


                   happy Sunday
    19.10.2003 17:12
    Wow, it has been a while. Friday was the first home hockey game of the season. The next one will be Saturday during Family Weekend. This weekend was also APO sectionals where other APO chapters in NY came to RPI. That took up a lot of time, but was fun and I leanred a lot. I'm currently working on the SD Destination ImagiNation website. I hope to get it up tonight. I was able to use it as a project for one of my classes, so it worked out well. Tuesday I have a meeting set up with my Senior Thesis Advisor, I've been a bit concerned because he hasn't gotten back to me in a timely fashion, but hopefully now things will start to move along. It is becoming quite obvious I'm on the home stretch of many of my classes now working on a few big projects. For my HCI class my team is creating a educational game to teach students programming concepts. We will be using Flash to create a Hollywood Squares type game. My Flash experience from this summer will be a big help. Next saturday I will be chairing a Community Service event so that's pretty cool.

    ohh, I ordered pizza from across the street. I should go pick that up. Cheers :-)


                   :-)
    15.10.2003 17:33
    Here is a great picture of Peter and I at the APO Big Brother ceremony.

    This morning I had my interview and things went great. My best interview yet. I should hear back in a week or two.



                   post 22
    14.10.2003 21:16
    Very thought provoking read about what to do with one's life.


                   oooh, a posting
    14.10.2003 17:07
    Big things don't seem to happen as often as I like to post, so I'm going to begin posting just interesting things for all you who read my blog ;-)

    haha, so here's a quote from my professor today: "It's like a rolladex on Acid" - Robert Krull

    I have my interview with JP Morgan tomorrow. It will be interesting. I went to the info meeting tonight and met the guy I'll be interviewing with. After learning so much about the GE IMLP program, I got some really good questions in.
    We'll see, the interview is at 10am.


                   hey hey hey
    13.10.2003 06:35
    This weekend rocked! I went to my grandparents. Saturday I went sailing for 4 hours. It was really nice out and there was an excellent breeze. We went a good ways up the river, much farther than I've gone before. I cut my thumb setting up the main sail. That was probably the first time I've cut myself in three or four years.
    I got a rejection letter from GE friday so I guess I won't be doing the IMLP program yet. I am however looking a bunch of other options. There are a few ideal companies I would like to work for so I'm looking at the possibility of lining up an spring internship if full-time opportunities doen't exist at the moment. The job hunt is getting complicated as I really need to beef up my grassroots operation. I think I might try organizing a newsletter campaign to inform family and friends of my situation and what I'm looking for. This spring if I don't have an offer or start work until later in the spring, I will probably start doing some freelance website design work while staying around campus to utilize RPI's resources.

    This week is going to go by really fast. I have a presentation tomorrow among other things. I have a interview Wednesday with JP Morgan, Friday APO Sectionals begin and the first hockey game of the season is that night. I'm also chairing my first community service event so I'm working out the details and getting people to sign up for that.

    It'll be a lot of fun.


                   wooop
    09.10.2003 20:03
    I rocked an exam today!
    Going to my grandparents for the weekend.
    Yay for sailing!
    umm, I have a presentation on Tuesday.


                   stuff4
    06.10.2003 21:24
    This morning I had my interview with GE. It went pretty well. I wasn't nervous at all so that really helped. I certainly could have done better, but overall not bad.
    This evening our APO pledge class elected officers and I'm now the pledge class president.
    - more info on APO
    - more info on the RPI chapter


                   w00t! 2.0
    04.10.2003 06:11
    I've been pre-selected for an interview (oct 15) with JPMorgan Chase for their ICS program. This program is actually similar to the GE IMLP program. See information here.

    :-D


                   Career Fairs
    03.10.2003 20:56
    Well, for the first time at career fairs I'm actually getting respect. It sure makes a difference when your a senior. Anyways, the ones Wednesday and Friday went pretty good. I think the most useful part of them is getting to talk to people. Eh, the big day is Saturday. fun fun!

    I saw Finding Nemo tonight, that was cool.

    I also played Ultimate Frisbee with APO. Way fun!


                   card for DOS/Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2K/XP
    30.09.2003 21:28
    Today in my Management Leadership class we got the results back from the Myers Briggs personality test. Apparently I am a ENTJ...
    Here is a description of what that means.

    There are career fairs tomorrow(wednesday), Friday, and Saturday. Hopefully all goes well.

    APO is going great
    Classes are good, but becoming a lot of work.
    I'll be preparing several presentations soon.
    Job hunting at the moment is mentally draining
    Work study is alright, but takes up a lot of time (15 hours/week)

    thats the news.


                   IMLP
    30.09.2003 06:39
    Here is a link to IMLP information.


                   w00t!
    29.09.2003 11:42
    I've been pre-selected for an Interview with GE's Information Management Leadership Program (IMLP) on Oct 6th. :-)


                   1:56pm
    29.09.2003 10:56
    Well it's getting much cooler here. The trees are changing color now. Hopefully in the next week or two I can get some good pics. This weekend I did some community service at Oakwood Cemetary which is near RPI. We cleared a bunch of sumack trees and groupings of brush. It looked really nice when we finished. Yesterday I was able to go to the mall. That was fun. I got a new coat and a really nice dress shirt.

    Ehh, classes are good. I need to finish a 4 page paper tonight, do APO stuff and sleep. I'm quite tired for some reason.

    /sidenote
    I'm in class talking to JJ at the moment. Weee


                   subject goes here
    25.09.2003 11:04
    Wow, it's been a long week, I have had many assignments due including a larger paper. The sad part is that it isn't over yet. I'm pretty beat right now. This weekend I have another paper to write and I'll be doing some community service Saturday. Maybe tonight I can have some fun.


                   new car
    21.09.2003 08:58
    This is what I would like to get for a car. I previously wanted a mini, but it really doesn't offer the amount of space I would like. The Scion xB is quite ideal.. cheap, lots of space, good gas milage. :-)

    link: www.scion.com


                   dance lessons
    18.09.2003 16:54
    I took a ballroom dance lesson today... sorry no pics ;-)

    Next week is a free lesson also, so I'll go to that one too. It was quite fun, great ratio, and the girls must say yes... how nice is that!?!


                   New pics posted
    17.09.2003 08:14
    - Random Fall pics
    - RPI Hockey Line


                   yay, an update!
    16.09.2003 16:00
    Woofta, Sunday night we hit the RPI Hockey line. Tickets wen to sale today (Tuesday) at 9am. We were second in line and there were a total of 9 of us purchasing tickets. It was a lot of fun, and I think I got some good pictures which I'll post soon.
    In other news, I'm joining Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity here at RPI. I've been hanging out with them for the past three years and it won't cut into my schedule much. I'm really excited about it.
    Classes are very well. I got my first test back and did very well on it. It was in what I would consider my most dificult class. It's amazing that three of my courses are dealing with things I learned at my internship this past summer. It makes things a little easier, and I can apply the course material to paticular aspects my project this summer.
    My MITRE website got put on ice (pun unintentional, but very amusing) this week while MITRE's public release committee looks it over.
    Job searching is in a luke warm condition. I'm delving into companies finding contacts, dept heads, etc... The process takes way more time than necessary.
    I guess that's the news for now.
    now time to catch up on some sleep and all.


                   update4
    08.09.2003 21:28
    So it's been a while.
    Friday Alex's grandma cooked lunch for us, that rocked! Friday night I saw the movie Confidence at UPAC. That was a good flic, the plot twists and narrative were most excellent.

    Saturday I did some community service at the Regional Food Bank. We repackaged lots and lots of pasta. 2400lbs of pasta.

    Sunday I did homework, did some updates to my portfolio, completed my MITRE site, and mingled with folks.

    Today I had my first exam (in Software Design & Development)

    Tomorrow I'll be getting our house server Jedi-Master online by installing a new NIC. That will bring back online my Dress A Geek site, Restaurant Database, old blog, and Christmas tree site. Thus making my portfolio functional.

    Wednesday GE will be on campus taking resume's. I am thus planning on starting my marketing blitz at that point. I will be contacting a large number of companies drilling through the ranks to find the right hiring managers. Then the fun begins.

    Thursday I'm going dancing, woo hoo!

    Hockey tickets will be going on this coming Tuesday at 9am, a group of us will be joining the line early to mid Monday. Fun fun!

    Thats a wrap


                   ego++
    05.09.2003 14:11
    Today I got my Thesis Advisor! Mike Kalsher
    It will be pretty cool, basically we'll do a study and then this spring we'll publish it in a Human Factors journal. I'm pretty psyched about the idea.

    Ooo Alex's grandparents came up for the day and his grandma cooked lunch for us. It was really good! :-)


                   w00t
    05.09.2003 05:53
    Last night I got to go clubbing at Sneaky Pete's. It was good to go back and a lot of cool people came. Things here are cool, my new camera battery arrived so I'm psyched. My website archiving my experiences at MITRE this summer is up for the most part. I only have a few things to adjust.
    Tonight the SO folks are having a reception so that will be fun. I only have one class this morning, but I have a lot of errands to run afterwards. Most notingly to get my Senior Thesis form signed. w00t!


                   double u double 0 t
    01.09.2003 21:00
    I had an excellent time at Grafton Lake this weekend. Seven of us went out there, played some frisbee on the beach, had some good BBQ and hiked around the lake. Good times.

    My portfolio is finally getting closer. I'm trying to lay it out in a clean and easy to read fashion. It's one of those cases where people won't be reading into the text much, but without it the site isn't respectable. I've created some storyboards that will show the process in pictoral form. I think it will be good.

    Also, if anyone knows of companies I should look into please email me. I'm making a list of companies and contacts at those companies. Once this portfolio is finished I'll do a campaign blitz contacting individual people at each company. It's amazing how much this is like a stratagy game. All of those days of playing command and conquer are being put to good use! I have all my logistic information planned out; I have compiled a full calendar of everything that needs to be done. Compound my job search with classes, work, and other activities and things get super complicated fast. I should run an army or something.

    If anyone cares my favorite game is Connect Four.


                   rant & school
    30.08.2003 06:01
    woo hoo, another news article to rant on. :-)
    This guy did stupid stuff, no doubt, but the part I find dumb is the fact the Feds want to make an example out of this arrest. "With this arrest, we want to deliver a message to cyber-hackers here and around the world"
    There are so few arrests made on computer criminals they have tried to make examples out of all of them. And in this case they arrested this kid who wasn't even the original code writer. He just took some copy of it and modified it. Not exactly someone who malicious code writers would take an example from. In general I feel strongly about the government trying to make examples of people in the justice system. What kind of justice is exagerating someone's crime and punishment just to make a point to others?

    The first week of classes went well, They will be a lot of fun. And it's good to see all the people again. This weekend I'm finishing my portfolio up so next week I can start contacting companies. Sunday my housemates and some friends are going to Grafton Park. We'll do some hinking and grilling. :-) Fun stuff.
    No class monday!



                   hi
    27.08.2003 12:44
    hi... Just getting used to my new schedule and all. I'm working on getting my summer internship website posted. I'm still trying to get my Senior Thesis Advisor and more classes tomorrow. Peter and I are looking at going to Grafton park this weekend, should be fun.


                   first day of classes
    25.08.2003 19:57
    Good weekend, I went to my Grandparents, saw my sister. :-D

    Today was my first day of classes. They went well. I was running around to get my senior thesis advisor, and I'm getting closer. I decided to take another course I like and do my thesis for fewer credits. It will be a crazy semester, but it is really exciting and I'm ready!


                   qwerty
    22.08.2003 06:05
    Wow, it has been a really long week! I finally get to sleep in tomorrow. :-) It has been kind of interesting. This week has been so full of activities I really haven't had a chance to persue a personal agenda. Hopefully come Monday when classes start I will be able to get back on track. Heh, I have a lot to do. I'm afraid my social agenda will get pushed to the back burner so check here for updates if I'm not able to talk to you.

    lol, I forgot to hit submit last night, so here it is anyways.


                   spick and span
    17.08.2003 18:57
    Last night I stayed up late vaccuming the apartment, finished unpacking, and did a lot of cleaning and organizing. This morning I cleaned the Fridge. It was horrible... I had to use a BROOM! One shouldn't have to do that... anyways I emptied the whole thing and cleaned every piece of it. It's looking pretty spiffy now.

    SO/NRB training is going well. Tomorrow 320+ freshman are coming in addition 500 parents are coming, and also a bunch of transfer students.
    It's crazy, but a lot of fun. Tomorrow night is BPUTT (big party under the tent). I'm 'cited 'bout that.

    Ohh yeah... I'm pretty dang GOOD! :-)


                   w00t
    15.08.2003 16:36
    The Command Center is up and running :-)


                   Woofta
    14.08.2003 19:58
    So now I'm back in Troy... though it's been an interesting journy. :-)
    Yesterday after work I headed back to Boston and met my grandpa, Lorraine, and Andrea at the MIT Boat docks. Unfortunately there was no wind so we didn't bother going out, as one of us would have had to paddle or something. Instead we walked across the river into Boston and got some dinner at Subway. Mmmmm
    Afterwards my grandpa took me back to my apartment were we packed the car utilizing my mad tetris and engineering skills with all of my stuff. The car was packed to the max. I felt very nomadic with my entire life in the car.
    Then the car battery died... and died, and died
    After we jumped the car for the second time, we managed to drive to a gas station. After getting gas the car died again. We had to leave it there as everywhere near by with batteries were closed. My grandfather was able to get a battery in the morning and picked me up at 2:00 today from work.
    My last day today at work was good. We presented our demo today in which two computers running the program would talk to each other and enabled a meeting.
    I then talked with the department head Harry Sleeper as a closing session. Apparently he was unimpressed with my skills and effort which contradicts the opinions of everyone else I worked with this summer. I respect him for giving me the chance this summer, but don't agree with his analysis or management methodology.
    So on my way back to RPI today around 4:00 we saw a whole lot of air force plane scramble into the air. It was pretty wild. I figure now it was in relation to the blackout. Once we got off the interstate into the area of Troy we wanted to go to a Burger King, it was closed. Then we noticed none of the traffic lights were working... da da da. I didn't think it was a big deal. Once we got into Troy there was power. We unloaded the car and then I wandered around campus a bit but the Union was closed. I later went home and turned on the TV. I was like whoa. But tonight Jen and I got together and played some frisbee golf. That was cool. Just after I started back home a car drove by really fast and an egg hurled right over my head and splattered 15 feet in front of me.
    Grrr

    Tomorrow NRB training starts! w00t!


                   foo.day.month.year
    12.08.2003 17:48
    Although it's only Tuesday, this crazy week for some reason seems to be coming to an end very fast. I know why. I only have tomorrow left to complete a LOT of work on the prototype before I leave. We are implementing a bunch of stuff for our Thursday morning presentation. It will be one heck of a show! Another guy joined the project so today we got the prototype design into a form in which he can now simply update the graphics and make it all glitzy. This afternoon my office mate drove me to the company Design Continuum where I set up a tour and all. It was absolutly amazing the set up they had. Basically it is a OM Team's Dream house. They have a large garage type place where they construct life size models of some of their larger projects. They've built entire cars out of foam. They also built a Shower room where they researched and developed solutions for some bathroom products. Their office spaces are large areas with very low walls and there are all sorts of seemingly random materials and stuff laying around. I was really glad I was able to go before I head back to school. Tonight I finish packing. There really isn't much left. I'm down to one laptop and there is some random objects laying around. I can't wait to go sailing tomorrow! The dept is also taking the interns to lunch tomorrow at Chillies.
    Today I also met with my mentor at MITRE (Jayson). He oversaw my project at the beginning when I was just starting, but once it started to grow and other people joined, he wasn't as involved. We had breakfast together and he was really impressed with my abilities and saw how much I had grown over the summer. He understands my potential and gave me a great suggestion for my senior theseis which I believe I will persue. Ideally inventing the holodeck from star trek... I will do something with augmented reality and fully imursive environments. The minds and machines lab has a bunch of technology for doing such project so I just need to define my objectives more and generate a proposal. So that was my super cool day.
    -DSL


                   replacement
    10.08.2003 20:47
    It looks like this will be my muvo's replacement. It's really schweet and has recieved great reviews. I don't know when I'll be able to get it though. I'm a bit addicted to music so probably after I get my books for classes it'll get some attention.



                   mp3-k-put
    10.08.2003 20:09
    So... today I learned an invaluble lesson, and I share it with you in hope of preventing others from doing the same. NOTE: Remove all electronic devices from clothing before washing! I threw in a load of wash today and a while later wanted to load some mp3s on my player. It took me 10 seconds to guess it was still in my shorts and they were in the wash. I'm 99.9 percent sure it's completely dead. I tested it and I heard a little fizzle. So... lesson learned. :-( I really don't like lessons like that. That player was my lifeline while commuting to and from work every day this summer. I'll miss it much. I'll probably frame it and hang it on my wall. It's a sad day in the house of the Diesel.


                   foo bar baz
    09.08.2003 15:56
    This weekend (my last weekend in Boston) I am doing some house cleaning. I went to the mall today and got some pants for school, a new pair of shoes and this unbelievably nice shirt. I'm doing laundry and I'll start packing up some of my stuff.

    The plan for the week is to have things pretty much packed up Monday night. Tuesday the ICE development team from work is going out. We will be going to the Matrix Reloaded in IMAX. It's just too cool. Wednesday night my grandpa will be in town so Lorraine, him and I are going sailing on the Charles. :-D Thursday I'll leave work early and then once I get home, pack the car and head to RPI. Friday NRB/SO training starts at noon. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again. Then from there I'll just be a busy bee.

    Tonight I'm going dancing at Phoenix Landing. I haven't been dancing at all in Boston this summer and I just could not let it slip by. I'm not going with anyone, but it should be super fun anyways.

    One item I've wanted to purchase for a few years now has been a recliner I designed on the lazyboy website. I haven't purchased it because of all the moving I've had to do. However after graduation and I move to the apartment where ever I'll be, I'm going to get it. Here is the URL. Please lean back in your chair to prevent drool from getting on your keyboard. :-)

    Just a random thought I had the other day... Nobody ever says Hyperlink anymore. Not that I miss it or anything, I think it is a pretty dumb name, but I just realized it died within 4 years of the internet boom (1995).


                   neat stuff
    08.08.2003 20:38
    things are good.
    here is a cool site... A virtual screen composed of fog.


                   uhhh
    07.08.2003 16:21
    heh, this page is going to shambles.

    I'm Awesome!
    bye


                   cool stuff
    06.08.2003 13:01
    Here is ANOTHER COOL COMPANY I would like to work with. Design Continuum
    I found the company through this article. :-)

    Out of curiosity, has anyone ever seen a water faucet where you can digitally select the water temperature you want, and the faucet automatically adjusts the water for a consistant temperature? Let me know if you have. I may have to invent one for myself it it doesn't already exist. :-)


                   weekend pics
    05.08.2003 06:43
    Here are a few pictures from this weekend.
    click here

    Tonight I'm going to go see Matrix Reloaded in IMAX!!!! :-D


                   1 message remaining
    04.08.2003 12:48
    Woofta, a whole bunch of stuff happened this weekend. Good times! Friday night I went to dinner with Audrey, Audrey's parents, Lorraine, Andrea, and Marjorie at a place called Fire & Ice. You fill a bowl with items buffet style. Then you pick out a nice sauce to go with it. Once you've made the selection, you then take the bowel to a counter. The chefs put the contents of the bowel on this large circular grill and cook it all up. Then at the end they add the sauce to it and when it's done they place it on a plate. Twas quite good!

    Saturday Emily, Alyssa, Peter, Alex and two of peter's friends from work came to Boston. I took them on a long march down Mass Ave starting at Porter Sqr. We looked around Harvard, ate lunch at Charlies Kitchen then continued on to the MIT Museum. It was then off to MIT, and a nice walk accross the Harvard Bridge. We then went up Newbury street and to Boston Commons. The Matrix Reloaded IMAX was sold out, so we wandered around Quincy Market for a while. Afterwards we went and got pizza at this great little place in the North End.

    Sunday we all went to a festival in China Town and then walked down through the theater district stopping every now and then to chill in the A/C
    Sunday night Lorraine and Andrea came up to the Apt for dinner.

    I'm pretty bummed about missing the Matrix Reloaded on IMAX so I'll be going to that sometime after work this week.

    Friday was a horrible day at work. I ran into a major snag in my program and spent a long time trying to solve it and I didn't have a solution by the time I left so it was dissapointing. I just had to clear my mind and take a different approach. My Co-worker Chris took me to the bookstore today at lunch and I got a more advanced book on action script. I have now solved the snag, but had to re-write a component I had made last week. It now works well and will be even easier to update in the future.

    I'm goooood! :-) heh, I think my ego is overqualified for myself, then again, probably not. :-p


                   Free Choice - thoughts on Determinism and Free Will
    02.08.2003 06:35
    I have uploaded some stuff I came up with a while back on Determinism and Free Will. Maybe it will provoke some thoughts or not, but in any case I just wanted to get it online.

    Link to it here


                   funny
    31.07.2003 11:12
    This should amuse anyone... Check out Message 2 here.


                   randomness
    29.07.2003 15:23
    Yesterday I took this IQ test and scored a 129. I don't place much on the measurment, but it was really fun taking it. I like those kinds of problems.

    Work is going well, People are on vacations so the work hasn't progressed as rapidly as I would like to see it done, but it's staying interesting and there is always something to do. Just to get some motivation back I went out and talked to the HR folks to see how I can possibly apply for a full time position. I just need to get them an updated resume and then circulate it around mitre. I have the names of several hiring managers so I just need to contact them and see if they could use me. Their fiscal year ends in October, so it really works out well that I'm graduating in December.

    A bunch of frinds from RPI will be coming out to Boston this weekend (Peter, Alex, Fil, Alyssa, Emily). That will be a blast!

    more later...


                   weekend
    28.07.2003 06:16
    I had a great weekend. Friday night I went hiking around Boston with my High School friends Lorraine and Andrea. Saturday we all went up to Salem, MA and saw the witch dungeon, and house of 7 gables. We then drove up to rockport and hung out there a while looking at shops and scoping out the ocean. Afterward we drove to Manchester by the sea and got our feet wet in the ocean. It was very very cold!

    I also got around to posting my redsox pics yesterday...

    Photos: [redsox] [salem] [rockport]


                   I love the internet
    24.07.2003 08:27
    And this is why the internet is just freakin' awesome. How else would I encounter a song like this].


                   websites
    23.07.2003 12:13
    Some sites...
    future of Wi-Fi and VoIP

    I read this the other night... interesting
    Why wicked witch from west does not like water
    The Straight Dope message boards are pretty cool in general. Seems kind of IPACish


                   rain rain go away
    23.07.2003 06:07
    This morning I lost all hope for society.
    It was pouring down rain during my walk to work. Near the sidewalk rain formed these long puddles... they were only 1.5 feet wide but nonetheless drivers had the urge to drive really fast through them next to the sidewalk. Given that the sidewalks run along fenced in properties I have no where else to walk. Every single car zoomed through the puddles and splashed me all over. After the 2nd car I was extremely pissed off and they just kept on coming. Thus, I no longer have hope for society.
    From a psychological perspective, I'm curious as to what makes people drive faster in the rain. They are in freakin' cars, not walking. On a normal sunny day they wouldn't normally speed through the streets as they did today. hrm...

    It was a crazy amount of rain. I was completely soaked by the time I got to the subway. Just as I stepped into the entry, there was a huge flash of lightning and no delay before the thunder. Pretty freaky.

    Anyways, back to life.


                   houses
    21.07.2003 08:25
    I was looking at houses this weekend... I figure for the amount I'm paying each month in rent, I could be putting that toward a house worth around $100,000. Givin' I would get a tax writeoff etc, it is something I will definitly be looking into soon after I get a job. There was a thing in the Onion... A guy says, "And with the low interest rates, there's never been a better time to buy a home. Oh, wait--I'm *expletive* unemployed." [link to story]


                   chillin
    19.07.2003 12:18
    I was just realizing this is actually the first weekend in several weeks that I've been home and not had something big going on.

    Mmmm, feels good to chill.


                   Gooey Slime
    19.07.2003 07:07
    Last night I went to a play at Harvard "A Winter's Tale". They did a good job. It has the usual Shakespear elements, love, death, lots of people talking to themselves... Today I am just having some fun at home, relaxing, and working on my online portfolio some more. Tonight I am going to a Red Sox Game :-) I'm not a huge fan of baseball, but I guess it is kind of a requirement to see a game if you live in Boston. I've been to a Braves game and also a Yankee's game.

    Tomorrow is just another relaxing day. I would like to get my portfolio and all taken care of so I can start applying for jobs asap. I think things will be hectic in the coming weeks. About 3 more weeks till I go back to RPI and help out with NRB & SO. Classes start on the 25th of Aug.

    I am incredibly happy with my project at work, it is really coming along. I am now very fluent in Flash MX and quickly becoming the expert around there. I'm now ahead of the curve so I don't no longer parallel the development of the back end. I may be working on some "marketing material" which we will use to explain what we are doing to other groups and all.

    I guess it is time to grab some breakfast. :-)


                   HCI jobs.
    16.07.2003 20:12
    How cool is it that I'm well qualified for 80% of these listed jobs, and am quite confident that I could beat most of the competition. I'm just that good :-D

    HCI job bank


                   Mad props to this t-shirt!
    16.07.2003 07:09
    I saw this today, and if anybody wants to get this for me for absolutly no reason whatsoever, I would be deeply moved...

    Motherboard T-Shirt


                   update3
    15.07.2003 20:12
    well, I guess it's been a while since I've posted. Basically I've had a lot of fun this past week/weekend. I went sailing on the Charles last thursday and then I went to my grandparents this weekend and went sailing on the Hudson Saturday and Sunday. This week at work I'm putting together a demo of the room itinerary which automatically generates from data on an Outlook Exchange server. This will next be integrated with the Video-tele-conferencing equipment to automatically dial the reserved rooms together. The cool part... IT WORKS!!! I'm just that good. :-)


                   Good week... lots of fun
    10.07.2003 19:53
    This week has been really cool. At work we've been piecing together a our prototype to automatically connect VTCs and create an interface to do so through Macromedia Flash MX. I'm getting really good at the stuff. I've developed the composite for the itinerary screen and by next Thursday it will be running. This week I've been learning a lot of Flash. I've now figured out how to do all of the pieces necessary to make it work so now it's just plug 'n chug.

    This afternoon I ran into Jennifer (a girl I took a class with at RPI) on my commute home. I ended up going to Harvard where her friend was displaying a bunch of photos he had taken. That was pretty neat, and a change from my regular routine. I then met up with Lorraine at MIT. Five of us went out sailing on the Charles. That was a most excellent experience!

    Tomorrow I'm going to my grandparents in NY. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough to go sailing on the Hudson. I'll stop in Troy on Sunday, and then it's back to Boston where I only have 4 more weekends left this summer.

    Peace...


                   blah 2.0
    08.07.2003 19:26
    Today was cool, I took a tour of the VR (virtual reality) lab at MITRE where they demoed a whole bunch of neat environments using 3D mice, heads up displays, stereoscopic 3D glasses and much more. woofta it was cool! The world needs more VR!

    Today I also re-skinned the front page of rpi-polymath. I am in the process of figuring out new designs for the site and particularly my portfolio so I decided to throw this up and see how I like it.


                   one step closer to fame
    07.07.2003 06:26
    Today I found out...
    1: my Duct Tape site was linked to by a First Post on Slashdot.org (news for nerds)
    2: sometime during the month of June someone ordered a Major League Tape shirt from my site :-)

    I'm happy this monday morning!


                   july4 and flash
    06.07.2003 18:14
    It was a great July 4th weekend. I went to New Hampshire and had a fun time. I took some pics so I will put them up later.
    At work I am learning flash as I will be designing the interface for a prototype we are doing in Flash, among other things. You can see my first prog here. [click here]


                   If I were president
    30.06.2003 15:23
    Today I had another one of my brilliant ideas... It would be cool to make a website "If I were president". People could post their own platforms and and then other people could vote on other people's platforms. There would be one for kids and also adults. It would be kind of interesting to watch the rankings.

    ehh, yeah, that's my idea.


                   part of an IM concerstation
    29.06.2003 19:14
    Dustin: I like to meditate before tests... imagine being the one grading the exam. I don't think it helps, but it's kind of fun giving everyone else Fs.


                   big update
    28.06.2003 05:10
    This has been a great week. I had a presentation at work on Thursday and things went over really well. I had spent an uber amount of time working on the project Monday and Wednesday so I was able to get out earlier on Thurs & Friday. I'm developing Interfaces for our Prototype this week. By the end of the summer we are going to have a system where an employee can schedule a Video Tele-Conference via the web using exchange. At the time of the meeting the two VTC rooms will be automatically connected. It's certainly more complicated than that, but that is the most basic form.

    Yesterday at work I recieved a tour of the "Usability Lab" at MITRE. I got to see a "Virtual Room" they had developed. This is a 3D computing environment in which you could run various windows applications. Here is a link to a [site that describes it].

    During the tour I also got to see the systems they were devloping for Augmented Reality.
    It is very cool, still needs refining, but still very good! [How AR Works] [Lots of links]

    My sister arrived Thursday. That night we went to the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious. That was a lot of fun. Lots and lots of car action. Last night we went to see the Blue Man Group in Boston. It was fantastic! This morning my parents are coming and we are all going to the Boston Science Museum. Tonight we will either see the Laser Show or a show at the Omni-Theater.


                   cnn rip
    24.06.2003 15:32
    ok, so I gave up on finding a site without ads, and decided just to rip my own version of CNN.

    Access it HERE (enjoy popup free)


                   more pics
    23.06.2003 19:28
    More Boston Pictures have been added. :-)


                   zoop
    23.06.2003 16:27
    I still have not figued out my outgoing mail problem. :-(

    CNN started adding all of these pop-up ads and larger banners on their site. This means I will no longer visit the site. Ehh, in general I have always disliked CNN but have gone there because their ads were not too bad. So... if you know of any News sites that are pop-up free and only have small or no ads, please let me know. I am going to compile a list and I will post it once I have a couple.


    Good weekend, long day at work, time to get dinner. :-)


                   doooooobie dooobie dooo
    21.06.2003 06:15
    Grr, my outgoing mail isn't working :-(

    Yesterday at work one of my bosses gave me a really great compliment. My other bosses are really nice and are always saying how good the work I'm doing is, but this one in particular has never said anything. Usually he comes in on Fridays and just asks me a bunch of questions and insinuates that I should be looking into something. It's pretty tough to know what he's thinking, so I'm incredibly psyched that he gave me a compliment. :-) We were able to bring another guy (top level programmer) onto the project primarly because of what I've done thus far in my work. So I will no longer be the only one working on the project, but overall it will be a great benefit to me and the project.

    Yesterday I found out my parents are flying out to the east coast today. So last night I decided to jump on a bus and meet them. That fills up my otherwise uneventfull weekend. My sister comes next week and I have some excellent plans lined up. That'll be schweet!


                   insignificant
    19.06.2003 19:58
    Related Article
    "But the new image, known as GOODS for Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey, managed to look back further -- more than 12 billion years to when the universe was a billion years old. Astronomers put the age of the universe at roughly 13.7 billion years."

    The earth is guessed to be only 4.55 billion years old. Dinosaurs lived 65 million years ago.

    It really makes one wonder what else is out there? With Billions of stars and plannets wirring around them each with a vast amount of history. It's just crazy to think about. Yet again I try and rationalize the little things like taking out the garbage, and why I care that my tie matches my shirt.


                   ;-)
    19.06.2003 15:24
    Yeah, I'm just that good. ;-)

    Today at work management got restructured and now I have a new "boss". I need to talk to discuss with him my game plan, but over all I think he will be a great asset to the project. He has a great deal of expertise and knows the "MITRE way" to do things. I just need to convince him to let me take the lead on the project which shouldn't be too hard since he is quite impressed with what I've done with what I've been given to work with. Maybe I'll invite him to a BBQ. Yeah, I think I'll do that.

    Mmmm BBQ!


                   work
    18.06.2003 19:17
    Not too much to report... Work is going well. I had a talk with my mentor today to evaluate how I'm doing and what I should do the rest of this summer. Overall it was VERY positive. Also, there is a guy Chris, who may be stepping in as my Boss / Team member on my project. With my skill level and expertiese I would have only been able to complete the front-end of the system and the overall layout. With his help, we could fill in a lot of the back-end and actually have a working system. The plan is going through review, but I think it would add a lot to the project if it works out. This week I'm designing the interfaces for the web-based application users will use to manage their meetings. It's named ICEtray :-)


                   stuff
    17.06.2003 04:49
    Yesterday when I was walking to work, I walked passed this car. The car was 90% filled with trash. Absolutly the most discusting thing I've ever seen. I don't think anything has ever been taken out of it. It looked like the driver even has trouble keeping the trash from piling into the drivers seat. Both rear seats were stacked to the ceiling and also the passenger seat.

    Happy Birthday Mr. Escher!

    Today I've changed my work schedule so I don't start work until 9. I don't get done till 5, but it's much better. I guess it's time to jet.


                   exploring
    15.06.2003 19:17
    Today was a lot of fun. I went down to Davis Square and while down there I decided to look around. I found this really nice bike path. Being that I didn't have homework to do :-) I decided to see where it went. It was very secluded and a nice change from urban life here. I followed it for about 6 miles or so. I passed a lot of soccer fields, and found a really nice lake. :-D


                   w00t!
    14.06.2003 20:51
    After getting fed up with other php blog scripts, I finally decided to write my own. It's pretty simple, but it does everything I need. :-) So this is the new layout. I think it's a little more dynamic and is a relatively different layout than typically seen on blog sites. This space will continue to evolve and will give me a place to have some fun. Let me know what you think: [email]