The (not so) Wonderful World of JDate

So after some initial resistance I signd up for a JDate account today. Inital thougts 1) I'm a superficial bastard and 2) there are slim pickins'! Anyway, geting back out there and scrapin around with some new friends might be a really fun new thing... we'll see...I'm finding that i'm more interested in women who are a lot younger than I am but at the same time i'm very concerned with seemingly like that "creepy old guy". I think what it is is that my "emotional age" is a lot younger than my actaul age. I don't wanna put up with the ignorance and immaturity of a woman still in college but older women closer to my age seem to have shit too together. I guess i don't want to be with someone who "world weary" and old but at the same time someone who is my age. I guess I want someone like me - a person with a retarded emotional core.

I have no Gay-dar

Its official - I have no mechanism to identify gay people. After one false-positive and one case of complte oblivioun i am totally sure of this. More to this . . .

Personal Hygiene

Hygiene. What is it? Staying clean. True. But in my mind there are a short list of "rules" regarding the matter.

Shaving. Important, yes. More important though - removing hair from places it shouldn't be but are plainly visible (Ears, nose, back, etc). So being clean shaven is good but, more importantly, get rid of that rouge hair on your forehaed or that long one coming out of your nostril. Point: out of place hairs can be very distracting to those around you.

Smell. Fragrence vs. odor. Be careful with this - perfume or colonge can be your worst enemy. Use very sparingly. Smelling too much of anything (even if it is a "good" smell) is disasterous. Point: shower frequently but don't freak out and feel compelled to use colonge to mask your smell between the gym and the bathroom.

Physical Health Cycle

I've always viewed my physical health as having an intrinsic cycle. Not just the typical seasonal cold and allergy symptoms but also exercise and diet. Being accutley aware of this cyclical trend has helped me stay healthy, avoid injury, and at times lose weigh. For example, recently I started to feel a little run-down and I decided to stop daily going to the gym for a little more than a week. In a way I could tell this was one of my cyclical changes in my body. Going from "fat" to "thin" isn't a straight line and along the way progess can seem to vary from very slow to very fast. Maybe there are just a series of psyilogical thersholds that need to be individually reached to get to a piont where you can actaully see a change in physique... i dunno.

Dateline's "House of Pervs"

Recently the quasi-news show Dateline (ABC) has been broadcasting a series on"Internet Pervs". The series highblights the interrogation and capture of the men that chat online with underage girls (fall into the trap of wanting to meet them in person) and end up going to their homes'. When the unsuspecting man gets the house (which is rigged with cameras at every imaginable angle) he is confroted by the correrspondent from Dateline and basically told "you're busted". Seeing these pathetic men shrivil in disbelief is only trumped by watching them try to phbysicsally escape the setup house only to be aprehended by the waiting police (who hide long enough so the news guy can verbally abuse the crying pervs).

My fasination with the Nintendo Wii

I can't really expalin why but I've fallen in love with the Wii. I guess I've been swept up in the hype. There are many reasons why I like the Wii (ie low price, unique controlls, good launch titles) but I feel an urgency to be part of something bigger - what I believe will be "the future of entertainment". So why the Wii and not the Xbox 360 or the PS3? I think the Wii is a "tweener" device as it complements the other video game options and does not really compete directly. Aside from the reasons above I guess I have a "things to buy" queue in my subconcious and buying a good HDTV ranks higher than buying a high-end game console. Also having just hooked up my 24'' Dell flatpanel as my primary TV I dont feel an urgent need to replace it. The Wii is something I can buy before the expensive TV becuase a) it isn't that expensive so i'll still have money for the TV and more importantly b) I wont lose any of the Wii's graphical experience on a non-HD tv.

"My shit looks like . . . " blog

Well, as you can guess from the title, I'm in the mood for some mundane personal reflection. For example, today I tried somehing new for lunch! I got a "falaffel wrap" from the wrap place in the Longwood food court and it was pretty damn tasty. I'm probably gonna keep eating from this place untill I get sick of it (like I did wth Subway) and then I'll move onto something new. I like the "wrap" concept - its one of my favorite forms of food spanning several ethnicities. Of course there's the burrito, representing Mexico, and the Fallafle or Shwarma wrap representing the middle east and also the crepe a more designer chic wrap representing French cuisine. Alex and I once theorized of an "Indian burrito"- just Imagine chicken tika masala and rice wraped in a nan bread envelope - genius!

Blogging via Mobile Phone

Is this where you enter text? Sweet! My first cell phone blogg entry! (Please excuse all the typos - I may wait to go back and edit these entries via computer) Anyway, this "bus to bus" commute is a bitch - about an hour each way. (I gotta see if taking the green line train is faster.) At least now I can do something constructive with the time. Today I did my first "double lunch" and ate an extra time in the late afternoon (around 2:30ish) - I feel much better! I think it should be noted that Ive been eating the same Subway sandwich (Subway-melt on wheat bread) every day for the past two months and it still tastes good! Normally that would make me wonder what sort of secrect addicting stuff goes into the sandwich but I see them making it fresh in front of me. Simply amazing! Ive been trying to get over this linger cold but with my new schedule (going to class at Bently late Monday night and then having an early Tuesday morning meeting) it seems like Im always sleep deprived. When I dont feel good the first thing to go is the gym - which normally id feel guilty about but if I did end up getting really sick - from trying to work out when im not totally healthy Id feel like an idiot.

Story Idea

A child, to be coronated king of his clan realizes that up to this moment in his short life he had been deceived about the evil nature of his own people. Now, with much adulation, the boy is to transcend into a god-like figure as he assumes rule and the throne. But, the boy, with his new-found knowledge denounces his kingdom and its people. Ostracized and chased out of his land the boy wanders into enemy territory - his only refuge. In time this new home will claim his love and loyalty as he eventually ascends the royal warrior ranks.

The Existential comedy

I guess the new vogue in comedy is existentialism. Both "Stranger than Fiction" and "Click" try to tackle the big questions like: "Why are we here", "what's the point", and "Do we have any choice". Both movies seem to say that love is the meaning or rather, love transcends. I found "Stranger than Fiction" very poignant in the way the protagonist (Will Ferrell) knowingly submits to fate yet in doing so finds redemption. The all powerful (in this world of "Stranger than Fiction") judges Ferrell as "The kind of person that confronts death without fear" and "This is the kind of person you don't want to die" - thus the protagonist prevails. He accepted the hand of fate and was lucky enough to exists in a universe with a benign force. "Click" varied in on this existential theme focusing more on the impact of one's freedom of choice. It seemed to suggest that a person has freedom to dictate certain parts of our own existence but these few, very important choices, create overriding themes (or decision types) that would perpetuate beyond our sphere of control. It seems to suggest that the way we begin life (choosing good vs evil, good vs bad) correlates to where we end-up in the spectrum of willingly accepting death (for the good) or vehemently rejecting it (for the bad).

Comic Round-Up

I've been keeping busy lately but I always try to save time for comic book reading. Recently I've been in an "exploratory phase" as I hunt for good reading while I await my favorites' to produce more volumes (i.e. Y: Last Man - Nov 2006, Walking Dead vol. 6 - Feb 2007, Invincible hardcover vol. 3 - Feb 2007, Ex Machina vol 4. - Dec 2006). Anyway, I've done well to find at least a few good graphic novels. Here they are in no particular order:

Pride of Baghdad
From the author of "Y: Last Man" this is an interesting self contained story that is beautifully illustrated. I'm not a huge fan of the "talking animal" genre (i.e. I though M3 was just "ok" but critics loved it) but this story is still worth a read. I'm happy that this isn't in a series format becuase it benifits from being concise.

Girls Vol 1: Conception
Girls Vol 2: Emergence

Girls is a really unique comic that kinda reminded me of "Walking Dead" in terms of pacing and character progression. Some may think that the story is too protracted but it held my attention. And this story is so bizzare it actually makes the drawn out story arc really very enjoyable. I' m eagerly waiting for volume 3!

SuperMarket

I haven't even finished reading Super Market and I know already that its worthy of recommendation. The art work is amazing- beautiful pastel colors and impressionistic imagary. (It is so good I found myself lingering on pages just staring at the images.) And don't foreget the story teller - Brain Wood (of DMZ) does a great job at quickly pacing the plot (with a requisite dose of social commentary provided by the hipster progtagonist)


Torso
Powers Vol 1: Who Killed Retro Girl
Powers Vol 2: RolePlay


I'm sorta on the fence when it comes to Brain Bendis' work. I really liked Torso (the "true crime" comic following "post-Al Capone" Elliot Ness as he chases a serial killer) so I decided to try reading a few volumes of the Powers series (note: All of Bendis' stuff I've read I was able to get from my local library so its hard to hate on free reading). But I can't really recommend any of his work though, which is a shame. This is because he chooses to brake one rule about graphic novels that I ascribe to: no matter how beautiful or well told a story is, you can't mess with the visual narrative to the point where that the reader can't find the next cell to read. I'll give him credit for being one of the best story tellers out there but he always messes up his stories by trying to be too clever about cell spacing or placment of the text and illustrations. It is so furstrating not knowing where on the page to look and reading text out of sequence or in the wrong order. Hey, Bendis, stop trying to be a smart guy and stick to the convention of left to rigth top to bottom. Jesus...

Moto Q and Comcast DVR

So, after much anticipation the Aver Media Box (see blog entry: TV, Tivo, Media Center and LCD monitors) turned out to be a big piece of crap. The thing was completly unusable and seemed like it was broken even before it left the manufacturer. Luckily, I was able to return it to Amazon no questions asked. So, I'm not out $160 bucks but still peeved about the waste of time. Tangentally related, I've decided to order the new DVR from Comcast. The hardware is installed by Comcast (for a once time $30 fee) and its relativly cheap at an extra $15 per month (on top of the other cable fees). The unit they supply is a Motorola dual tuner that allows two shows to be simultaneously recorded while you watch a third channel. I think the dvr also has about 80gigs of space which is a lot of tv time (cuz i'm not recording any HD). Anyway, this is related to the piece of crap Aver thing becuase the DVR has a DVI output which means I should be able to hook up my flat panel through the DVR- Sweet! Also, the big tech thing in my life now is my new phone: the Motorola Q. This thing kicks so much ass its crazy. The first money I spent, from my new job, was on a set of bluetooth headphones and a 2 gig minSD stick. Now, the commute to and from work is a lot easier since I can listen to music the entire way. And, as soon as I apply the new firmware upgrade, I can watch Ipod videos on it too!

Work and Such

So I've started working at Children's Hospital as a "research developer" and I'm working with Dr. Steve Porter on a grant based project involving the use of a personal health care record system in the domain of patients with ADhA. The personal health care system we are using is called Indivio and was also developed at the hospital. Dr. Porter and I are trying to create a user interface (that uses Indivio as a back end) to cater to low literacy individuals who are using the system to enter patient information regarding ADHD. This project is really the third in a series of projects based on the best practices of collecting patient information in an electronic format (the "asthma kiosk" and "parentLink are the predecessors of this project). I'll try to keep the blog updated as I continue to work on this project!

TV, Tivo, Media Center and LCD monitors

So it seems my original idea of using my new dell as dual-screen Media Center tv recording box isn't gonna pan out. I actually had the system working for a few weeks before I some how killed the hardware on reinstalling windows. Anyway, Dell is sending someone out to replace the motherboard but once its fixed I don't think I'll be using the computer any more (dad wants it for his room). So now, to make good use of the sweet 21" wide screen LCD I have, I've purchased the AVer MEdia TVBox 9 - an external TV tuner. This box will let me feed cable tv directly to the monitor and also allow peripherals (i.e. xbox) to connect too. Maybe, if the setup is working wll, I'd even add a tivo. Should be wicked cool - I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Happy Weed PC Update

Quick update on whats happening with the game. As I mentioned before I've switched from DirectX to Java3D and I'm working my way through the Killer Game Programming book. And I just got Eclipse setup on my laptop so I'm ready to compile some Java code! Also I want to introduce the first version of the Bumble Bee character I've created. I tried to create the character to look similar to the weed character as they both inhabit the universe of the game (and I want it to have some visual uniformity) Enjoy!

Things I want v1.0

I've thought about doing this list in the past but I thought it was vulgar - especially when I had no money. A long time ago when I worked at Domania for a brief stint I had money and somehow I used it, quickly, but in a way that was tasteful. I say this because the two expensive purchases I made I still use very frequently. (My turntables and the flat panel NEC monitor.) Anyway, I'm hoping that if I put some thought into it, I can make a few tasteful purchases and save away the rest of my funds. Depending on the state of my "Media PC" (dell is sending someone to fix it) I may not need, immediately, a tv and/or tivo - two things I'd definitely like to purchase. An nice HD TV would be a good investment and an hd tivo would complement that very well. Of course there are other nice but more expensive investments like cars, condos and vacations. As for the new car concept I don't think I really need a new car or will I be using one that much as I can get to and from work taking the bus. Maybe down the line in a year or two I'll need to think about this more. I love the idea of buying real estate. I imagine that my dad could one day be my advisor as I make a foray into the world of real estate investment. Again, this isn't really an option now but will be maybe in a few years as I save more money. The vacation idea is a good one though. I'v never been on a self funded vacation. And, with my ample vacation time at work, I could really do something nice. I'd love to go to japan or paris... hmm. I have no experience planning (in advance) for something like this but I bet it isn't to hard. Look out for "Things I want v2.0" coming soon!

HOLY CRAP! I GOT A JOB!

Wow. And so it begins. Mike got himself a joby job. I couldn't be happier with how things worked out - the process was intense but it payed off (literally). After going on five interviews (one on the west coast) and fielding way too many phone calls over the last two months I've finally sealed the deal. And the winner is: Children's Hospital. I'm working in the Emergency Medicine Depatrment doing informatics work under Dr. Stephen Porter. The work place enviornment is amazingly laid back (read: academic style), the benifits are awesome, and I'm acutally doing work that will help people. But I've only got a few weeks of freedom left - I better enjoy 'em!

Video Game Olympics

Tonight was the first ever "official" video game olympics between Alex and myself. We have had a long time disputed rivalry over who is the better video game player. It goes back to an incident when we were in 5th or 6rh gradeknown as "Tecmo Gate". Already at this early age we fought over who was the better Tecmo Basketball player (SNES version I think) and to put the matter to rest we decided to start recording win/loss records (and high scorer info) for each game we played. After a while we amassed a pretty long list but one day when we were disputing who reigned as the dominate player and decided to go back to the list to resovle the issue we found out that the list was missing (it has been alleged that Alex's mom threw it away). The incident became dubbed "Tecmo Gate" because we still, to this day dissagre who had a winning record on that list. Fast forward fifteen years and we are still bitter rivals. Tonight was a big night for me as I walked away with the first Video Game olymips crown winning at Fifa Street, NCAA 07 Football, NBA Live o6. We tied at one game a piece at Madden 07 and Alex won at MLB Baseball. And now, this document, is a record of my dominace over Alex in video game sports forever - until we play again.

Summer of Mike

It seems like the "summer of mike" is at its end. The summer of '06 has been one of the best in recent years. Aside from the Sox imploding, this summer has been nothing short of spectacular. Highlights include attending SIGGRAPH, visiting Portland, and meeting the love of my life (still waiting on the last one). But in all seriousness over the last three months I've discovered an ability to concentrate and study in a self directed way. Whether its writing blog entries, working on sourceforge, or going through maya textbooks I've really taken my intellectual game to the next level. Also, I've rediscovered my confidence largely in part through simply working hard and being proud of what I accomplished at BU during the course of the year. So what's next? Well it seems like I'm gonna get a job sooner or later and that means I'll have to become adapt at life. The little things - washing dishes, goin to the grocery store, payin bills and other mundane shit like that. And so the "summer of mike" segues to the "year of the man-child ". To be continued...

Mike's Guide to the Job Interview

Here is a little advice on how to ace your next job interview. I bring you this info from the trenches on the front line as I have had much experience in this setting.

Rule 1: No matter how hot much of a hot shit you think you are when your in an interview the person interviewing you is GOD! Laugh at their jokes and think about their word's. Everyone likes to listen to themselves talk so let the interviewer ramble on and on - when appropriate ask a question to egg them on in their monologuing .

Being a good listener is an art - an art you need to perfect to ace an interview.

Rule 2: Have questions to ask. The interview format almost requires the employer to ask: "do, do you have any questions?" By faltering at this point you may offed the interviewer - good listening requires analysis of what you have heard. If you can't recall any points of interest in the interviewers monologue I've got a few sure fire questions that make you seem interested int he company:

a) Who would be my supervisor/boss?
b) what would be expected of me in the first six months on the job?
c) is there a system of employee accountability - a performance evaluation system?

Rule 3: Where a suit. There is no excuse to be wearing anything else and if you are wearing anything else you will look foolishly under-dressed.

Rule 4: Research the company before the interview. check the web site and look for your interviewer's profile on the corporate section of the web site. Know what the company does and what products or services they deploy. Also have a job description for the job you are applying before the interview so you know what skills they are looking for you to have.

Rule 5: Don't get stressed out. The thing to remember about an interview is that there is only an upside. By this I mean: you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Enjoy the fact that you got the interview and go in there with the confidence you deserve for having reached to this point in the process.