One of my favorite mystery writers. Extremely engaging without being overly flashy. I first came across his Abe Lieberman character, and went on to either sample (Peters) or devour (Rostnikov, Fonesca) his other series. I guess now I can catch up.
Wikipedia entry
He will be missed.
I've been on medical leave for the better part of two weeks. A combination of things, for which I am getting treatment. I hope to go back to work part-time the week following this one (November 3). For faculty not teaching, working part-time greatly resembles working full-time, so I won't have to worry about affecting income.
I'm really fretting about the work being missed, which doesn't help the health issues. The worst of it is missing weeks of calculus lectures (worst in the sense of hardest to catch up on). The prof is very good and very clear -- the book, not so much. I worked on it some today until I got stuck. There's a part I'm just not getting from the book. So there's not much more I can do there until I can meet with the TA when I'm back on campus. Meanwhile, I'm checking and responding to work e-mail more than I should while out -- again, doesn't help the recovery.
Only so much online gaming I can do.
Bored, but dealing.
Have good friends.
Just did my first calculus homework -- precalculus really -- and there's definitely rust in my brain.
Me and Barbie . . .
From the Washington Post Online:
No Break on Costs of Textbooks
Prices of new textbooks rise as publishers try to compete with an expanding trade in used books.
Between the states where gambling is seen as a sin and the ones where gambling is seen as a trap from which the poor should be protected (often a different set, I would think), it's a marvel PowerBall exists.
Two instances today.
First, I'm helping a revise a federal grant proposal. The first proposal was 133 pages. The actual grant text began on page 100. 99 pages of required forms and supporting material.
Second, I finally got cleared to register for the calculus class this Fall, a process that has taken most of a month. And the highly-recommended instructor's sections are now full. On the plus side, the section I did get into does not meet at 8am.
US Border Agency Says It Can Seize Laptops (WaPo)
As part of border search policy, government agents are now authorized to seize electronic devices and inspect documents in them, the document states. The electronic devices might include laptops, cell phones, portable music players or storage devices such as portable hard drives.
Seriously.
ABC News:
Daniel Nocera, a professor of chemistry at MIT, has developed a catalyst that can generate oxygen from a glass of water by splitting water molecules. The reaction frees hydrogen ions to make hydrogen gas. The catalyst, which is easy and cheap to make, could be used to generate vast amounts of hydrogen using sunlight to power the reactions. The hydrogen can then be burned or run through a fuel cell to generate electricity whenever it's needed, including when the sun isn't shining.
From invitation to collaborate on a paper to completed analyses. That may be my best yet!
No, obviously not the simulations, though finally did finish the one sample size. Doing a couple test cases now to track down under what circumstances the technique does not behave well (found some such, testing the limits now),
Ew, gross. That's out of 11,000, for the first sample size. Power is good at N = 1,000, but there's some bias in the parameter estimates under some conditions, so I'll be working on tracking that down. Not sure there will be anything to do about it but document it, and see if it is associated with sample size. Yay, more cells.
Haven't written this week as it hasn't been a great week, and I don't usually like to pour my sorrows out for the public. For now, suffice to say that my gaming life is a lot lighter (as an effect, not a cause) -- need to reduce the load until I get some other issues under control. Doing better now after changing some circumstances, will be pursuing longer-term improvements. Vague enough for y'all? Was supposed to go to Atlanta today to visit a friend, but I got too little sleep last night for that to be a good idea (went to bed at a reasonable hour, but couldn't sleep).
Work's going pretty well -- making some progress on debugging, and hope to have some honest-to-goodness results on the alcohol progression analyses soon, maybe Monday, at least for one ethnic group. The results will still need some tweaking for final, as I need to figure out things like which weight variable to use. But should have results to write up in plenty of time for the SRCD deadline at the end of August. Still haven't found a discussant for my symposium, though. Looking forward to getting some results!
137 to go.
That is all.
One of my all-time favorite songs (get the Kristofferson version).
Doing much better yesterday and today than I was Thursday and Friday, but I still get restless on Sunday mornings, and it's worse in the Summer.* Generally home alone with the computer, and most of the corners of the tubes that I haunt are quiet on Sunday mornings (including both work and leisure). Unfortunately, I caught up on work yesterday while feeling good, so not even much to do there until people get back to me on things, which doesn't usually happen on Sunday mornings. Sometimes I wish I still enjoyed TV. I do still enjoy reading, but I can't usually concentrate and get absorbed in it the way I used to.
Ah, well. There's seven minutes gone.
Game tonight.
The Refugees did in fact do their dungeoncrawl, including my first experience with making up 4E monsters. Learned from some mistakes I made, but it overall went pretty well. The biggest mistake was a sessile solo monster without ranged attacks. The main problem with it, though, was that I kept rolling 4s on its primary attack (an assassin vine, that kept missing with the attack that let it grab and constrict). Had an old gaming friend in from NC for a few days, and he sat in, so now his complaints about 4E are better informed.
Not much else on that front, save Galtrin's journal was updated.
Galtrin rides again Sunday, then the Refugees fight again Monday. They now have tenant rights to a parcel of land.
I seem to have inadvertently murdered my 3.5 Rise of the Runelords game. It seems I'm making the shift to 4E more thoroughly than I'd initially planned.
Brilliant in concept, flawed in execution. Which is much preferable to the other way around.
Very good movie. The franchise is in good hands.
Wait, that's a lie. But the simulations aren't running. Something else is, but not the simulations.
4 of the 10 N = 1000 conditions are run, plus one bonus condition at that sample size, plus one condition at N = 500. At 1,000 samples per condition, that's 6,000 analyses down (and 6.5 million records generated), somewhere around 15,000 to go, minimum. But I'm presenting the work in progress on Tuesday, and am calling a halt until I get feedback. Results mostly encouraging, with some quirks.
Other work: The SRCD symposium proposal is still in process -- need to find one more warm body, as one of the previously involved presenters has realized he won't be able to attend. Sent out an invitation a couple hours ago.
The progression modeling of alcohol use (which I plan to present at SRCD) is slowly creeping along. It's coming slowly as I actually have to show up at the office to do those analyses due to data security restrictions on that particular dataset. A couple false starts last week, but progress.
Oh, and my Fall courses are covered. So I can concentrate on the work of the grant, yay.
Act I of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" is up, and well worth the several minutes.
576 to go.
On condition 2 (of 10) for sample size 1 (of probably 3). 24 hours per 1000. A month to go, in other words. Assuming I don't have to restart it yet AGAIN.
Symposium proposal for Society for Research in Child Development coming together. Meaning there's a theme (longitudinal studies of ethnic differences in adolescent alcohol use) and a group of presenters. Proposals aren't due until the end of August, so should be in good shape. Starting the preliminary analyses for my paper tomorrow. Denver in April -- not sure what weather that would be. Late Winter, I suppose.
Seriously considering this Teaching Ethics workshop for next May, as part of the career development grant. Oh, boy -- I get to go to Bloomington!
Good gaming Saturday in the 4E game. The first "real" session of the game (other than a practice fight). Journal here, though I don't know if I'll keep it up. (Yes, Galtrin is supposed to come across as egotistical, why do you ask?)
My 4E game, "Refugees," tomorrow night, as the villagers plan to leave the Greenwood and seek a new home is Ustalav. I'm sure it will go smoothly for them, with no complications whatsoever.
Not that the idea was generated, nor that it was quashed with possible disciplinary action to come. But that it actually made it as far as it did.
"South Carolina is so gay"
The U.S. Census Bureau, reacting to the federal Defense of Marriage Act and other mandates, plans to edit the 2010 census responses of same-sex couples who marry legally in California, Massachusetts or any other state. They will be reported as "unmarried partners," rather than married spouses, in census tabulations - a policy that will likely draw the ire of gay rights groups.
A census technical note that explains the bureau's rationale on counting same-sex partners for the 2000 census notes that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act "instructs all federal agencies only to recognize opposite-sex marriages for the purposes of enacting any agency programs."
Found out why the simulations weren't giving the results I expected.
It's a mistake I made sometime in December, I think. Possibly November.
Can't believe how much work that's wasted.
The only saving grace is that none of the work based on it has gone to a journal.
Navigate: (Previous 20 Entries)