Pete's Log: news of the world

Entry #1126, (Life in General)
(posted when I was 23 years old.)
Hallo! Du da! Was machst Du?!

I've found an incredible webpage that will empower me to become even more of a hypocritical grammar/spelling nazi than I already am. I am delighted.

I've also decided that I must abuse the word "bankrupt." Phrases such as "That keyboard is ergonomically bankrupt" and "That passage is grammatically bankrupt." Eventually I'll reach the point where "bankrupt" has become so overloaded that I'll have to say "financially bankrupt" in order to convey its original meaning.

I want a girlfriend on the ND women's soccer team. If any members of said team read this log entry, please spread the word and let me know if any of y'all are interested.

I've been reading through the latest issue of the Economist. I'm enjoying it, but it is also making me realize just how inadequate my previous news sources have been. I just read more about Belarus in a short article than I ever have in my entire life. Arun and I are investigating splitting a subscription. It'd be an excellent change in my life if I began regularly reading the Economist and shunned all the mainstream American news sources.

So the results from my tests on Tuesday have been presented to me. So I guess I kinda decided to try to figure my life out to a greater degree than I already have. For a long time I've had a variety of problems that have made life, and especially academic life, more difficult than it should be. A short list of the biggest issues: general trouble focusing, impulsivity, difficulty falling asleep, more difficulty waking up, difficulty budgeting money and time, absentmindedness, and an inability to read technical writing without my mind wandering. So far I've managed to cope with these troubles, but I've come to the realization that I won't be able simply to cope with them any more, now that I'm trying to do research at the grad school level. Projects are simply too big and too lengthy and require more focus and concentration than I've been able to muster so far. So I sought out the university counseling center, and after an initial session, they referred me to some guy off campus to be tested for ADD. Well, those results are in, and I've been told that I am most likely ADD, but that the other possibility is Bipolar disorder, though that is unlikely. So it was recommended to me that I begin treatment for ADD and if treatment works, then I have ADD, and if it doesn't work, it looks like bipolar is the problem. So now I'm going to talk to the UCC people some more and try to figure out what course of action to take now. But I definitely want to do something, I really do like computer science, and I want to do better at it than I am right now ...

I was pretty impressed by the tests, though. When I was taking them, I really didn't expect them to tell much about me, they just seemed kinda silly. But from the results the psychologist guy was able to tell me (accurate) things about myself I never would have guessed he could tell just from the questions asked. So I guess brain doctors deserve more credit than I previously gave them.

Somebody in Australia discovered my frisbee page and emailed me pictures of an actual AOL frisbee. Coolness. I added those pictures to the page. I love the internet.

I have had an idea that will revolutionize the computer industry. I call it the Pumaflop. The idea is to build a supercomputer entirely out of pumas, or mountain lions if you will. A healthy puma will indicate a "false" signal, while a rabid puma will indicate a "true" signal. In order to propogate a true signal, rabid pumas will bite other pumas to pass the signal along. I'm still working on how to propogate false signals, but it may involve either inoculation or maybe some sort of reproductive activities on the part of the pumas. But those are simply details. The main idea, I believe, is sound.