October 30, 2003
A Mind Full of Gobbly-Gook
It is half past midnight and my mind is completely exhausted. I simply can't think anymore. I have homework I can do, but it's just too difficult to even try to think about what I'm doing.
Thank goodness Thursday is here. Two things are good about Thursday. First, it is the last day of the week that I have classes scheduled. In all the time that I've been in school, this is the first time I've been able to arrange my schedule so I don't have any Friday classes. Second, on Thursday I have a two hour recess between Precalc and Discrete Math. I usually get something to eat and then spend the rest of the time (about an hour and a half) in the classroom working on homework while listening to the local talk radio station.
By four o'clock, however, I start to feel a bit drowsy and I have a hard time concentrating. Half way through the class my mind goes off into la-la-land and I miss half of what the professor says. It's not as if I'm not accustomed to daydreaming or anything like that. I've done it all my life and I do it all day long. This is simply a much longer, more intense daydream that occurs about the same time every Tuesday and Thursday.
In the meantime, I currently have several sections of Precalc homework, several sections of Discrete Math homework, a special Discrete Math assignment that is due this afternoon, and a programming assignment that needs to be submitted in less than 24 hours to be considered on-time.
I am not, howver, going to do it now. I am going to bed. In the morning I will get a haircut and run some errands before going to school. Once there, I will complete the urgent homework tasks and work on the rest of it over the weekend.
If I work hard enough, I will be caught up by Monday.
October 26, 2003
Strings as Objects
Here's an interesting excercise regarding references in Java.
String s = "blah";
String t = "blah";
System.out.println(s == t);
s = t;
System.out.println(s == t);
This prints:
true
true
to the screen. Now try:
String s = new String("blah");
String t = new String("blah");
System.out.println(s == t);
s = t;
System.out.println(s == t);
This prints
false
true
to the screen. Java recognizes that the contents of the two string literals are identical and reuses the object by referencing both s and t to it. The "new" operator in the second listing, however forces Java to create two distinct objects.
October 15, 2003
Who Wants to be a Taikonaut?
According to Reuters, China has now rocketed a man into space. This attempt has been more successful than the first:
China invented gunpowder and legend holds that a Ming dynasty (1368-1644) official named Wan Hu attempted the world's first space launch. He strapped himself to a chair with kites in each hand as 47 servants lit 47 gunpowder-packed bamboo tubes tied to the seat.
When the smoke had cleared, Wan was found to have been obliterated. But the dream was not.
October 8, 2003
User Mode Virtual Host
For the past few days, Jesse and I started experimenting with User Mode Linux and exploring the possibilities of using it as a web hosting solution. Here's what he told me the other day:
Jesse: oh. when you make your image for the uml.. make it.. 5 gig enough?
Me: Sure.
Jesse: then. no more bugging me when you want something
I guess I can take a hint.
