Legolas getting teased

Remember in the Lord of the Rings when Legolas summarises someone's description of the tactics for getting through the giant gate by saying "A diversion"? That always sounded a bit stupid to me, and it seems like the kind of thing his friends would tease him about for quite some time.

"Hey, Legolas?"
"Yes?"
"Five across, nine letters, 'a feint intended to draw off attention from the main point of attack'?"
"Diversion."
"Oh, yeah, thanks. What about eight down, nine letters again, 'a channel made to DIVERT the flow of water'?"
"... Diversion"
(snicker) "Ah, of course."
...
"Hey, one last one? British, a detour on a highway or road."
"You guys suck."

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Well, I think it's funny.
PPS - A bit, anyway.

The Sunday Mok - Pirates, Ninjas and Dreamworld

Sunday - Deb and I went for a short walk in the morning before church. The sermon was good that morning. In the afternoon Deb did a skin care consultation while I played Heroscape with the men of the house. I sang in the evening service, then many of us had supper at the Coffee Club.
Monday - Our project at work is getting a little frustrating and hard to deal with. Anthony and I took Dad out to dinner for Father's Day, then I watched videos online while Deb was out at a meeting. When she got home we watched one Scrubs episode and read one Harry Potter chapter.
Tuesday - I've been feeling a bit of stress, and I think it's because I see most of my chores at home and spend most of my time at work. At karate we practised performing kata under close scrutiny. Deb and I watched Scrubs at home, then moved some furniture around so Deb could set up her office.
Wednesday - I started working on a small side project at work, which was good to break it up a bit. Bible study in the evening was the last one of the series, and we talked about self-sacrifice.
Thursday - I got home from work a bit later than I planned because the 17:45 bus didn't show up. Deb was out, so Dean picked Anthony and me up for family dinner at Dad & Beth's. I ran some maintenance tasks on Dad's PC which has been slowing down and having some troubles.
Friday - I had the day off work due to a re-scheduled Dreamworld trip. I decided to leave it that way so I could get some things done at home. I submitted my tax return, picked up a package from the post office and went looking for ninja costumes, but didn't find anything suitable.
Saturday - Deb and I went to Dreamworld and met Miv, Julia, Rory and Julie there. The Claw made me nauseous and the Giant Drop got postponed for safety concerns. In the evening we participated in a Pirates vs Ninjas Treasure Hunt and won by pure chance, even though we got lost along the way.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - We have a fair amount of chocolate at home now.
PPS - I'll have to ration it out carefully to myself.

Friday Zombie Blogging: Boy on a Stick and Slither

Boy on a Stick and Slither with a comic about mathematics. Almost.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - It's hard to think what else to say about it.
PPS - It does involve zombies.

One of those days

Wake up tired. Miss the bus. Forget three things before even getting to work. Drop your coffee in the lift. Password expired. Scanner won't work. Leave not approved yet. It's just going to continue like this.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I'd like to be back home in bed.
PPS - Wouldn't we all?

Good audience participation

One of the coolest audience participation activities I've ever seen was a person who - without speaking a word - had the audience divide into quarters and each make percussion sounds (hand clapping, finger clicking, foot stomping and hand rubbing) that sounded together like a rain storm. It was awesome, and I'd love to try it again.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Unfortunately, I think it requires a few more people than I will ever be leading.
PPS - The original event took place with about 300 people.

Learning a language by labelling your household items

I've had an idea about learning a foreign language that I have yet to try out. The idea is based on some software called Rosetta Stone that I heard about some time ago. Rosetta Stone teaches you vocabulary in a foreign language by using photographic flash cards. For example, they'd show a picture of a tree labelled "árbol" (for Spanish) and you associate the Spanish word directly with your mental image of a tree. Learning via text-only flash cards would mean the associations are funnelled through your English grammar and potentially corrupted in the process.

So down to my idea. I would label all of the common, everyday objects in my house in Spanish (since that is the language I want to learn). Now when I pick up the phone I see the note "teléfono", and when I go to bed I see the bed frame labelled "cama". Eventually I learn these words subconsciously and they are second nature.
I have no theory on learning grammar, though, but I think day-to-day vocabulary would be a good first step. After all, isn't that how babies learn?

Mokalus of Borg

PS - It might not be how babies learn.
PPS - I tried asking them, but they won't tell me.

Idea: molded clay chess set

The idea for the day is this: you buy a full clay chess set (plus some extra clay to add on to it) and are encouraged to twist, bend and style the pieces to your liking before firing them in your home oven. Painting afterwards is optional, since the clay would already be coloured light and dark for the opposing sides. I'm not sure if there's a kind of clay that can be fired at temperatures found in a home oven.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Maybe the craft company could offer a firing service by mail.
PPS - Included in the cost of purchase, of course.

The Sunday Mok - Cats on the brain

Sunday - Deb and I were at church a little early where a tag-team of three preachers filled in for the one who had lost his voice. We had Mal, Linda, Mia and Sam over for lunch, and it was nice to have the space to seat them all comfortably. I ran the computer for the evening church service.
Monday - The workers arrived in the morning to build us a new fence. At work I mostly did some MS Office smart tags proof of concept stuff. I walked to the Southbank cinemas to see The Bourne Ultimatum with Mal in the evening.
Tuesday - The fence guys finished the job while I was at work. In the evening, Deb and I attended a workshop on ministry to young families and children. It was informative and energising.
Wednesday - We had a meeting at work to discuss some design rationale that had thus far eluded me. In the evening we had dinner at the church and heard the consultant's presentation on a new plan and direction for the church. It felt exciting, scary and difficult, but right.
Thursday - I started a short caffeine fast to clear my system a bit, because I've been having iced coffee more as a habit than a genuine pick-me-up. Deb dropped me off at Dad and Beth's for dinner. After dinner I tried to help Dad with some printing problems he's been having, but didn't quite manage to fix it.
Friday - We took the youth group kids to Victoria Park Golf Club and worked through their putt-putt course, then finished with the driving range.
Saturday - I meant to go jogging in the morning, but never quite made it. Dad came around to help clean up some of the dirt and branches left by the fence builders. After lunch, Deb and I went to Indooroopilly to buy Tracey's birthday present and a few other things. We had dinner with Tracey and others at Toscani's and came home quite ready for sleep.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - All week I've had the music from Cats going through my mind.
PPS - Not always the same bits, thankfully.

Friday Zombie Blogging: Facebook Zombie Game

This Facebook game lets members "bite" each other and turn them into zombies, indicated by an image on their page. Not being on Facebook myself, I don't know what it feels like to be bitten this way.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - It probably tickles.
PPS - But only slightly.

I can't make small talk

I'm not practised at speaking to strangers. Twice in one day someone new spoke to me, just to comment about the bus situation. Each time I made a bland sort of "Oh well" comment then went back to my MP3 player, just staring into space.

I just don't know how to handle small talk situations.
"The bus is slow today."
"Yes. Yes it is. ... It was also slow yesterday."

Mokalus of Borg

PS - It's just awkward.
PPS - It seems only a small percentage of people are good small talkers.

"Cliology" and the Singularity

While reading "In the Country of the Blind" by Michael Flynn, I got to thinking about whether the hypothetical "science of future history" known as Cliology would ever be undone by the rapid pace of change in society. For instance, if the input variables to your equations change before you can solve them, then the answer does you no good, does it? Similarly a prediction based on stale data would be no good, and data gets stale much more quickly now than it used to. That trend will increase until the predictions are stale before you can make them, no matter how quickly you make them. That's the Singularity, where the pace of progress breaks its own sort of speed barrier, makes a sonic boom and comes out the other side.

An interesting side note would be that Cliology could predict the time of its own death if the pace of change can be measured accurately.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Another possibility is that Cliology just gets harder.
PPS - And requires quantum computers.

The "point of view gun"

Doesn't the "point of view gun" from the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie mean that the women who commissioned it were unable to communicate their points of view? The implication is that this was the fault of the men who listened to them, but it could equally be their own presentation of the information that failed to properly register with their audience.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Unless everything is the fault of men.
PPS - That depends on who you ask.

Colour matching for foundation

Watching Deb doing her Mary Kay make-up party on Saturday, I couldn't help but wonder if there's a more precise way to match a foundation colour to a face. I imagine a spectrometer to measure the skin tone exactly and some simple software to suggest a match. Better yet, it would be possible to mix a tone specifically matched for a particular face. This would all have to be packaged appropriately for a beauty consultant, though. If it starts looking like the paint mixer down at the hardware store, I think it would lose its appeal, even if the results are the same.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Wikipedia article on specrometers.
PPS - It doesn't mention paint or make-up.

Potential home 3D printing applications

Just a few thoughts on practical home applications for 3D printing:

• Model building (ie planes, ships and cars)
• Miniature figurines (ie Warhammer)
• Board game pieces (eg chess, Monopoly)
• Artificial potplants
• Temporary replacement parts for home plumbing
• Single-use cutting boards
• Constructing extra plates, cups and utensils for entertaining
• Home jewellery making
• Download-and-print phone shells
• Toy making
• Perfect-fit glasses frames
• Extra storage containers

Mokalus of Borg

PS - The equipment must get cheaper first, though.
PPS - I think that's just a matter of time.

The Sunday Mok - Jellicles Can and Jellicles Do

Sunday - The final day of the Emmaus camp, including a breakfast gift drop and one at lunch. To pass the time between those two events, I played Puzzle Quest. I took a nap and watched Star Trek with Deb before dinner and church. I ran the computer, then six of us had supper at the Coffee Club.
Monday - I worked on database design all day at work and left at 17:00, but the bus was full. I missed the backup bus by just one second, so I had to wait fifteen minutes. Deb went to her meeting and I stayed home doing the dishes and watching TV.
Tuesday - I read Harry Potter on the bus to and from work and clarified some points of the database design with Ross and Paul. Karate in the evening was focused on self defence in sparring.
Wednesday - I tinkered with some Windows PowerShell scripting at work during down time and when I left the bus was full again. Deb, Mia, Sam and I had dinner with Linda, recently returned from Guam. Bible study followed, then Deb and I moved some tables around at home in preparation for our new internet setup.
Thursday - I got a new small project at work, but it took me two days to figure it out properly. I feel like a slow learner sometimes. Dad took Anthony, Deb and me to dinner at Sizzler and we happened to see Sam and Mia there too.
Friday - The day at work was much like Thursday. When I got home, Deb and I had a fairly quick dinner together, then headed to the church. It was raining, so our original plan of going to the golf driving range was postponed. We played games at the church instead.
Saturday - I woke earlier than I otherwise would have to wait for the contractor who is doing the fence. He didn't show up. I did some laundry, then Deb and I tried to get to a movie with Mia, but parking was too crazy and we missed the start. In the evening Deb and I saw Cats at Harvest Rain. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't what I expected.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I had a headache during the day.
PPS - I should have drunk more water.

Friday Zombie Blogging - I like turtles

Zombie kid likes turtles. That's about all there is to say.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I know this is a bit old now.
PPS - It's still kinda funny.

Image retargeting software demo

This is the most incredible thing I've seen online in a while. Dynamic resizing of images based on what's "interesting" or "important". The video of the software in action will blow you away.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I have nothing to add, but just wanted to share it.
PPS - I already linked to it in my sidebar to the right.

Disposable contact details

There are a few services that can provide you with "disposable" email addresses like Spam Gourmet, and even one or two for disposable phone numbers (eg Numbr). They're useful for when you need a genuine email or phone number, but you don't want it to stay valid forever. For instance, when you're using your email address to sign up for some websites, it's nice if that address becomes meaningless after a week so they can't spam you.

The idea could be extended further, too. Some services (American Express, for example) offer disposable credit card numbers to avoid fraud. It wouldn't take too much to set up disposable postal addresses via post office boxes or coded addresses at a proxy company. It would be harder to have a disposable physical drop-in address, though that could be done with a large building that rents out cubicles for very short periods.

Past there it gets a bit philosophical. Could you have a disposable name? You'd have to answer to it for a while, but then you just aren't called that name any more.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Disposable birth dates? Disposable mother's maiden name?
PPS - Those are almost completely meaningless.

Printable whiteboard

We have whiteboards at work that can print their contents directly, which can be handy. It got me thinking, however, about whether you could go the other way and have an image print onto a whiteboard with dry-erase ink. If you can scan the images to a digital file, then the two put together make a whiteboard with a memory that can be recalled at any later date. You could keep one diagram on the board for weekly meetings and still allow the board to be used for the rest of the week.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - It's not that big a leap of tech logic.
PPS - I've just never seen a whiteboard you can print to.

Computer literacy and malfunctions

I have a slightly mystical theory that when you understand computers and software they behave better for you. It might just be that you start knowing how to treat the machine and its contents better, which would make it a less interesting observation, but I have seen it repeatedly. Somehow the least computer literate people seem to have the most unusual problems with their machines. I've observed it a few times. It might be something deeper going on, like the more you understand the machine the more you see the smaller warning signs, or maybe you just know proper computer maintenance. Whatever the cause, I think it's an interesting phenomenon.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I'd actually rather not investigate it too deeply.
PPS - Just in case it seems less magical at the source.