Volume Control

While listening to music using my good headphones and working on my senior project I realized that I had four volume controls to change the strength of the sound waves entering my ears.

1) Master operating system volume control
2) Winamp volume control
3) Speaker output volume control on my Creative speakers
4) Headphone output volume control on my Phillips SBC HN100 headphones

Maximize control, minimize variability.

Now if I only had four equalizers, lol.

Spring Schedule

Click for larger image.

You use me, I use you

This is a post from my Xanga, dated March 29, 2006.

"

Life consists of people using people.

Every single relationship is like this, whether it be national governments, vendors and buyers, personal relationships, lichens, etc. It's all about the symbiosis.

Many would probably disagree, saying that people may do genuinely kind things for people. But I'm beginning to think that such things don't exist, or occur very rarely. Perhaps the problem is people do not evaluate their motives in everyday life; they just go on, doing things that they've always done. But if one were to really think about why they do things, how the interact with others, why they help people, perhaps they would see that in the end it's all really based on their own wants and needs.

I could offer any number of examples: a government helping a struggling nation, but only because they want an ally; someone assisting another, but only because they want that person in their group, their clique; or anything else you can think of where two people get ahead by using each other.

Certainly this is not a new idea. Psychology has for some while proposed the basic reasoning behind male/female relationships and the gender-roles assumed: the females desire stability, the males desire consummation. While the basic ideology (males using females and vice versa) seems to be correct, certainly the reasons for using the person could be more diversified; both could desire companionship, for example.

And perhaps the use of people isn't so bad as long as it's not the Parasitism/Antagonism type. It gets you what you want, puts you further ahead. And in a group, it could be helpful to use others, to make the group stronger, surpassing other groups.

But once you are so far ahead, surpassing others, where will you be?

"

White Thanksgiving

These images were taken less than one hour ago. So much for global warming. Enjoy.

Update

This could be a long post.

Considering that I have not updated a web journal, or really a journal of any kind, for quite some time, I perhaps will have a lot to say. Or perhaps not. Furthermore, I suppose one could say that a lot has happened since my last Xanga update. Regardless, I will write until I don't feel like writing anymore, or that this post has become so long that people perusing it will become disinterested.

Life can be broken down into different areas. This blog is about life, science, math, money, and sarcasm. One could argue that the latter four areas are all subsets of the prior. And so be it. Life is also about relationships, and I may write about that from time to time, even if it is not explicitly listed in the subject matter I normally shall cover. I will also write about school, and since I'm an Industrial Engineering major, school for me consists of science, math, and money. How convenient.

School continues to go well. I am currently in my senior year. I have about three and one half weeks of this semester yet to complete. Then I will graduate after completing my spring semester in 2008. This semester seems to have flown by; perhaps a gravity well has collapsed here recently. As mentioned in my Xanga, I'm taking General Chemistry, Statics, Technical Writing, and Senior Project this semester.

General Chemistry is not too bad, but certainly not something I am enjoying. I was surprised at how much I did not remember from high school chemistry, or that college chemistry varied that much from my high school studies. Regardless of the reason for the incongruity, I have had to actually study quite a bit and still am not doing as well as I would like in this class.

Statics is very enjoyable to myself. For those that might not be familiar with the term, statics is the branch of physics and engineering concerned with analysis of loads (forces and torques) on physical systems at static equilibrium (which is just a fancy way of saying they aren't moving relative to system in which they are being measured). The course bases its entire premise on Newton's second law:

Lex II: Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici impressae, et fieri secundum lineam rectam qua vis illa imprimitur.

=

LAW II: The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed.

Simply stated, the words of the law can be used to derive the equation F = ma, where F is the force acting on the object, m is the mass of the object, and a is the acceleration of the object. As the particle being analyzed is not moving, acceleration is equal to zero. This results in a force equal to zero. This does not mean that each force acting on the system is equal to zero, but rather the sum of the forces is equal to zero.



So while the forces acting at each blue link are different in magnitude and direction, the sum of all the forces on the entire system is zero if none of the system is moving. And that's the physics lesson of the day.

I am also taking Technical Writing and Senior Project but more on these and other subjects later.

Coming soon

Coming soon... A blog...