Brian

09:40 pm: Moving Along
I still read everyone's posts to LJ; however, I just don't post here very much. In essence, I viewed my LJ as a record of personal thoughts, happenings, etc. With the presence, ease, and prevalence of facebook I really don't use LJ anymore. Nonetheless, there are still times when I want to write longer thoughts. Some of these have come in facebook "notes"; however, I think they are less than what is desired.

Instead, I will write on occasion via a new blog - Elegant C. The primary theme will be computer science, but it is possible that I will write on other subjects too.

04:43 pm: An Update?!
1) I am still a CS PhD student at Georgia Tech. My previous advisor left over the summer, which proved to be a modest disruption. I've now signed on with Prof Tom Conte, while continuing my research from Spring / Summer.

2) My wife opened an Etsy shop selling cards (thank yous, greeting, birthdays, etc). It can be found here.

3) I still read LJ, I just devote my posting efforts (albeit limited) to facebook.

09:30 pm: Today
I finished grading. Did some research.

Played soccer! We were playing a man down the entire game, versus their three subs. But we managed a couple of attacks. I even got a breakaway, but I missed the shot on goal.

Now we're watching Monday night football. And I heard a name from high school. One of the Saints linemen, Zach Strief, was a year behind me.

Tags: football, happenings, soccer

07:00 pm: Peace Prize
Well, the big news item of today has seemed to been the awarding of the Nobel Prize for Peace to President Obama. While someday possibly deserving the award, I don't think that his present achievements have such merit. I think the best suggestion voiced today would be for President Obama to decline the award at the December ceremonies.

Tags: politics

09:01 am: Driving 500 miles Day 3
Well, we are driving to Atlanta. Due to a limited number of pet friendly hotels, and a limited number of hotels with rooms, we had to drive some 12 hours yesterday. But the room is really nice.

The interesting part of this trip is that Cloud (the cat) is also along for the ride. Overall, she is doing better than expected. She explores the rooms at night and generally sleeps in the car. Just yesterday was a little too long for her and she had an accident about 15 minutes from the hotel.

Today we drive through Rocky Mountain National Park and then past Denver and into the Great Plains.

Tags: cloud, driving, mountains, travel

07:30 pm: Pre-Moving Task 18
Put cat into carrier
Drive a couple hours
Take cat out of car on leash
Calm cat down
Put cat into carrier
Drive Home

That is my plan for tomorrow.

12:40 pm: SCotUS: Racial Discrimination
If an organization prepares a test for determining 'rewards' like promotions or raises, then administers the test. Can the organization discard the results if they might be viewed as discriminatory?

The city of New Haven discarded the results of its firefighter promotion exam when the results would have promoted a disproportionate number of white firefighters. The now not promoted firefighters then sued, and the Supreme Court agreed that the results of the exam should be used.

I don't have a problem with trying to define a non-discriminatory system, using tests etc. And not even lawsuits for having a discriminatory test. But discarding the results of a test arbitrarily is problematic.

Tags: arguments

01:45 pm: SCotUS: Right to DNA Testing
I admit, others are certainly better qualified to assess the logic within the legal ruling. But the basics of the case are, as follows:
Indicted for felony
DNA test matched (Basic test where about 5% of population will match)
Defendant's lawyer declined a more detailed test (under the rationale that it would likely convict the defendant)
Convicted anyway

Now the defendant is suing for an even more stringent DNA test to be used(one that was not available when he was tried).

The Supreme Court rejected the defendant having a constitutional right to the test. I agree, in part. I think that in declining the test during the trial, the defendant had then given up the right to further DNA testing. If the future brings a new class of tests, then the defendant may sue to have such tests; as many are doing to make use of DNA tests.

Tags: arguments

11:05 am: When to recount the votes
(If he really won the Iranian election, as Ahmadinejad claims, by a 2-to-1 margin, wouldn’t he invite the whole world in to recount the votes? Why hasn’t he?)
- THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, NYTIMES June 16, 2009

Tags: articles

05:20 pm: Current Events
Not a terribly difficult poll on "current" events, but I did miss one question.

Of course, the average for my demographic is much lower.

Tags: quizzes