Lowdown

Two-Letter Words

2010-03-06T23:45:00.001-08:00

I’ve been playing a lot of Words With Friends lately. It’s addictive.

One of the essential elements of getting good at Scrabble (or Words With Friends) is knowing your two-letter words. They may not be worth much on their own, but they enable you to make parallel words, which can really rack up the score. Much has been said about the strategy of Scrabble, so I won’t repeat it all here.

What I do have to offer is a nerdy way of visualizing the two-letter words. Most two-letter word lists just list the words. I was curious about the spatial distribution within the alphabet, including all of the vacancies where two letter words do not exist. So I made this grid.

If you want to find me in Words With Friends, my username is sagek.

The words FE KI and OI are in the OSPD4 but not acceptable in Words with Friends.

This table was made in Microsoft Office Excel. Special thanks to the CONCATENATE formula and Conditional Formatting.

My sources were this post about Words With Friends on OSXReality and this page on 2-letter Words by Steve Trussel.

A Line at the Men’s Room

2010-03-06T22:11:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I encountered a line at the men’s restroom. Role reversal. I am under the impression that no one is really surprised when there is a line at the women’s room. Frustrated, yes, but not surprised. As observant people we can notice the patterns that lead to bathroom lines.

I was in a conference center for an event that has an attendance of about 85% men. If you look historically at attendance of conferences in this building, which is on the campus of a high-tech corporation, I bet you would find a consistently unbalanced male/female ratio. So we have a fact-of-life and a non-optimized resource distribution. Was this avoidable?

Our former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld once stated, "As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time."

So should you build infrastructure for the demographics you have, or the demographics you might want or wish to have at a later time? And to what extent should you accept inefficiency when the alternative could be considered discrimination?

In a related note, did you know that the pentagon was built with twice as many bathrooms as was really necessary?

Home Made Star Crunch

2009-08-30T23:25:00.001-07:00

Little Debbie Star Crunch are quite possibly my favorite junk food from childhood.

Last week, I went for home made. I found two recipes online, both of which looked close, but not quite right in the soft-but-chewy caramel department.

Here’s my recipe. Yield 12-16, depending on size.

1/2 bag caramels, unwrapped
1/2 bag marshmallows (about 12)
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
Milk or water, as needed
Rice Krispies (enough, maybe 1/4 box)

Melt camels and 1 tablespoon butter in a double boiler until you can stir them with a spatula. Add vanilla and salt.
Add marshmallows to caramel mixture, and allow to melt. Fold gently with spatula to maintain fluffiness.
Fold in as many Rice Krispies as the caramel-marshmallow mixture can adequately coat. Remove from heat.
Spray your hands with Pam and prepare yourself to ignore the pain of handling something hot. Working quickly, form the mixture into little pucks, and place on wax paper to set.
Melt the chocolate chips and remaining butter in the double boiler until it is thin enough to coat a spoon. Add milk (or water if you happen to be out of milk, like I was) one or two teaspoons at a time if the chocolate is too think.
Using chopsticks, dip the carmel-krispie centers into the chocolate one-at-a-time. Set on wax paper elevated on a cooling rack. Cool until chocolate is firm.

I like to eat them slightly cooler than room temperature, kind of like if they spent the morning in your lunch box next to an ice pack. This effect can be simulated by refrigerating the Star Crunch, then pulling them out 20-30 minutes before you want to eat one.

The Northwest Passage

2009-08-29T21:14:00.001-07:00

My home improvement project today was to create a passageway from my living room to my office, through which audio/video cables can span the two rooms.

The vast majority of my music and movies live on my computer. Hulu, streaming Netflix, Zune, even my record player – the signal begins in my office, and can be played back on through the receiver and speakers in either room.

Before, the wires had to go ‘round the cape. This was messy.

The new route goes straight west through the wall.

Total project cost was $3.52 for two GFCI faceplates, four wood screws, and one square of flexible cork. Yellow paint was leftover.

Thanks to John at my neighborhood hardware store, Pacific Supply for listening to my plan and offering advice on the construction.

Physics Poems

2009-01-16T20:02:00.001-08:00

Today I proposed an assignment to a friend who is a physics teacher: "For extra credit, write a poem or song about your favorite linear motion constant, vector or equation, and present it to the class."

My entries...

"80 in a 60"
Last night the officer gave to me
A ticket for velocity
Despite my lame apology
Too much dx over dt

"How high?"
My momma told me "just say no"
But I gots to get me high to flow
How high it goes, y'aIl gots to know
Get yo' VV up on tha double g, yo

Books Books Books

2008-12-05T01:37:00.001-08:00

If I were still in school, I would be in 20th grade. Ten years ago, in tenth grade, our teacher assigned us SSR - sustained silent reading. To get full credit, we had to read 600 pages each six weeks. For me back then, this was a chore. Most grading periods, I struggled to get to 600, usually because the books I was reading were boring.

These days, I read a lot more. And a lot more voluntarily. I sometimes wonder how my life would be different if I had discovered the kinds of books I like to read back when I was forced to read.

Earlier this week, I read Twilight based on the raving recommendation of my friend Brie. Five-hundred pages in three days. I admit, this isn't college-bound literature. I was even concisely mocked by my (English major) sister for stooping to read it. BUT I AM NOT ASHAMED.

I am now auditioning books to be my next read. These are my top candidates: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson; New Moon by Stephanie Meyer; and Ada, or Ardor by Vladimir Nabokov.

Snow Crash is a favorite among several of my friends, and Jackie happens to be reading it right now. I bought it a few years ago, read about 50 pages, then put it aside in favor of a different book.

New Moon is the sequel to Twilight, and I am very tempted to continue my momentum with this series.

Ada, or Ardor has been on my shelf for a few years. I bought a handful of used Nabokov books after I discovered and devoured Lolita. I feel drawn to return to Nabokov as a pendulum swing away from the "lightweight" prose of Stephanie Meyer. Depth. Intensity. Passion. English! All perfected by Nabokov.

I took Ada with me this morning on the bus. Chapter two starts off innocent enough:

Marina's affair with Demon Veen started on his, her, and Daniel Veen's birthday, January 5, 1868, when she was twenty-four and both Veens thirty.

I began reading the next sentence while still in Seattle. I did not move past it until we were two towns away. Behold:

As an actress, she had none of the breath-taking quality that makes the skill of mimicry seem, at least while the show lasts, worth even more than the price of such footlights as insomnia, fancy, arrogant art; yet on that particular night, with soft snow falling beyond the plush and the paint, la Durmanska (who paid the great Scott, her impresario, seven thousand gold dollars a week for publicity alone, plus a bonny bonus for every engagement) had been from the start of the trashy ephemeron (an American play based by some pretentious hack on a famous Russian romance) so dreamy, so lovely, so stirring, that Demon (not quite a gentleman in amorous matters) made a bet with his orchestra-seat neighbor, Prince N., bribed a series of green-room attendants, and then, in a cabinet reculé (as a French writer of an earlier century might have mysteriously called that little room in which the broken trumpet and poodle hoops of a forgotten clown, besides many dusty pots of colored grease, happened to be stored) proceeded to possess her between two scenes, Chapter Three and Four of the martyred novel).

That was one sentence. Now, I know that Nabokov likes words. And likes to weave allusions in his writing. And likes to sneak in his own musings disguised as asides from the narrator from time to time. But all in one monstrous sentence? This sentence makes me curious whether Nabokov's used an editor, particularly at this later stage in his career. (And if he did, what a challenging job he must have had, since Nabokov was one of the most certain and defensive authors I've ever encountered ... he would even respond to his critics in print...)

I am not sure now whether to forge ahead or retreat to New Moon.

Stella Cafe

2008-11-16T19:30:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the neighborhood, Stella Cafe!

Earlier this evening I was walking back to my apartment from Caffe Ladro sipping a tasty pumpkin spice latté. I stopped by to peek at the new place opening up at the corner location at 1st and University, across from the front door of Harbor Steps and the Seattle Art Museum's Hammering Man.

While I was watching a worker complete the installation of the new sign, I started to chat with the owner of the shop, Rob Wilson. He invited me in to see his cafe.

While we were looking around, Rob offered to make me a coffee. I obliged and traded in my Ladro latté for a fresh one from my new neighbor. Stella coffee is smooth and delicious, and comes with a free French chocolate. While I chatted with Rob about his shop and his personal roasting operation, I had the pleasure of meeting his lovely wife, Josie, and charismatic son Alex. (Have you ever had a five year-old introduce themselves to you? It's adorable.)

With all of the coffee competition on this block (there's a Tully's, Ancient Grounds, Cherry Street, Online Coffee, and Ladro less than a 2-minute walk of my front door), it is the personal experience that makes the difference. Rob is already miles ahead in this game. In fairness, the owner of Ancient Grounds is awesome too, and the baristas at Online Coffee are some of my favorite in Seattle.

Stella Cafe makes a welcome contribution to the niceification of our neighborhood. Joining some of my already-favorite neighbors Ancient Grounds, De Medici Ming Fine Papers, and the newly-opened Four Seasons, we're slowly but surely squeezing out the pawn shops and payday loan store that still hang on.

Stella Cafe officially opens tomorrow morning. Rob plans to offer Italian paninis, vino, and do us a favor by selling sundries like milk. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and welcome them to the neighborhood.

Rock Band is Pro-America

2008-10-29T02:02:00.001-07:00

So today I was excited to come home and play around with Rock Band 2, which had come in the mail yesterday. My favorite part, after the singing, is creating the characters to be in my band. Since 'tis the season, and the Election Night Hootenanny is coming up, I thought it would be fun to create a band leader I can believe in.

Wow, Rock Band. I thought you were hip. With it. Part of the younger generation ready for change. Why don't you just come out and say it? Is my avatar not allowed on XBOX Live because he's not like you and me? Does he pal around with terrorists? Or are you just saying that it's enough that he rose up to where he is, but you're not ready to see someone whose not "classy" in the top spot?

Feeling oppressed, I sang a few songs with local Obama, then headed back over to the character editor. Only this time, there was a new girl in town...

And is she ready to rock? You betcha! I think I'll nominate her to play Bass. Because Bass is kind of like Vice Guitar.

And if my aging guitarist keels over during our next gig, that's cool. She's totally qualified to play lead guitar.

She has much more guitar experience than Obama, anyway. All he is is a lead singer. And he wasn't even in the band that long; he practically started touring the day he arrived.

It doesn't matter that she's never toured Japan. She puts this Country First.

All aborad the Straight ROCK Express. Its's time to get mavericky up in here.

Underdog

2008-10-26T18:54:00.001-07:00

The Republicans have been making a lot of noise lately about voter fraud. The Reupblicans party of Ohio is suing the Secretary of State. McCain tried to hammer Obama with ACORN in the last debate. It has become clear to me that this noise is really a smoke screen for a systematic effort to disenfranchise new voters, poor voters, and minority voters who overwhelming support Obama.

Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are doing some great reporting on the subject in Rolling Stone, on public radio, and on their own site Steal Back Your Vote.

Some alarming claims:

On Super Tuesday, one in nine Democrats who tried to cast ballots in New Mexico found their names missing from the registration lists. [RS]
In Florida, GOP officials created "match" rules that rejected more than 15,000 new registrants in 2006 and 2007 — nearly three-fourths of them Hispanic and black voters [RS]
Colorado holds the record: Donetta Davidson, the Republican secretary of state, and her GOP successor oversaw the elimination of nearly one of every six of their state's voters. Bush has since appointed Davidson to the Election Assistance Commission, the federal agency created by HAVA, which provides guidance to the states on "list maintenance" methods. [RS]

What this means to me is that no matter how much Obama is ahead, he is going to need to carry a huge vote cushion on election day in order to win. As Sly and the Family Stone said back in 1967, "you're the underdog and you've gotta be twice as good."

Execution-themed Jewelry

2008-09-24T23:49:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wondered what kinds of jewelry Christians would wear if Jesus had been executed by any other means than crucifixion?

Sarah Palin is Laura Roslin

2008-08-30T01:01:00.001-07:00

John McCain must be a fan of Battlestar Galactica. How else would he know to pick the real-life Laura Roslin to be his VP?

Go get 'em Joe

2008-08-27T00:38:00.001-07:00

Memorial to My Last Scrabulous Turn

2008-07-29T20:14:00.001-07:00

Gas Prices

2008-07-24T10:15:00.001-07:00

Paia, originally uploaded by Sage Kitamorn.

In July of 2004, Stephen and I took a trip to Maui Hawaii. I snapped this photo to remind myself of the outrageous gas prices that Hawaiians had to pay.

If you can't read the sign, regular gas is $2.65.

Where we came from in Texas, we were used to paying $1.79.

Both of those seem pretty cheap now that we're paying $4.30 up in Seattle. (Actually, now we all have nicer cars which need premium gas ... so we're actually paying about $4.53.)

Jay Smooth

2008-07-18T19:34:00.001-07:00

Check out what The Sound of Young America turned me on to today...

http://www.podtech.net/home/4205/if-bill-oreilly-was-a-rapper

He even invoked Keith Olbermann and Al Franken, the author of one of my favorite books Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, and to my supreme satisfaction, is running for the Senate!

Breakfast and a Bank Robbery

2008-07-01T20:21:00.001-07:00

While eating my cereal this morning (Quaker Oatmeal Squares mixed with Organic Pomegranate Granola with vanilla soy milk ... mmm), I heard sirens. Lots of sirens. I took my breakfast out to the patio to watch as about 20 police vehicles sped down the Seneca ramp off of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

"So many police," I said to myself. They were all going to the same place. There was even one policeman in uniform driving what appeared to be his own car. "Where were they going? A big funeral? This a really fast for a motorcade."

Then I looked and noticed a tan Jeep Cherokee that was driving fast in front of all the police cars. "Wow, that guy is really trying hard to get out of the way!" I thought to myself. "He should just pull to the right like you're supposed to."

(Elapsed time: 2 seconds)

"Ohhhh! They're chasing him!"

Already on the late side heading in to work, I figured I would drive rather than take the bus today. I peeked out again to see if things had quieted down only to hear more sirens. Police were buzzing around on all of the streets. I looked down to the alley to see the tan Jeep appear again, this time coming up Western. He turned directly under my patio, right by the exit from the Harbor Steps garage, followed by about 10 police cars.

I clenched with excitement. "Get him!" said the voice in my head. "He'll be easy to trap in Post Alley."

I realized at this time that it would probably not be a good time to try to drive to work, as my route out of my garage and toward the freeway headed precisely through where the chase was occurring.

I resolved to walk outside to get a cup of coffee and have a closer look.

Outside Harbor Steps, I could see that Spring Street at 1st Avenue was swarming with police. An Officer was holding back pedestrians from going any further South than 1st and Seneca.

I stopped to chat with a woman who had come down just like me.

We caught one another up on what we had seen so far. Sirens... Tan Jeep... Car chase... Lost of police... I was late for work ... She had to interview someone at 2 ...

"If you are a believer," she began, "then you'll know that this is a sing that we are living in the End Times."

"Oh?" I asked.

"Yes. Just look at what's going on. Gas prices. The home mortgage crisis. I've been on this earth 50 years, and it's never been as bad as it is now."

"Is this worse than 1968?" I asked.

"Yes."

"If you're a believer, then should we have to worry about this? Isn't it all going to be better eventually ..."

"They tell you you have to keep your eyes oh him and you will make it through."

I'm not a religious person, but I can see the practical aspects of this story. As long as people don't try to hasten the rapture, the inspiring message of everything will be better eventually is hopeful and would help get someone through a rough spot.

In a way, a belief in God is kind of like the way the big ball pulls the little ball up the hill in Magic Pen.

After our little conversation, she headed back inside and I walked down half-a-block to Online Coffee. While I chatted with the waitress (yes, cute) about the morning's excitement a customer who was using a computer filled us in that there had been a bank robbery in West Seattle.

Coffee in hand, I made my way down to 1st and Spring where a crowd had gathered. I watched for about 15 minutes and people filled me in as to what had happened. The Jeep was boxed in. The police shot through the windows. They dragged the guy out.

I watched as paramedics came down with a stretcher and loaded up the guy. We couldn't tell if he was a live or not, but they were not in a hurry to take him anywhere.

You can read the rest of the details in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer story.

Trivia

[Trivia Sections are discouraged...]

The barista at Online Coffee received a call on her cellphone from her coworker's dad asking if they were all right.
The photographer who snapped the cover photo in the P-I (shown at the right) arrived about 10 minutes after me, and took this photo from just in front of where I was standing.
I'm not sure what a guy said to her, but the photographer told him "I'm working, not just looking for the sake of looking."
To which I thought to myself "Doesn't the fact that someone pays you to come take a picture of what we're looking at confirm the intrinsic value of us looking at it?"
I ended up taking the bus to work.

I am Addicted to Magic Pen

2008-06-29T09:40:00.001-07:00

http://games.yahoo.com/free-games/magic-pen

Healthier

2008-06-29T01:57:00.001-07:00

I made a full grocery trip today and bought only foods that were free of partially hydrogenated oils and high-fructose corn syrup.

Postal Irony

2008-06-01T19:55:00.001-07:00

I get a lot of mail. Typically, it's from people who want money, people to whom I've previously given money, and people to whom I've previously given money who want more money.

This concoction creates some interesting ironies in my mail pile, including these two letters I received last week.

The ACLU is not a surprise. I give them money all the time. Bush is a different story. I haven't opened this letter, but it's pretty obvious why I got it and what he's asking for. Back in January, I gave a few bucks to to John McCain to help make sure he beat Romney and Giuliani. Now, the apparently think I'm a Republican, and want me to donate to the RNC. Not gonna happen.

I'm a little torn, now. Should I request to be removed from the Republican mailing list?

Argument in favor: It's a waste off paper. Go green! Save natural resources!

Argument against: It costs the Republicans money to send me letters asking for money. As long as I don't send any more cash, I'm helping to ensure an Obama victory in 2008.

Bonus Irony:

Last week, I also got an email from John McCain, with the subject Act Now to Stop a Democrat Takeover, which contained a laughably blatant misuse of the word "grassroots":

I truly believe the only way we can stop the Democrats is if dedicated Republicans, like you, step forward immediately and support the Republican National Committee's VICTORY 2008project -- a grassroots effort that is the backbone of our entire Republican Party.

Best Five out of Seven

2008-04-07T00:19:00.001-07:00

In the beginning, the Clinton campaign claimed it was delegates won, not momentum that counted.

When Obama pulled ahead in delegates, it was about the popular vote.

When Obama pulled ahead in the popular vote, it was about "big states".

... and then it was bellweather states like Ohio

...then came the argument for electability

... and then it was how well you fared in states if you count their November electoral votes ...

What happens when it seems she'll never give up? Just ask Bill and Ted. (I'm beginning to believe there's a Bill and Ted metaphor for anything and everything.)

And to my friend who is longing for that call from Keanau, maybe this will help tide you over in the time being.

Alferd goes to school

2008-04-06T23:51:00.001-07:00

Cute story of the day...

What am I supposed to think?

2008-04-02T07:47:00.001-07:00

I called in to my doctor's office this morning to make an appointment. The holding music was a muzak rendition of Dust in the Wind by Kansas.

[update]
And who could forget ...

When they say WYSIWYG ...

2008-03-30T12:45:00.001-07:00

They mean it.

Fresh Windows and Live Writer

2008-03-30T12:39:00.001-07:00

I spent most of yesterday spring cleaning: my computer. What's new?

Windows Vista reinstalled. It used to be 64-bit, and now I've gone back to 32-bit for greater compatibility.
Windows Vista SP1 installed. Things seem to be a little faster. I'll see how I feel after a week.
I'm also trying out the new Windows Live desktop applications.
- This post is being written in the new Windows Live Writer.
  - So far I've been impressed at how easy it was to set up to use my special "Blogger blog published to my own domain" setup.
  - The application is really clean, and seems to do everything I want.
  - I'm inserting a picture below to test out how that works ... when blogging with Word 2008, that did not go so well. And check out that nice drop shadow on the picture. Lovely.
  - Notice I'm writing a numbered list with sub-bullets (rather than numbers). This is something that the Blogger online editor does very poorly. Hopefully this shows up well once uploaded.
- Live Photo Gallery and Live Mail are looking pretty promising too.
Hey, cool, Back-dent (the opposite of using the tab key to indent) works :)

Anyway, today is basketball. Some friends are coming over and we're going to have pancakes and root for Texas and Davidson.

Pennsylvania

2008-03-15T21:20:00.001-07:00

In the Clinton campaign's continuous quest to move the goalposts, they have trotted out a new ante based on Pennsylvania:

From a March 13 Press Release

Did You Know? The path to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue goes through Pennsylvania. No Democrat has won the presidency without winning Pennsylvania since 1948. No candidate has won the Democratic nomination without winning Pennsylvania since 1972.

Hillary Clinton has been polling fairly well in Pennsylvania. Publicizing these numbers seems to imply that Pennsylvania has some magical ability to predict the fate of Democrats. This can be useful since it is to Hillary's benefit to shift attention away from the fact that she is behind in delegates, states won and the popular vote. The implied message here is pretty clear:

If Hillary wins the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, then history shows that she should be the Democratic party nominee, because winning PA equals winning in November.

Let's take a look at this data to see if it really makes sense.

First part first: "No Democrat has won the presidency without winning Pennsylvania since 1948."

This is true if you interpret "winning Pennsylvania" to mean in the primary election. (In 1948, Harry Truman won the presidency but lost Pennsylvania in the general election to Thomas Dewey.)

So if that much is true, what else is true?

Since 1972, there are five instances where the Democrat who won the Pennsylvania primary went on to lose in the general election anyway.

So if Hillary's claim is true six times (1948, 1960, 1964, 1976, 1992, 1996), and the opposite is true five times (1956, 1984, 1988, 2000, 2004), what is the point? Seems like Pennsylvania isn't so magical after all.

And now for that curious last sentence: "No candidate has won the Democratic nomination without winning Pennsylvania since 1972."

There are two ways to interpret "winning Pennsylvania": Based on the primary or general election.

No candidate has won the Democratic nomination since 1972 without first winning the Democratic Primary in Pennsylvania. This is actually a false. Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination in 1980 - but he lost in the Pennsylvania primary to Ted Kennedy.

Well, since the first interpretation was false, the Clinton campaign must have meant "winning Pennsylvania" to mean in the general election. But what does that even mean? Are they implying some sort of reverse causation? If this is the proper reading, then it would mean "Since 1972, no person can be the Democratic nominee if they do not win Pennsylvania in the (future) general election." Let's look and see if 1972 happens to be the last year that a Democratic candidate won the party nomination but didn't win Pennsylvania in the general election ... nope. 1988. Michael Dukakis was the nominee, and he lost in Pennsylvania in the general election to George H. W. Bush.

Can anyone provide an way to parse this sentence that such that it is true? I really want to believe that the Clinton campaign isn't flat out lying here.

We deserve better. Out of three sentences: one blanket statement, on half-truth, one lie. Thanks Hillary.