Mr. Rogers Smokes!?

So there I, Homer Simpson, was, helping out on the set of Mr. Rogers. "Action!" and Mr. Rogers swivelled in his chair turning towards his live TV audience... smoking. He elegantly took a drag on the cigarette and greeted his audience affably, starting his show like nothing was the matter. My friend Jorgen approached from stage right to play his big role. Meanwhile, a concerned mother/stage manager hurried on, shouting "CUT!" and telling Mr. Rogers, "Your ratings are dropping through the floor!" Yes, it was because of his smoking, he hadn't even realized that he had his cigarette out when he had started.

My friend Jorgen was staring at him intently, "I've got more news for you, I'm your daughter." Mr. Rogers turned to him in amazement profusely denying that Jorgen could be his daugter. I started rolling on the ground laughing.

"Then what," I said, "why are you wearing that silly male costume?" Jorgen shot me a daggery glance.

"I'll prove it." He tore off his mask to reveal his dark skinned male vulcan face. "That proves it, I'm your daughter," he said to Mr. Rogers.

Yes, this was the most vivid and crazy dream I can recall my whole life. It came to me a few nights ago. I HAVE NO IDEA where it came from.

Geneticist

I'm currently taking an engineering design optimization class. It's a fascinating subject with a suprisingly diverse application set. Currently we're talking about genetic algorithms. The idea behind a genetic algorithm is that there are so many options to the design that you can't even scratch the surface in looking for the best solution (in optimization it's rarely about finding A solution, it's about finding THE solution). In a genetic algorithm several starting designs are created and evaluated on their fitness. If their fitness is good they have a better chance than other designs in the set to become a parent and get their genetic material -- design parameters -- into the next generation. Once a set of parents have been selected they are arbitrarily blended together into two new designs distinct from the first. This happens repeatedly until an entire new generation arises. Then the new generation competes to become the new parent designs. You can see why the algorithm is called a genetic algorithm, the idea is to put a virtual pressure on the design variables to push the designs into becoming better.

I get the chance to implement such an algorithm as a class project. Unfortunately I'm not currently in posession of an idea of what I would like to do.

Jason Shepherd

Today I went to the dissertation defense of Jason Shepherd. His dissertation was on the creation of all-hexahedral element meshes. It laid down some basic rules about the way a hexahedral mesh is put together and some of the applications of taking in to account both the geometry and topology of the object being meshed. I know, none of that means anything to anyone else.

It means that the process of generating a virual model that can be used for engineering calculations just became much much easier. It means that a process that used to take months now would probably take a few days. It means crazy stuff like body parts can be analyzed with one of the most powerful engineering tools ever developed.

To those in the know, this is a great day for meshing research.

Wage(s) peace not war

Today, I listened to an interesting job opportunity. It was an offer from the Navfac, the naval facilities engineering command. The job sounded really interesting. They do all sorts of research, testing and simulation, all of which interest me greatly. I was inexplicably unsettled, though. I'm not sure I even now know what it was, but there's something about doing research on explosions that's just not appealing to me. From an engineering and mathematics perspective it's a fascinating problem, I guess I just realized that if I'm going to use the powers of reason and the training I've received I'd rather it be in something more worthwhile and productive. I really don't think that what they're doing is wrong or evil, but I really don't think that what they're doing is for me.

Slugging it out

This week is absolute madness. Tests and major projects in every class, both in some. I've been working to get a major project done for my Optimization class. It's kind of a pain becuase if I mess up the code I have to redo about 2 dozen inputs by hand involving looking up the values in tables in my massive steel manual.

Anyway, in all these things it seems like I just have to keep slugging it out, keep trudging through all of this stuff. At least it makes me happy!

Head Throbbing

I'm exhausted. I might be able to go running or work out right now, but my brain is about to fall off. In the field of computational mechanics (my field) there's one process that's sort of the king of them all: finite element analysis. Don't worry if you don't know what it is or means. It's a field with a jargon all of its own. I'm currently in my introduction to finite element analysis. It's a tough but enlightening class. I just took a test for it. My brain is completely drained. It lasted 3 hours! That's after a normal hard working day. I was going to help Kamis with her research paper tonight, she's been struggling to get started, but I can't! I can barely think about anything beyond eating and sleep is calling my name. I'm surprised I can write this coherently. Fortunately Jorgen, my best friend is over and is helping her with the writing. It's good to have him over. We generally cook our meals together and then watch something or play something. It's become a nice habit that keeps us seeing each other.

Role-playing fun

I'm a gamer. Yes, the crowning jewel of my nerdliness is getting together with the guys for a little DnD (ie Dungeons and Dragons), or GURPS (Generic Universal Role-Playing System), or whatever the system is. Yesterday we had a great session. It was zounds of fun. For those of you who don't know why anyone would play such a game allow me to give some insight.

First of all, it's a chance for a bunch of friends to come over, hang out and have something fun to do. Most people would call that a party. It's a major social function for those who like playing.

Next, it's a chance to forget about anything in the real world that's worrying you and immerse yourself in another world. That makes it on par with reading a book or watching TV. For those that would contend that reading a book is way better than watching TV (I would agree), I would like to point out that due to the fact that roleplaying is creative and interactive, it beats the pants off of reading a book. Recreation and creative development. (yay!)

Of course for those interested in the fine details it's pretty fun to do a careful analysis of what the most advantageous way to build their character is. That involves some degree of problem solving, math, and all sorts of other things that are just plain old good for the mind.

Finally, for those ambitious enough it can be a major creative outlet. In my own case I use it to field ideas for characters and plots and worlds that might someday be the make up of an actual book that I might write. It gets me to think about what might be the motives behind the characters, what might be their flaws or foibles. All of that forces me to pay close attention to other people and in the end makes me more compassionate.

These are my reasons for role-playing: fun, creativity, recreation, mental exercise, and sociality.