The details of search engines

I never knew there was so much work behind creating a search engine that worked. It makes sense, though, since there's such a wide variety of questions a searcher can put forward. Natural Language Processsing and advanced algorithms. Frankly, they explain it a lot better here:

Odd Details of Search Engines

Another cool technology. The company, Aqua Sciences, came up with a machine that's capable of producing some 600 gallons of water a day in only 14% humidity. That's an incredible time saver. I think the greatest opportunity the machine has to offer would be for humanitarian purposes. Instead of relying on trucking water into disaster areas, one of these machines could be shipped in. Also, what about places like sub-Saharan Africa or other parched places? Of course I doubt it will get out there any time soon. It's just not economically viable, so it will go completely unnoticed that such an incredible boon for the needy will only end up serving military needs.

An Amazing Advance

The Unusual Fruits of Boredom

Just another day

Today was a long one. I trudged my way through the inevitable pain that is the day-after-Steel-Reserve. While I was doing that I spent a lot of time studying for a take-home test. I've taken half of it already and now I'm going to get some sleep. Hopefully I won't forget everything I've studied by tomorrow morning.
I wasn't able to get any work done on ChaCha today, because java apps make my computer go schizo and results in the black screen of death. However, I was able to send out some invites, so that made me happy.
Jamie arrived on campus today. Of course he drove up as close to the building as possible and was blaring techno reminiscent of the rave party last year. He's doing well and just got back from Indonesia, actually. He's a regular globe trotter now. I can't say I envy him, though, becaues cross-Pacific flights are ungodly long and tedious. I don't care how many movies they show, those flights never get any more pleasant. I kind of wish I'd spoken to him before hand and told him to jump over to Ambon so I could figure out what state my birthplace is in. I wonder if the holy eels are still there?
Anna (my sister) arrives tomorrow. This will mark the first time she's ever visited my school. I'm excited. I'm still not sure what we'll do while she's here, but I plan on just hanging out and having fun like I normally do. The last thing I'd want to do is give her a false impression. That's not my style.
Alright, enough blathering. Time to get a few hours of sleep.
-Funsize

The Next Step

It's going to happen. It already is happening. Metal will fuse with flesh and bionics will become something we can all afford, should we be so inclined. Blind? Ocular implants will fix that. Lost a limb in an accident? Prosthetic limbs will give you the freedom of movement you once enjoyed. Just about everything from the five senses will likely be reparable. It's exciting, to be honest. I just hope I'm around long enough to see the fruition of practical science.

Bionics

The Animal Olympics

I'm just curious. Why is this so bad? The animals are just doing some tricks and probably getting treated well because of it. So it's okay for a bunch of pre-pubescent children to partake in olympic events, with more pressure on their shoulders than most of us can ever imagine, but it's somehow cruel and unusual that the Chinese trained some animals to do some tricks. That's just asinine. Anywhere, here's the article that made me take note:

Chines Animal Olympics

The quirks of the job

Since I've started working as a search engine guide, I've been privy to some unusual requests. Just yesterday I took part in some searches that taught me a few things. Apparently in Texas a professional corporation isn't considered community property (something about a divorce) and if your dog somehow gets pregnant unexpectadly, the closest to a morning-after-pill is a that-day-shot. Oh, and Walt Disney wasn't put in some kind of cryogenic chamber for life but was cremated. That and he was suspected to be a little anti-semetic.
Beyond that I destroyed my lab practical. 101. Hah! And that has nothing to do with skinning dalmations.

Another Practical Bites the Dust

I spent part of the weekend preparing for a practical this afternoon. I like to think it went well, but it's always hard to tell until it actually comes back graded. Most of it was making sense, though, so that's good.
The rest of the day has been spent preparing for my takehome vertebrate test, which I plan on taking Thursday morning. I've got a bad feeling about it, but that's mainly because it seems like a hard one to study for. There's a lot of broad information blended with really specific information. Ah well, such is life.
Alright, back to playing the game of being a search engine guide. I'm still getting used to this wierd job.

Starting up something new

I've started playing around on a new web-site recently. I'm a search engine guide. It's kind of an unusual job, but it provides me with something to do in my spare time to earn some cash. That and I can do it from my room. It's kind of like a game, really.
Anyway, aside from that I spent the rest of the day hanging out with friends (Sarah in particular), studying slides in the lab, and watching the extras from the Life of Python.
Now back to hanging out and being a bum.