Radio Songs

In the Bay Area again today:

105.3 KITS: Los Angeles-based Silversun Pickups' Panic Switch from their 2009 album Swoon on the Dangerbird Records label. Video. Also.

102.1 KDFC: Austrian Josef Strauss's Die Libelle ('The Dragonfly') polka-mazurka op. 204 (1866), performed by the Vienna Philharmonic, Georges Prêtre conducting, on their 2008 album "New Year's Concert 2008" on the Decca label. Video. Driving through Sausalito, listening to this as lights illuminate the hills like fireflies. :D

101.1 KHYL (V101.1): Santa Monica, CA-native Teena Marie's "Square Biz" from her 1981 album It Must Be Magic on the Gordy label. Audio. Love the horns! :D Fantastic.

Radio Songs

I heard Rio De Janeiro-native Marisa Monte on the radio (KRSH 95.9 out of Santa Rosa, CA) for the first time ever this evening: "Lenda das Sereias, Rainha Do Mar", from her 2x-platinum 1989 debut album MM on the Phonomotor Records/EMI labels. Audio. Only 20-years late. And the announcer pronounced her name "Marisa Mon-tay". x_x But: there it is! :D

Also (speaking of 20 years too late): Los Angeles-based Oingo Boingo's Dead Man's Party, from their 1988 double album Boingo Alive, on the MCA Records label. The horns on the intro are spectacular. Video. :D

Wedding Ring Ideas, Part 2

Image source: http://www.stepheneinhorn.co.uk/product.asp?pc=J1-41R&p_subcategory=we06

School has interrupted many projects, including my wedding ring quest. Tonight I came to the conclusion I would prefer rose gold as part of the ring in some form:

http://www.skaletfamilyjewelers.com/WeddingBands/GoldWeddingBandsMens/00140500029.html

CSUS CSC 130 Final Exam Grades

The final exam grades from my class this semester are in; it was yet another bloodbath:

• Class peers' overall final exam average: 67.32%
  
  
• Class peers' overall semester average: 61.35%
  

Maximum possible points were 100. The test counts for 30% of the final grade. No grade distribution breakdown is available for the final. However, since the final exam average is roughly consistent with the second midterm average, the distributions are likely consistent with the second midterm.

I earned a 98 on the final exam. o_O;;;; Overall, I earned 96.23% of the points available this semester, a solid A! :D

As I mentioned after taking the second midterm:

This comment on SacRate.com, however, may provide hope for even these students: "Has a huge curve. I had 47% before the final, got 66/100 and ended up with a B+ after the curve."

Food for thought. :X

Radio Songs

Leigh, UK-based The Ting Tings' "We Walk" from their 2008 album "We Started Nothing" on the Columbia and Red Ink labels. Video.

Tanton, Massachusetts-based Boys Like Girls' "Love Drunk" from their 2009 eponymous album on the Columbia, Red Ink labels. Video.

Hanna, Alberta-based Nickelback's "If Today Was Your Last Day" from their 2008 album Dark Horse on the Roadrunner and EMI labels. Video.

Colorado Springs-based OneRepublic's "All The Right Moves" from their 2009 album Waking Up on the Mosley Music Group and Interscope labels. Video.

Job Satisfaction

Instead of staying late this evening to increase profits, I stayed late to ensure kids get fed.

The Last Byte

Finished up my LZW compression/decompression code today. It took my all day to figure out the last byte of the compression algorithm was not getting written out to the encoded file. x_x

The problem was masked by several things: (1) confusion over whether the problem existed in the compression or decompression algorithm; (2) careless (in my opinion) compression/decompression pseudo-code provided in the class notes (for example, the pseudo-code compression algorithm is just plain wrong as written); (3) intermittent nature of reproducing the problem: input "abababa\r\nabababa" decompressed OK, but "abababa\r\nabababa\r\n}" did not (the byte for character "}" was not getting written to file by the compression algorithm)....; (4) complexity of the algorithm; (5) some limitations of using stock tools (for example, jdb).

Happily, it is now done. On to the final program for the semester: an implementation of a lexer using hashing functions.

Favorite NES Ninja Gaiden Tune

Watched a no-death run through the NES Ninja Gaiden this evening and remembered my favorite tune from the game; 6:16 in, the background music to the mineshaft level.

Radio Songs

Akron, Ohio-based The Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping" from their 1981 album "A Christmas Record" on the ZE Records label.

Lowell, Massachusetts-native Gary Hoey's "Twelve Days of Christmas" from his 2003 album "Ho! Ho! Hoey: The Complete Collection" on the Surfdog Records label.

Roswell, New Mexico-native (!) John Denver & The Muppets' "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," from the 1979 album "John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together", on the RCA label.

Indianapolis, Indiana-based Sloppy Seconds' "Hooray for Santa Claus" from their 1990 album "Destroyed" on the Musical Tragedies/Toxic Shock label. :D This is a song from "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians."

Stockton, California-born Chris Isaak's "Christmas on TV" from his 2004 album "Christmas" on the Reprise label.

Creepyheads.com

Saw this web site on a bumper sticker :)

http://creepyheads.com

Turns out it is an artist's web site.

Radio Songs

This evening as I scanned the dial:

East-Harlem, Manhattan-born Tupac Shakur's Changes from his posthumous 1998 album Greatest Hits, on the Amaru/Death Row/Interscope Records labels. Video.

Houston-born Beyoncé's, Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) from her 2008 album I Am… Sasha Fierce on the Columbia label. Video.

SomaFM: Xmas in Frisko Songs

SomaFM's Xmas in Frisko:

• Gary Glitter's "Another Rock and Roll Christmas"
• Judy Garland's "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
• Bob Rivers' Godfather-inspired "A Letter to Santa"
• Pearl Bailey's "Baby, It's Cold Outside" from her album, Wonderland: Cool December, A Warm And Fuzzy Winter
• Kay Starr's "(Everybody's Waiting' For) The Man In The Bag" from the album Ultra-Lounge: Christmas Cocktails, Part One. What a horn section!
  
• Anything the Hello! Project does. :)
• James Brown's "Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto," from the album James Brown's Funky Christmas
• New Black Eagle Jazz Band's Christmas with The New Black Eagle Jazz Band. Think New Orleans jazz. :D
  

Most unique:

• Afroman's "Death to the World"
• Flatulina's "Joy to the World"
• Any Ru Paul Christmas song
• Any South Park Christmas song (for example, "Merry F****** Christmas")
• AC/DC's "I Want a Mistress for Christmas"
• Any Twisted Sister Christmas song from the album "A Twisted Christmas"
• Buck's Ducks' "Hunter's Holy Night," from the album Classic Christmas Songs.
• Star Wars Christmas In The Stars "Christmas In The Stars" from the album The Star Wars Christmas Album. Barf x_x
• Bob Rivers' Twisted Chipmunk Song. :X
  

Trench Coat

Looking around for a men's trench coat that is : (1) navy or cadet-blue; (2) ankle-length; (3) preferably 100% wool; (4) double-breasted.

Links:

http://www.newportharboronline.com/rainwear.php

UPDATE:

• Command Uniforms of Sacramento was listed as a distributor of Newport Harbor, but no longer exists. :(

CSUS CSC 130 Second Midterm Exam Grades

The second midterm grades from my class this semester are in; it was another bloodbath:

	Section One	Section Two
90+	1	2
80-89	3	5
70-79	7	4
60-69	7	7
50-59	6	4
49-	6	4
Average	61.90	65.85
Standard Deviation	16.29	20.11

Maximum possible points were 100. Out of 56 test takers: 3 earned an A (5%); 8 earned a B (14%); 11 earned a C (20%); 14 earned a D (25%); and 20 earned an F (36%). The test counts for 15% of the final grade.

I earned a 96 on this one. o_O;;;

One might compare this with the first midterm exam and find three signs of improvement: (1) failures dropped from 58% to 36%; (2) passing scores (C and up) increased from 22% to 39%; and (3) above average scores (B and up) increased from 11% to 19%.

On the negative side, 61% (3 in 5) earned a D or worse (compared to 79% from the first midterm). Three in five students have been left behind and are unlikely to catch up and "get" this material. :(

The increasing standard deviations between the two tests confirm a greater spread away from the average.

This comment on SacRate.com, however, may provide hope for even these students: "Has a huge curve. I had 47% before the final, got 66/100 and ended up with a B+ after the curve."

Food for thought. :X

Implmenting LZW Compression Algorithm

Today I am implementing the LZW data compression algorithm as a toy project.

LZW stands for Lempel, Ziv, and Welch, its creators. It was the first widely used universal data compression method on computers.

Its popularity led it to be included in many file formats people use every day: GIF and TIFF images, PDF files, and files sent to your printer.

Burma Shave

How to Learn Almost Anything

Hmm:

http://litemind.com/learn-anything/

Conan End Screen

Those stars created by Volta are awfully fast!

Early Days

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27523472@N07/2567400039

Fell into a transcript of an interview with Gerald D. Cohen, founder of Information Builders, Incorporated in 1975, whose first product was FOCUS, one of the leading mainframe databases of that era, from about 1970 to 1980. The whole thing is a fascinating insider's look. The techie part begins around the end of page 13 and continues through RAMIS, then FOCUS.

Link: http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache%3AcN6NFyPWZzsJ%3Awww.cwhonors.org/archives/histories/cohen.pdf+WebFOCUS+%2Bacronym+mainframe+%22information+builders%22&hl=en&gl=us&sig=AFQjCNFAMDVyVMp9IGM9tZxJiw_cVk-3cQ

Originally curious what FOCUS stood for. In the interview above, Mr. Cohen remarks, "We labeled this program FOCUS. I guess it stood for online computer users, but we needed was an acronym that was easy to remember. So we gave it a computer type name, and FOCUS was our term for this non-procedural language."

Meltpools

This fall it is cozy to light a candle while coding and manage the wax to create the largest meltpool.

Learning as I go along. Any tips from the reader base? I am currently melting a 4 x 6" Pier 1 ginger peach.

Some tips from a former Yankee Candle manager.