Not In Kansas Anymore (NIKA)

Video Car

I just I'm just a blogging fool today. I came across this blurb about a remote control car with a camcorder built in. It's a cool idea. But after watching the linked video, I don't know that I could stand much of any video produced by kids, even my darling baby.

Planarity

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across an online puzzle game called Planarity. The relatively straight-forward game was written by John Tantalo, an undergrad at CWRU. The premise is simple: untangle the nodes on a planar graph (i.e., move the nodes so that none of the lines connecting them overlap).

The nodes are initially laid out randomly in a circle. You move nodes one at a time, trying to untangle the lines. As you move up in levels, it gets harder because the number of nodes increases.

I'm not one to play computer games very much. I may occasionally dabble, but I don't keep going back to a game for very long. The same may some day be true with Planarity, but for now I'm addicted. The scary part is that I keep seeing nodes and lines even when I'm not playing. :-O

When I first started, I got the impression that this might actually be a computer game I'd be good at (I suck at most games, and am not great at many puzzles). The FAQ states, when talking about the levels, that "if you get past 10 or so then consider yourself in select company." I was able to get to level 21 before starting fresh at an earlier level (easier to do now that the game has the ability to skip levels).

The author has now provided stats on the high, low, and average amount of time it's taken people to complete each level. So I started keeping track of the time it took me to complete levels. (Before trying to go for time, I'd wound up taking WAY too long for each level.) I can finish level 7 in well under 3 minutes, I've done level 14 in roughly 7 minutes, and I finished level 20 in less than 19 minutes. I compared these times to the online stats. The chart is a bit hard to read, but as far as I can tell, my time on level 20 is slightly better than the reported lowest time. :-O So maybe I really am good at it? People (such as Tom E.) who know my computer gaming history can now be scared.

I've also been playing around with the planar graphs. Things I've noticed (which may be obvious to graph theory mathematicians) are that you can turn a graph inside out (i.e., take the outer-most points, bring them into the middle, then re-arrange everything so that the inner-most points are now on the outside). Also, the number of nodes with only two lines from them might scale with the level (i.e., total number of nodes). There seem to be 6 "two-line" nodes at some middle levels (levels 7 & 9), but only 3 such nodes at lower levels (1-3). There are probably other interesting properties of these planar graphs that I may notice over time.

The 2005 Harry Potter Post

Of course, Elizabeth and I read "Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince" when it came out. We've talked about it, read some speculation on various forums, and re-read the book. I really really want to read book 7, but I think I've at least worked hard enough at burnincg myself out on Harry Potter that I'll be able to wait without too much stress.

Here, for anyone who cares, are my thoughts on the book and what might come next. They're very rough (and very long), but it's not worth the time to me to clean things up any more than they already are.

*** WARNING: Spoilers ahead! If you don't want book 6 ("Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince") spoiled for you (or if you just don't care about the series in general), then don't read the rest of this post!

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I mean it. Lots of spoilers below. Last chance!

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OK, first things first: Based on what I've read on MuggleNet, Regulus Black is the front-runner likely person to be R.A.B. His middle name is probably after his Uncle Alphard. But there's a slight nagging question whether it might not be Amelia Bones (perhaps she used her middle name, and had a first name such as Rita). Given some of Rowling's interviews, though, I'm leaning heavily towards Black.

I think Snape is still fighting to defeat Voldemort. Dumbledore trusted him, and he's generally right (but will we find out why Dumbledore trusted Snape?). Dumbledore is not one to beg for his life, especially since he presumably knew that Snape had taken the Unbreakable Vow, so his pleas to Severus were presumably either 1) asking Snape to actually kill him and avoid risking his own life and his cover, and/or 2) asking Snape to keep Harry safe, since Snape presumably guessed that Harry was on the rooftop under his Invisibility Cloak.

There is some confusing accounting when it comes to Voldemort's soul fragments. One major question is whether or not soul fragments die/disappear when their container is destroyed/killed, or if they go back and merge with other survining fragments? The list of possible locations of soul fragments is (Note: 'd' means 'destroyed' and 'm' means 'maybe' and refers to uncertainty about identification of the object):

1. pre-death Voldemort (d??)


2. current reincarnated Voldemort


3. Nagini


4. Slytherin's locket (d?)


5. Marvolo's ring (d)


6. Riddle's diary (d)


7. Hufflepuff's cup (m)


8. Ravenclaw/Gryffindor object (m)

As you can see, this adds up to eight possible soul fragment repositories. Dumbledore was pretty convinced Voldemort would try to make seven, including the one in his body, so we might as well assume that's what happened (for lack of any better idea). Before he died, Voldemort presumably had six framents (five Horcruxes plus his body; I'm using this number given Dumbledore's guess that the Potters were going to be the case for making the sixth horcrux). One fragment might have been needed to possess Quirrell in book 1. But was that fragment lost when Voldemort left Quirrell's body? I'm guessing the answer is no. Voldemort put a new fragment into Nagini sometime after being reincarnated around book 4. But, going back to when he died, did that soul fragment die too? Was the soul fragment in a horcrux "used up" when he was reincarnated? If both answers are "yes," then that leaves only four total fragments (including the one in his current body; three if one was required and then destroyed with Quirrell), not five.

I'm a bit frustrated at some elements receiving short shrift in the book. Most notably, the students' learning to Apparate was lame. It sounded like Harry really wasn't making much progress, then suddenly he can Apparate AND bring Dumbledore with him?

Snape repeatedly gets upset at being called a coward. I'm assuming this is because he's mad at what he has to do (which, in fact, requires a lot of bravery - e.g., being a double agent against Voldemort) and can't tell anyone about it.

General Questions:

• If Regulus is RAB, did he bring Kreacher to help him with the locket horcrux?


• Also, did Regulus remove the soul fragment from the locket horcrux before he died?


• Why was Dumbledore asleep in the portrait at the end of HBP when McGonagall was there?


• Will Hogwarts open in book 7?


• If it does open, will Harry return?


• Also, who will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?


• Doesn't Harry have to return to Hogwarts, for information if nothing else? Will Dumbledore's portrait be an important source of information for Harry?


• What happens to Fawkes, the phoenix, in book 7?


• Will Slughorn play a more important role in book 7, helping advise Harry (since he knows, e.g., about horcruxes)?


• What could possibly be left at Godric's Hollow for Harry to find and/or use?


• Now that Dumbledore, Secret Keeper of the Order of the Phoenix, is dead, does that mean that the secret is no longer a secret? Can Snape now tell Voldemort? Is it at all safe for Harry to go back to 12 Grimauld Place?


• Why did Dumbledore finally turn over the Defense Against the Dark Arts position to Snape this year?


• There's lots of references to Tarot objects, one of which is wands. It may in fact be that the four founders' objects are each one of the suits (wands, cups, swords, coins). Sword=Gryffindor, Cup=Hufflepuff, Coin->Locket=Slytherin? If so, then wand=Ravenclaw. Did Olivander (the wand maker) disappear because he found out something about Ravenclaw's wand, and it being a horcrux for Voldemort?


• How did Voldemort get his wand back, if he died the first time using it against Harry? Was someone else there to pick it up??


• What is the spell Dumbledore cast on Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic duel at the end of book 5?


• How was Harry found & rescued on the night Voldemort tried to kill him as a baby? The location of the house was a Secret, and the Secret-Keeper (Pettigrew) is still alive. I can see Harry knowing where the house is (maybe), but how could anyone else?

According to interviews w/ JRK, there are some important points:

• The importance of Harry having his mother's eyes. (Unless this was important in persuading Slughorn, the new Potions master, to give up the memory. But it can't be just that, can it?)


• What Harry's parents did for a living.


• That flash of triumph in Dumbledore's eyes at the end of GoF.


• The mirror Sirius gave Harry.


• The shape of Snape's patronus and his biggest fear (i.e., what would a boggart appear as?)


• Why did Voldemort give Lily multiple chances to step aside (rather than protect Harry), and why would he have let her live if she did? Was he doing it because Snape was in love with Lily and suggested Voldemort let her live so he (Snape) could pursue her?

Finally, here are a couple of quotes we came across that were amusing.

A quote from the SDMB:

The other thing is that I think the salient detail of Voldemort's past -- the reason why he's so evil -- is not because of the orphanage, or because he's peeling his soul like an onion, but because he worked at Borgin and Burkes as a clerk for several years. Working customer service will make even the most pleasant people want to kill off most of the human race.

Another SDMB quote:

Oh, and excuse me if I missed this -- I was skimming very quickly -- but I have to say a locket is the lamest evil wizard artefact ever.

Evil wizards are supposed to have the Staff of Eternal Darkness, the Dagger of Poison, the Book of Absolute, Brain-Curdling Evil. They do not carry around lockets.

What else has Slytherin left, besides a ring and a locket, I wonder? Old subscription cars to Teen People? The My Little Pony Collection of Ineffable Damnation?

And whose picture is in it? The Basilisk's? Helga Hufflepuff's? Godric Gryffindor's?

The Feline Matrix

Flying Cats (via Bitch Ph.D.)

I think it would be best to watch this with some sort of classical music booming. But the very spare apartment combined with the "frozen in time" cats really reminds me of some of the best fight scenes from The Matrix.

While ours managed some serious hang time as kittens, somehow the UHaul boxes in the background just don't measure up. And now they're relatively lazy, probably because we almost never take time to give them a seriously vigorous play session any more.

Cute Critters

Would you like to buy a stuffed animal version of the common cold, or perhaps Ebola? Giant Microbes has them, and more. We haven't bought any of these cute critters yet, but I'm sorely tempted.

Elizabeth suggested that they'd be good for get-well gifts. To which my response was "I'm sorry you got bubonic plague, but here's a cute critter to remind you of your misery." To each their own, I guess.

The Security Blanket?

You may have seen the pictures of Dorothy with a new toy. It's an AquaDoodle. The AquaDoodle is a pretty ingenious little product - it's a drawing pad with pen, but the "ink" is just plain water. The material on the mat turns blue when it's wet, and then goes back to white as it dries. This allows Dorothy to have fun with scribbling, and we don't have to worry about her sucking on the pen (which she does) or drawing on the walls, cats, us, etc. (she does). The felt-tip pen is easy to refill with a bit of water. It also comes with a stamp pad and stamps (in simple geometrical shapes) - just pour a bit of water on the pad, and it's good to go.

Dorothy does enjoy drawing on/with her new toy, but the drawing pad seems more like a security blanket at times. She'll drag the pad (and the felt pen) around everywhere when she feels like it. And when she wants it, she does not want to let go for anything. She was home with a babysitter for a few hours recently, and she fell asleep on the floor clutching it, and wouldn't let go even in her sleep. Luckily, the times when she absolutely wants it don't last too too long, and don't happen too often.

Another Take on Star Wars 3

Elizabeth forwarded me this mocking of Star Wars 3. One sample:

YODA: Okay, split the babies up we must.
OREGANO: 'Leia Oregano' sort of has a nice ring to it, don't you think? And shouldn't we change Luke's surname too?
OBI-WAN: Nah.
OREGANO: But it's an elementary precaution! Surely any idiot would reali...
OBI-WAN: Did you ever *meet* Anakin?

OK, one more:

YODA: No. From the Dark Side, send me a postcard.

Dancing with the Stars

Yes, it's true, I've been sucked in by a reality TV show. But it's ballroom dancing! I have to watch it for the good of the sport! Right?

The premise is that a bunch of C-list celebrities have been training for the last six weeks with professional ballroom dancers (including my former coach, Charlotte Jorgensen). Performances have ranged from appalling (Evander Holyfield) to exceptional (John O'Hurley, aka J. Peterman from Seinfeld).

It's particularly amusing to me to see what non-ballroom people are saying about the show. One of the "stars" is a soap opera actress, whose dancing was pretty bad (although not as bad as Evander's, at least this week - I missed the first episode). She has hundreds of loyal fans, though, who are sure that the judges are just jealous of her. Right.

Some great comments from various message boards and blogs:

• Liking this show is as embarrassing as being caught by your mother lip-syncing ABBA songs (playing on a record player, thank you very much) into your hairbrush.

• The funniest thing, production-wise, was a quick cut of the soap opera diva (who wore a very minimal costume to distract form her lack of dancing ability) pulling up her minimal skirt after a sound man had inserted the microphone box so she could talk post-dance to the AFHV guy. They must have stuck the box directly up her ass because there was no. place. to put it. AFHV guy quipped that sound men from 3 continents had volunteered to insert her sound box, LOL!

• Oh dear. It wasn't really like a train wreck...more like two kids on tricycles crashing into each other.

• Part of the fun, by the way, was that all the female stars had a complaint about why this would be hard for them. Rachel Hunter had food poisoning or something and was throwing up all day before. Kelly had eardrum issues, and Trista has herniated disks. Can I just tell the ladies something? EVANDER HAD HIS EAR BITTEN OFF and yet you don't hear him complaining. On the contrary, when they said "Is this harder than stepping into the ring?" he said, "Nope."

• And what about Trista's partner's penis ponytail. WTF is that? He could put her eye out!

• The Bachelor and The Bachelorette who later married her chosen suitor, the hapless Ryan Sutter, in a multimillion-dollar televised wedding, was the first contestant to be voted off the show last night, after a transcendently unsexy pas de deux with the suavely ponytailed Latin dance pro Louis van Amstel. (Think Nancy Reagan dancing with Fabio.)

• Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, dance like a dromedary.

Revenge of the Sith

Last night Elizabeth and I finally got a chance to go see Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. I mostly agree with the reviews I've read: It's certainly the best of the latest three Star Wars movies, and even though you know how it's going to end, it is riveting to watch. Anakin's descent into the dark side of the force has some very slightly hard-to-believe moments, but overall it's well done. It's what you've come to expect in a Star Wars movie: the fight scenes are impressive, the outfits Amidala wears are ridiculous, you have to ignore some issues of character intelligence, the special effects are very believable, etc. Heck, I didn't even find the dialogue between Anakin and Padme as bad as others had said it was - their dialogue was certainly better than the last movie.

One thing to keep in mind: the movie is over two hours long, so if you have a sore throat and buy a big bottle of water to tide you over, don't drink any of it in the first half of the movie, or else you'll spend the last hour waiting for your bladder to explode (not that I have any personal knowledge of this problem...).

WARNING: There is a spoiler in the remaining section, so if you haven't seen the movie and don't want it spoiled, do NOT read on.

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Here be spoilers!








After we got home, Elizabeth pointed out that what Obi-Wan should have said in Episode IV, to the young Luke Skywalker about his father, was something like: "Darth Vader killed your father. But I cut off his legs and set him on fire."

We were also discussing whether George Lucas had a childhood friend lose a hand or something - it's such a recurring theme. Let's review:

• Episode V: Vader cuts of Luke's hand


• Episode VI: Luke cuts off Vader's hand


• Episode II: Dooku cuts off Anakin's hand


• Episode III, the amputation episode: Anakin cuts off both of Dooku's hands (right before beheading him), Obi-Wan cuts off some of Grievous' 4 hands, Obi-Wan cuts off Anakin's legs and other hand.

I mean, what is it with hands being so easily cut off, compared to any other body part? Maybe Lucas saw someone lose a hand in an industrial accident as a child, and now he's just obsessed. We may never know.

A Real Spring

The temperatures here in Bellevue lately have had highs in the mid to upper 60s, and lows in the 40s, which appears to be normal for this time of year. But it seemed odd to be so relatively "cool" in May. Then I realized that Boston never seemed to have a real spring lately. If you blinked, you'd miss it. The temperatures would jump from winter to summer with almost no in-between. Maybe that's not the average for Boston, but that's the way it was in recent years. So I'm finally enjoying a "real" spring for what seems like the first time in years.

20 Year Flashback

They're coming out with a Dukes of Hazzard movie this summer. I'm not sure if this is sort of cool, or a sign of the apocalypse, or both.

Easy, Secure Passwords

http://angel.net/~nic/passwd.html is an extremely handy way to create different passwords for different websites while making it easy to "remember" - you choose a single master password, then use the form above (or the bookmarklet version you can store locally) to generate a secure password based on your master password and the site's domain. It therefore makes it easier to avoid using the same password for different websites. This page talks more about the password-generating page and its functionality.

Two thumbs up!

Bi/Tri-cycle

I don't know if it would help or hinder a child's learning to ride a bike, but this tri/bi-cycle is cool, and interesting. I wonder when they'll go on sale...

Who Does Jesus Love?

Does anyone else find the Unborn Patriot Ornament (which I found via Daddy Types) freaky scary? I mean, here's part of the description:

Plastic replica of an 11-12 week old fetus, 3" long, holding a firearm in its precious little hand, with an assortment of other military paraphernalia, encased in a translucent plastic ornament, with a patriotic yellow ribbon on top.

Looking further, the site does seem to mostly have parody items (e.g., "667-Neighbor of the Beast" stickers, Christian panties with text like "Jesus Loves My Ass," and of course the "Lock 'n' Load Jesus" mouse pad). You have to admire their motto ("Where even your MONEY is saved!").

But that ornament is still freaky.

More Edgy Baby Clothes

T-shirt Hell is yet another store with shirts for your baby that are the antithesis of more normal, cutesy snuggly baby clothes. Examples:

• I can kick your baby's ass
• Daddy drinks because I cry
• "F" the Gerber baby

There are a bunch more places that sell infant clothing for when you're just sick of too much pink. Here are a few favorites:

• I already mentioned Potty Mouth.
• Wry Baby is, well, "wry" instead of vulgar.
• PunkerDunker has lots of 80s punk band shirts and punk-style bibs (e.g., studded leather).
• Out In Style has camouflage onesies and toddler tees
• nippaz with attitude have shirts ("it's gonna end in tears") as well as CDs (muzak versions of rock classics)
• BabyWit has some funny shirts ("Come closer so I can spit up on you" and "He Thinks He's My Daddy" and "NO")
• I think Dookiewear had some very irreverent items, but the site appears to be down right now...
• Baby Rock Apparel has some decent shirts, nothing too risque (maybe I should get Drama Queen for Dorothy)

You can find more links at DaddyTypes

"Ray"

"Ray," the movie about Ray Charles' life, is an outstanding film. I finally got to see it today, and I strongly recommend it. I won't bother with a detailed review, since what everyone says is mostly true - the film is good, and Jamie Foxx as Ray is simply amazing. See it if you haven't already.

A Great Toy Store

On Saturday, while driving around Issaquah, we saw a toy store and decided to check it out, since we're thinking of getting Dorothy a rocking horse. The store we went to was White Horse Toys, and it is such a cool store. From the front it looks small, but they've apparently expanded into two other businesses' buildings, making it somewhat large inside. It reminds me of the Construction Site in Waltham MA and the Learning Express store in Norwood MA. Like the Construction Site, White Horse Toys had a number of import toys, although not as many "build it" type toys. And like the Learning Express, they have Manhattan Baby and other toys that don't get wide representation in mega-stores.

There are a number of wooden toys, and old-style tin toys (we got Dorothy a 1950s-type tin top, which she likes even though she herself can't make it spin yet). There are games, figurines, weaving looms and knitting projects, rocking horses (we wound up not getting any, because Dorothy seems a bit too small for them right now), dolls, etc. etc. Quite a variety.

Grandparents, beware! If you go to this store, you'll be sorely tempted to spend too much money. I know we were tempted!

White Horse Toys are located at 317 NW Gilman Blvd in Issaquah, WA.

Dual Will Smith Movie Review

Two really short reviews. The one sentence summary: I recommend both movies.

Last weekend Elizabeth and I had our first date since arriving in Seattle (OK, Bellevue). We went to Thai Ginger, a very good Thai restaurant in Factoria, then went across the street to see the latest Will Smith movie, "Hitch." I have to say that it may be the best romantic comedy I've ever seen. Now, I'm not a HUGE romantic comedy fan, but I do like some. And "Hitch" is a good date movie and a great romantic comedy. The flow, the gags, the character development - everything worked well. Thumbs up.

This past weekend, we rented the slightly older Will Smith movie "I, Robot" (but only because they were out of "Ray" and we'd heard that "I, Robot" was a good movie, even though not being at all like the book). It was also an excellent movie. In fact, I think Asimov himself would have liked it, because even though it is drastically different from the book "I, Robot" the movie explores the issues of the Three Laws of Robotics. Thumbs up.

The Incredibles: All Thumbs Up!

As already mentioned, Elizabeth and I saw The Incredibles yesterday. I can't add much besides my voice to the hordes of reviews which pile praise on the movie.

The movie does have many superhero-movie cliches, but not too many. And it departs from the norm in many ways. It combines the superhero's life with "real" life in true-to-life ways (yes, I know I just used the word "life" three, make that four, times), such as the scene near the end when the family is racing to the scene of the rampaging robot, and the husband and wife superheroes are arguing about which exit to take from the highway.

I could ramble on about some of the other nice little bits that combine to make it such a great movie, but I won't. Just go see it! Oh, and you can thank me for refraining (unlike most reviewers) from calling the movie "incredible."

Classic Fight Scene

The other night, Elizabeth and I watched Jackie Chan's "Shanghai Knights." Yes, there's a billion historical inconsistencies, but you generally don't watch Jackie Chan flicks for their factual accuracies or their deep plots. This one was no different, but it was certainly entertaining.

I have to say that one of the fight scenes stands out as a classic film event. During part of the (Fleet Street?) outdoor fight with the gang, there's a large segment wherein Jackie Chan is using an umbrella and seems to be re-enacting the dancing-in-the-rain segment from "Singin' in the Rain." They even play the theme music during part of the fight. It was hilarious, and very well done.

Some Funny Stuff

Over at this blog that Elizabeth pointed me to, they link to some very interesting items.

First is How NOT to check a diaper. You'll have to click through to the image, but it's amusing.

The other one that caught my attention was the
Giant Microbe Plush Toys. :-) Now you too can let your child play with Ebola! Actually, the toys do look very cute...

Going to the movies

Today, Dorothy and I went to Baby Pictures at the Showcase Cinemas movie theatre in Randolph. It's a neat idea -- every other Tuesday, they show a recent movie but change the environment so that parents can bring their babies. The lights are not dimmed completely, and they have some diaper changing pads in the front, plus refreshments for sale down front throughout the movie, the volume is turned down a bit, etc. Plus, if your baby makes noise, you don't feel too guilty, because there's others doing the same thing. :-)

We had fun. I fed Dorothy some expressed breast milk before we left for the theatre. I had to change her partway through the movie, but that wasn't a problem. And afterwards, I went to the concession stand, and they were kind enough to give me a bucket of very hot water so that I could heat another bottle. I fed Dorothy in the theatre lobby, then we went off to Costco to do a bit of shopping. She was very well-behaved throughout the trip, and even slept through the second half of the movie. To any other new parents in the Boston area, I can definitely recommend going to the Randolph Showcase Cinemas for their parent movies (Baby Pictures?).

Today's movie was "The Stepford Wives." Overall it was a decent movie, especially as long as you suspend all sense of disbelief and overlook some minor inconsistencies. I'd seen some bad reviews, so my expectations weren't too high, but there were definitely some funny moments, and though the movie certainly wasn't very deep, it did at least raise some issues about gender roles.