NGINX

I have NGINX working on CAELinux. Now I need to figure out how to configure it to run on a port besides Port 80.

Computer Science

I have great respect for the people in computer science. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes.

installing Linux based packages

I'm noticing when I am installing all of these Linux based packages using msys that I have multiple versions on msys. Someday maybe I'll figure out how to consolidate them.

Associations in Large Data Sets

Yes! I found a paper that describes the correlations for large data sets. I was mentioned on MIT's website.

Detecting Novel Associations in Large Data Sets by David N. Reshef et. al., Science, 16 Dec. 2011

Associations in Large Data Sets

Yes! I found a paper that describes the correlations for large data sets. I was mentioned on MIT's website.

Detecting Novel Associations in Large Data Sets by David N. Reshef

Semantic Web Book

Yes! I found a new book. It is called "A Developer's Guide to the Semantic Web" by Liyang Yu.

Evolution Mail Client

Yes! I know how to use evolution.

-Brent

CFD Software

Open Source CFD software!

http://www.caelinux.com/CMS/index.php

Yesterday

Yesterday we had Lessons and Carols and a choir party afterwards. At that place we had Dirty Santa. I stole the penguin.

Diaspora on my Computer

I'm working on Installing Diaspora on my computer. I'm excited!

See the link: https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/wiki/Installing-and-Running-Diaspora

Events of Tuesday.

Today I visited OhmSpace! It is a spunky sort of place where you can make just about anything! Well, it's getting there!

Also, my Dad was kind enough to do a mock interview for me. I found it helpful. The rest of the day I spent polishing what I need to say, which included writing things down. I'm also very thankful for people wanting to help me with interviewing. I need all the help I can get!

Oh! And then there was Toastmasters. Always good times!

Ideas

When I get exciting ideas in my head I run really fast.

Realization

I just realized something that I never realized before.

It's always a good idea to challenge paradigms

I was reading Martin Lindstrom's writings (http://www.fastcompany.com/1784845/coke-5-iphone-obsolescence) with Fast Company. I thought there was a problem with light bulbs burning out for scientific reasons. Apparently it's not scientific.

It seems to be for real. Believe what you must.

http://www.centennialbulb.org/

http://www.catalanfilmsdb.cat/en/productions/documentary-television/the-light-bulb-conspiracy-ndash-the-untold-story-of-planned-obsolescence/2749/

bookmark 10/05/2011

http://devzone.zend.com/node/view/id/638

Brent thought 10/05/2011

Generally, if you have an idea of what you want you can find it (or make it).

Today 10/03/2011

Daily Completions:

-I learned how to make multiple JavaScript buttons work today.

-I went to my first United Filmmakers of Oklahoma Meeting.

Tonight I am working on my 5th Toastmaster's Speech titled:

"How to Interview Well".

On a side note, the weekend was fun. I dropped by Groovefest,

found the JavaScript Bible, spent a lot of time piecing together JavaScript Buttons,

and spent time at Oktoberfest. I also danced with my mom. This was a little

embarrassing, but I was mighty proud of myself because most of the time

we were the only people dancing, except for the chicken dance.

To do 10/1/2011

Read works by G.K. Chesterton. According to at least one knowledgeable person, he has been very influential. Yes, it was the person on Tuesday night.

Now, back to JavaScript. It's stuffy in here. I'm in the process of cleaning my room.

"Reflections of My Life"

You know, I get kind of morose sometimes, but I was thinking that despite how confusing life seems right now that there really are a lot of very good things going on. For one, I had some goals in mind and it seems I am very much on the road to achieving them. Things kind of worked out a lot faster than I expected them to. A lot of this has to do with finding some very cool people, and I have found a ton of them.

I love this song!

Reflections of My Life - The Marmalade

PHP love

You have to love PHP, with its array_push, array_pop, and explode functions.

See: http://devzone.zend.com/node/view/id/635

Bookmark: 9/7/2011

There is a very good PHP tutorial linked from the WordPress website. I'm checking it out.

See: http://devzone.zend.com/article/627

Events of 9/4/2011

Today I installed Debian GNU/Linux in my laptop. I still need to get the wireless to work.

Brentthought 9/4/2011

Learning comes through emotion. That is why we need both science and the arts. We cannot separate the two and expect anything less than tragic results.

Yup, the WordPress paper trail (at least the chocolatey part)

http://sixrevisions.com/tutorials/web-development-tutorials/using-xampp-for-local-wordpress-theme-development/

Yup.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Editing_wp-config.php

Yup.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Integrating_WordPress_with_Your_Website

Yup. Yup. Yup.

Thank you Matt Mullenweg! Thank You Jacob Gube! Thank you all Geeks!

More WordPress Musings

Do you know what? It's really cool working with these advanced web technologies. I get the feeling that nobody else does it (they actually do) but you know....it makes me feel like Mark Zuckerberg with the PHP and all.

WordPress Work

I just spent most of the day working with WordPress. I have a test blog running with XAMPP right now. It's a learning curve, but I am going to do it I hope!

Working on Website

Oh yes! I'm working on a new website. I've got the layout down in CSS/HTML, and I am working on implementing WordPress. My vision will have JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and PHP. I can't wait!

I am bit of a newbie to WordPress and a lot of other stuff, but it is exciting to read about it. WordPress at the URL(http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development) provided an awesome link at http://yoast.com/wordpress-theme-anatomy/.

So wonderfully nerdy! I love the Geeks who prepare this stuff.

Library Books that are Interesting

Sam's Teach Yourself Java in 24 Hours, Rogers Cadenhead

The Complete Reference of HTML & XHTML, 4th Edition, Thomas A. Powell

Genomics Lab Visit / Film

Today I visited a Genomics lab at OU. It was a good experience after listening to the $1,000 Genome by Kevin Davies on Audiobook. Personal Genomics seems to be yet another use for computers after Protein Modelling, Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Density Functional Theory Modelling, High Energy Physics Modelling, Weather Forecasting, Climate Modelling, neural networks, cinema, economics, ....., smartphone apps, and social networking.

It's kind of odd at first to realize that although these things have different names, they have a lot in common. For example, I found Donald Knuth's QuickSort algorithm on the web for people in both economics and Climate Modelling. It's probably used lots of other places too.

In addition, I found myself at a planning session for a film.

I did some other things as well, which I won't mention here.

One final comment: I've noticed throughout the years that people in Bio field are fun to be around. I'm not really sure why.

The G-forces on hummingbirds

I saw a hummingbird today, and I could not help but wonder what kind of g-forces they experience. Here is what a Google search turned up:

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/09/hummingbirds_endure_extrme_g-forces/

Amazing!

I also saw a fly...

Stardate umm actually....August 6th, 2011

I'm going through Rogers Cadenhead's book on Java. The title is, "Sams Teach Yourself Java in 24 hours". I also went to Katie's sisters wedding.

The Disconnect

There appeared to be a disconnect between what I was told was possible, and how things actually were. This deeply disappointed me, making me wonder why I did not see the light for so long. But I know I must keep going, and to help others see what I did not. And more than that, help them do these impossible things. There is a future. It is coming I know.

Status Posting (cont.)

I'm filling up hard drives with material, and have hundreds (possibly thousands) of
sheets of scratch paper. It's kind of weird. This is nothing like undergrad. I might have had at least that much paper, but it was from all sorts of things.

Status Posting

I'm working so hard I'm kind of feeling ill. It could be that I didn't sleep, but months and months of untold hours per week. Wow!

Fourth Toastmasters Speech

The thing that I could work on is delivery (and perhaps lengthen it), but otherwise the speech went well.

Here it is:

What a Wonderful Adventure! Life is full of untold meaning, but we usually do not know what it is! We push ourselves to exhaustion, and later wonder why we did. Friends, relatives, acquaintances, and others we cannot give a label to enter and leave our lives leaving some sort of impact. We hoard things and give other things away. Sometimes we are more content with ignorance than knowledge. Other times we would rather be knowledgeable. We like to think we know everything, that it all makes sense. Sometimes we are bawling because it does not.

Should we be crippled by our past? What happened to the wonderment we had as children that we so dearly long for? Everything seemed possible then, and it was never wrong the believe that it could be. As we grew older we felt we understood and the saying Carpe Diem went out the window. When did we accept the word can't?

Why do we always want to be something, but usually end up settling for what seems to fit the context of current reality? Perhaps we would like our minds wiped so we can experience unbridled creativity again. We want to fly, and hope it is
possible. Our wings may not melt like Icarus when we fly too close to the sun. What is too close? We might just get there.

Let's try. Chocolate never tasted so good, nor flowers smelled so sweet. We may skin our knees and even get sand in them but we get up and keep going. We can take on everything because we believe life does have meaning, and we have meaning
as well.

We are loved. We feel the warmth of our mother's arms and see the smiles of our friends. Time comes together in harmony. We may see it as images. Images of today, yesterday, and the future yet to be. The world is mad yes, but we are madly in love with it. We appreciate even its imperfections. It is an experience to us. It is something for us to change and give back to. We may sit there an watch it pass by, utterly amazed by what is happening around us. We are always learning new things. Each day the sun hits things at a different angle, and every day we are surrounded by an infinite array of colors. The world itself is changing at a rapid place, and so are we. It is an adventure that keeps unfolding.

Do we know the meaning of life? Religion can give an answer. Thought has difficulty. Do we choose to believe something to make ourselves happy? Do we do it to make others happy? Maybe we don't choose religion, but what do we choose? Do we choose to forget the question? Can we? Maybe there is another way to answer.

So we all are here. We never chose the creation part, but we can make a lot of choices beyond that. What an adventure!

I look at you today and I quiver. I want to know what you are thinking. I really do! Sometimes I am afraid that you will judge me, but I hope you don't. I want to look at you with amazement, because you are amazing! I wish I could feel the fearful respect for you that I had when I first came to Toastmasters.

I was so afraid then. I know you've come so far, and accomplished unfathomable things. Sometimes I forget that. Carpe Diem! Life is a Wonderful Adventure.

Status

Owh, thought overload!

Exhausted Computer

My computer is essentially on life support. Its keys are worn down, the hard drive is full, it runs slowly, and it is begging me to get done with my thesis.

Putting Things in File Folders

Why does David Allen in his book Getting Things Done - The Art of Stress Free Productivity speak about putting things in file folders? Is there a better way?

I really appreciate what he says though. He's definitely done a lot research. Some of them I might use.

Thoughts about Facebook and AOL

It seems like Facebook, and other social sites, have replaced America Online (AOL) as the primary place for social gathering. Facebook is similar to AOL in that it is closed, but different in that people go by their real names instead of cryptic (for lack of the better word) screen names.

It seems like people are a lot more open about their online identities than they used to be. People could have their own profile in AOL, but had the option to not (leaving themselves entirely anonymous). The major leap forward for Facebook seems the be the
news feed and advanced notifications. In addition, I do not recall that one could easily comment of specific items. The closest thing was a Guestbook in AOL Hometown ,if I can recall correctly. Perhaps the Guestbook was a part of Geocities or Angelfire.

Are there chatrooms built into Facebook? As far as I know, no. Maybe there is an app for it? Or perhaps because chatrooms got a bad wrap when people used them to exploit children they do not exist at all.

Comments on This Afternoon (and early evening)

I had a wonderful afternoon. Writing helps me clear my head. I'm happy that I did not post this to Facebook. Sometimes it is comforting to realize that you might just go
unnoticed, but still might. It's just me and the scary Internet (well actually web).

Time compression

Perhaps the illusion of time accelerating as one grows older is caused by a decrease in the number of hallmark experiences in one's lives. Friends go to high school, go to college, graduate, get jobs, have babies etc. Once you've been around the block a few times, things lose their uniqueness.

It seems time is recalled in terms of emotion filled events. Once the beginner's experience is gone, the encores are perhaps thought less about. Oh, another friend had a baby, Joe got another job, these people got married again, another person graduated from high school, Samantha got fired, my house burned down, (omitted for content) , Jasmine made the honor roll...

So, it seems that if one wants life to slow down, then a change of experiences and habits might work. Learning something new, spending a day at the beach, and changing your lifestyle may produce an overwhelming number of memories so that yesterday seems like forever.

I remember life in blocks of time. At this stage of life I was doing this, and then at this stage of life I was doing this, and so forth. A longer period of time may seem like a shorter period of time (and vice versa) due to the number of memorable experiences. In the short times I wasn't always more or less busy, I just had more things "new" going on.

Structured / Ordered Thinking and Coffee Shops

Apparently structured / ordered thinking is more difficult for me than free creative thinking. It is like jamming something through a hole. It takes a lot of effort.

I wonder if consciousness has anything to do with it? Right now, I am a little drowsy. I went to Starbucks to get a Venti Coffee and Blueberry Coffee Cake. The girl who rang me up was named Emily. Almost immediately my mind wondered to thinking about things related to that. I went to school with a girl by that name and I still remember her AOL screen name. Now, this sounds creepy almost.

For the record, the reason that I went to Starbucks was that they accept credit cards. I am really bad about remembering to bring cash with me, and I feel horrible about using one. It apparently costs the vendors 40 cents per transaction (or is it worse if you buy more?). Well anyways, this high transaction cost is also why I bought the Blueberry Coffee Cake. I was a bit worried about what it might have in it, but oh well. I helped them out I hope. On top of that, it was near $5.00 with the coffee. Yay for expensive coffee shops!

Oh, you know what? I had my laptop bag on my head and was carrying my coffee and a paper bag with my Blueberry Coffee cake in it. Just as I was passing by Which Which, a guy smiled and said something close to "good idea" (in meaning). And then as I was taking the crosswalk across Jenkins, a girl looked at me and smiled. It got me thinking... is this what it would be like to be well known?

It was odd. I am not used to this much attention. In terms of my blog, I can post anonymously almost. The likelihood that someone is actively reading it may be a little low. There could be one maybe. Others who have seen this blog have probably forgotten about it by now.

Spontaneous Thought

I believe that if you get your mind off something, you can become something else.

Some thoughts on what makes an innovative company

Perhaps the best way to create an innovative company is to hire a bunch of people from a number of diverse backgrounds, keep them comfortable, fund them unquestionably, allow them to market their creations, and give them complete freedom for their schedule.

As far as clerical work is concerned, keep it simple. If possible, eliminate it. If elimination is not possible, use computers with a programmed intelligence to manage work in such a way that it does not suffocate the workers.

The company should be optimized such a way that the workers have nearly unhindered time for creativity. After all, it is hard to focus creativity if you're trying to keep from falling.

Some thoughts on structured education

It is great when we as a society set up artificial barriers that create value. Principally ones that require us to navigate an obstacle course of delusional importance, and then leave us thinking that we are somehow better and more qualified than everybody else. Sure, acquiring skills is important, but why do we have to become the skills themselves? Would we perform better (and be happier) if we made our creative intelligence the center and let the skills be learned as needed?

Some of my thoughts on software

If we keep people ignorant than we can easily sell them things that they can get for free. After all, we love their money. Ignorant and emotionally driven people are the best.

Are Artists or Engineers More Valuable to Society?

Well if you did not have engineers you'd probably have living conditions like the Middle Ages. If you did not have artists you may loose the ability to appreciate beauty. So, with this in mind, if you have only engineers you may live a long but banal* life. If you have only artists you may live a short, but appreciable, life.
It may be better to have both.

*This follows the assumption that engineers do not appreciate beauty. There seem to be some exceptions. Or perhaps this phenomena does not really exist? I know some believe strongly that it does. Are there some that feel strongly the other way? Perhaps somewhere in between? Maybe I am missing something?

Musings --- July 3rd, 2011

Why do we feel we have to divorce ourselves from certain subject areas in order to fit in to the world as a whole? Why do we see certain subject areas as separate?

Brent thoughts -- July 1st, 2011

The servers, the people, and the data and/or expertise stored on them are really what is valuable in an free software (subset of open source) world. In the open sourced world as a whole, it is people, data, resources, and infrastructure. Ideas are shared, but not paid for (unless there is a particular reason to do so).
One group becomes dominant by possessing lots of data, resources, and infrastructure in addition to (at least initially) loyalty by a majority. People are more fluid, unless constrained by emotional or physical factors.

There may be one or more qualities that sets an individual apart. This would allow them to leverage themselves in such a world. In addition, such people tend to be numerous in industries where the initial capital investment is low. Also, people in (or influenced by) such industries tend to be pushed away from open source by artificial restriction, and/or by subconscious, conscious, or spiritual responses.

hmm...

I'm not sure if it is incredible genius or what, but it seems like my best ideas are those that are the best solutions in others minds without personally knowing much of the details. It's like yeah, that's a good idea, and then I find ... well that's how they are doing it. It's a mixed bag. It is definitely exciting have something to identify with, but at the same time I am stressed out by the competition. It's like I want to glory of developing it.

June 23rd 2011

I had a really good day today. I learned a lot, and I am excited about the future.

Brent thought 6/23/2011

It takes a little while to make all possible mistakes before anticipation.

The 20th of June

Today I went to get my car fixed at Sears. The wrecker came and jumped my car and then I took it to Sears to get a new battery. Now it works great!
I'm trying to get my Master's Thesis done. It gets kind of lonely and stressful sometimes, so it is soothing to take a break and write.
A Thunderstorm is coming though. I think that it still may be raining. However, it is not like it was before. I am still listening to Lou Tice. He has really been helping me raise my aspirations. I dream about applying myself and having my dreams succeed and making a billion dollars. I know that this is not for everyone, but it seems like an opportunity to help people out. I guess people would put me on magazine covers and stalk me if I achieve it, but it would be worth it I think. If something spectacular happens as a result of me achieving this than that would be good. It will be funny to read this in a year, or ten years, to see where I am.

Lou Tice from "Investment in Excellence -- Audio Assimilation Program"

Lou Tice, on Track 31 (This is Me) suggests that
"The prison really is in your own mind", and that
"...all you had to do is take the key out and let yourself out".
What freedom!

Brent's Music

Today I worked on my music. It sort of sounds like the circus.
I just need some lyrics now.

Semantic Web

I also find this link by Tim Burners-Lee very interesting.

http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html

So who is the creator of Netscape?

Today I was wondering who the creator of Netscape was. I wondered, what makes these sort[s] of people successful? Performing a Google search helped me, and I found it was Marc Andreessen. Actually he was the co-founder. From this I discovered that the inventor of the World Wide Web was Tim Berners-Lee, and that the first web-site was built on the August 6th, 1991 (making this event 20 years ago in a few weeks). I soon found myself reading a Scientific American Article titled, "Long Live the Web, a Call for Open Standards and Neutrality". It was a very interesting article. It was made even better by the fact that I learned more about URIs, more about the social web, and the Resource Description Framework.

Relevant Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Andreessen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=long-live-the-web&print=yes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_Description_Framework

Thoughts on what Makes a Good Programmer

Programmers, at least the ones that are very good, posses skills that allow them to be inner-focused. They are on a mission. They constantly are challenging themselves to be creative, to continually improve by not avoiding the hard stuff, and to view hurdles as opportunities. The teenage computer geek, who knows more than everybody else, is actually very sophisticated. Likely more than magical genius lies beneath their brow.

Adults appear to face similar challenges to being good. The ones who are not successful appear to be constantly making statements of self-doubt. They are not risk-takers. It is a sad thing to realize that they have likely been the same way their whole lives, imprisoned within themselves.