I have internet again. The problem was my cable modem had gotten out of date in the past five years. Shaw had changed their system so that it didn’t work with the old modem. They replaced it and now I have access again.
Yesterday was my half-birthday. Nominally I celebrated by having a barbecue. I made Baked Alaska again, but it didn’t turn out as well as the last time. We’ll chalk it up as a learning experience.
Tomorrow I have a marathon. I’m fairly calm on this. Hopefully this will let me sleep well. I don’t need stress preventing me from sleeping. Especially since I have to get up before the crack of dawn.
I think I know what to do to run a marathon. Chiefly is to run slowly. Do not try and go fast. Eat lots along the way to keep up energy.
There is nothing I can do about the weather. And it looks like it will be really hot tomorrow.

Growing up, teachers would love to point out the fallacies of Star Wars. A common favorite is that ships wouldn’t explode in the vacuum of space. But let’s think about that for a moment…
What would lead us to believe that space is a vacuum in that galaxy far, far away? When they are dogfighting, ships seem to steer gracefully, as if in an atmosphere. You can apparently park a ship in an asteroid field and then go out for a stroll with minimal protection. X-wing cockpits look flimsy enough that I almost expect the pilot to be able to open the window. The aforementioned explosions in space…
I think we have to face facts. There is no vacuum in space. There is air. I can grant you that there isn’t a lot of air, but there is something out there.
Could someone please point out to me where there is concrete evidence of a vacuum?

While driving to work today, I heard the following two songs in a row.
Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne
Don’t Cha by the Pussycat Dolls
Give them a listen and you will see that they have the same plot. The basic premise is that my current girlfriend isn’t good enough, and that I would be better off with the singer. (Yes, I’m using the personal pronoun there. This is my blog, I can project if I want.)
Is this a common theme in bubblegum pop? Is this also giving men (me?) false expectations?

My internet has died.
Until Shaw comes here, next Saturday, I am reduced to stealing from neighbors who haven’t figured out how to protect their wireless internet.

What would we do without stupid people?

I went to a swing dance class this evening. It was fun, but I didn’t really care for the instructor. He went fast and seemed to assume everyone had a photographic memory. Plus it was crowded. I’m an introvert, so I don’t like crowds. The instructor was apparently oblivious to this because he was teaching moves that took the dancers all around the floor.
Luckily, I only saw the first part. A friend then helped me cover the basic things I should know. I still haven’t gotten it perfectly, but I am learning.
I have found that when dancing in a crowded area, it is the people who know what they are doing who are the most annoying. They will happily go all over the floor and get in people’s way. And because they are putting on a great show, it isn’t their fault, because they own the floor. The newcomers will just stick to their small area of the floor, do the basic steps and try to stay out of the way.
It was a nice group. Very welcoming and it was easy to ask girls to dance.
And yes, I did dance with the hottest girl in the room.

I could have called into work, sick, claiming an iron deficiency. But, the right thing to do is to just take the afternoon off.
Did you think I wouldn’t see Iron Man on opening day?
Heck, my manager was right there with me.
Previously I had said that Transformers was the greatest film ever made. I was fully expecting that this would top that. However, I never really felt it. The problem though is that I have been waiting for this film for eleven years when the rumors had it that Nicolas Cage would play Stark. I have been reading the comics for a long time. There was no chance of surprises happening.
I’m going to hurt the logic people when I say this. Transformers is still the greatest film ever made, but Iron Man is better.
This movie did several things correct that most comic book movies ruin. For one, the hero keeps his mask on and isn’t constantly losing it or taking it off. (I’m looking at you, Spider-man 2.) And he certainly doesn’t do it to get the girl. In fact, the hero doesn’t even get the girl! Very minor romantic sub-plot is never finished. Woot!
Go see this movie.

My running shoes died last Wednesday. They had been giving signs for a few weeks, and I tried to pretend they weren’t there. But you have to face facts when your legs start hurting on runs. Well, more so than usual, and on a short one.
I wanted to hold off for another two weeks. That is when the Running Room is going to have a sidewalk sale. And I had a 20% off coupon that would go nicely with that. But painful-legs trumps saved-money. (And I’m going to try and score another coupon. Vector cereal may taste bland and give me gas, but the coupon easily saves me more money than it costs.)
So I went and bought some shoes on Friday. These ones aren’t very expensive higher end ones, as I’m really just using them to pass the two weeks. Still, they aren’t cheap. And I needed them for today, because I ran 32km. Which is probably wrong on so many levels. Don’t break in new runners with really long runs.
Normally the group I’m with would do 16km, but they are training for a marathon two weeks earlier than mine. So I figured a long run on my own would do the trick. Unfortunately that means there is no conversation to keep me going. So I brought along my iPod and listened to Escape Pod; Science-fiction short stories read out.
I’ve been holding off on listening to their really long 100th episode: Nightfall by Isaac Asimov. Fifteen years ago I had read a longer novelization made by Robert Silverberg, but I must say, the original short story is better. Much more compact. I highly recommend you give it a listen.
When I listened to their Christmas episode (I’m a lot behind in my listening) I also found a lovely Christmas carol at the end. And springtime is the best time to listen to them, because it doesn’t have the trappings of commercialism. I did not expect Twisted Sister to be that versatile, but it really got me pumping. An excellent running song that I will have to add to my repertoire.

The newspaper has a section on new condos. The front page of this part is about boring bachelor pads and the mistakes single guys always do.

• The dark leather sofa: Yup. I have one of those.
• The AV equipment: Does a 56-inch widescreen TV count. Yes it does. This indicates my living area is for watching TV and playing video games instead of conversation. Ironic considering how little time I do spend using the TV. Maybe I should move my aforementioned sofa and chairs around so they are arrayed in a circle?
• The cheap shelves: Check. They were a good place to store remotes! I thought they were a great idea.
• The bad art: I might be better here. But then again, most of my art is inherited from my mother. I do like my wooden framed medieval map of England. (Or is it France? I’m not sure, I never look.) Against me, is that I actually have purchased beautiful numbered prints of half-naked winged fantasy women. They previously adorned the walls of my apartment ten years ago, but I still have them.

So, it can not be argued. I have a boring bachelor pad; As defined by an article written by a woman. (Does that give it more credibility or less?) However, I can’t really see it changing. I don’t like to sell things. It makes me feel like I was wrong to have purchased it in the first place. Better to throw it out and maintain some honor.
Why do you think I still have a scooter?

I haven’t been out to dinner in quite some time. The last time I can recall would be back in November for my birthday. So I can’t blame this drought solely on last month’s financial challenge.
I am, of course, discounting fast food restaurants. Although, come to think of it, I haven’t gone to one of those places much lately either. And I’m also skipping Chianti, but that place feels more like family than a restaurant. (And I’ve been served faster there than some actual “fast food” places.)
I used to go out much more often. I remember a time I went out every Friday for a meal. But back then I lived within walking distance of a food court. Now, I am living in the greatest density of culinary art in Edmonton, and yet I barely use it.
Part of the problem would be that it is somewhat uncomfortable to eat in a restaurant alone. I used to have friends who wanted to go out often too, but I no longer live close to them.

A theory I heard the other day:
The reason that fashion models are so thin and sickly looking? The gay fashion designers want the models to look like their boyfriends.

If my work had an actual security department, I would be in an afterschool special today.
I use Henckel knives. My mother used them and I have inherited the habit. Since they are expensive, I don’t want to sharpen them incorrectly. Which has led me to not sharpen them at all. But today, a kitchen store that sells the knives was having having a representative from Henckel do free knife sharpening. Perfect. I’ll go after work.
So, in other words, while I was at work, I had two, very large, rather deadly, kitchen knives in my backpack. Thankfully there is no metal detector, or trigger-happy rent-a-cops packing heat at work. But if there were, I don’t think they would have been pleased with me.
The kitchen store had a lot of cool gadgets. I don’t cook enough to justify most of them, but the hoarder in me would still like to get them. Do I really need a special pan just to make omlettes. And a pressure cooker? Not really.
Is a cooking store a good place to pick up chicks?
However, I am weak and did buy some stuff. Of course, it is hard to feel like a real man when you decide to buy six ramekins so you can make Crème brûlée. I didn’t get their butane torch, and they seemed rather upset when I suggested getting one from Canadian Tire, but it has got to be cheaper there. (Plus they will have the actual butane needed.)
If this was last month, I probably could have controlled myself and not gotten anything.
And I got a diamond edged knife sharpener. Defeating the purpose of going there.

The other day a friend asked me why I continue to run if I complain about it all the time. He bicycles all over creation and says he always enjoys it.
I can think of two answers to his question.
The first is simple. I complain because it gives me a chance to brag about how far I’ve run. I like to be the centre of attention. This is a mark of poor self-esteem and I do need to work on this.
The other answer is that when I am running, I am usually training for something. When you have to do something, it becomes less enjoyable. Some of the best runs I’ve ever had have been short 16-km ones that didn’t matter. When you pile on the distance, because you have a marathon coming up, then it starts to become work.
Competition ruins hobbies.
Why do you think no one watches the Olympics anymore?

Every so often I get a project idea in my head. These are projects that will take time and energy, but in the end will challenge me and build character. Unfortunately, if I see that someone else has taken over the same project, it gives me an excuse to bail out on the whole idea.
I once started making a program to give clues to someone to help solve a sudoku. I never really got down to the user interface; You had to do a simple rewrite of the program to solve different problems. (Not as hard as it sounds.) I even used it to help me solve monster 16×16 problems that the newspaper was having contests with. Then I found the application Sudoku Susser. Clean user interface, uses tricks I didn’t know about, and would give hints in exactly the way I want. (I don’t want a solution, I want to know how to solve only one more square.) When I saw that someone had already done all the work (probably better than I would have), why should I bother.
It doesn’t solve 16×16 problems though.
Now, I had another project in mind, if I ever got my hands on Lego again. But today I found someone had already done it, and probably better than I would have. Darn professional artists.
I could still build a simple sphere.

The run this morning was long. Longer still because I decided to run to the Running Room. But surprisingly, I felt pretty good during the last part. I’ll take that as a good sign that I am getting healthier.
The only unfortunate part about it was that the group never really came upon a water refilling. There is only so much water you can bring along with you, and you don’t want to get dehydrated. So, it is good to stop off at some gas station or rest stop and refill the water bottles.
Thank goodness it had snowed recently. The fresh snow was not particularly tasty, but it did have the added benefit of cooling me down.

Well, I nearly made it. I checked online and found that I am $3.60 over my goal of $300 for the month. It was the newspaper subscription that pushed me past the target. Curses for staying well informed!
Mind you, there is no prize for meeting the goal, and I did accomplish what I set out to do; Get back to financial discipline.
Hopefully my car will start tomorrow and get me to a gas station.
There is thoughts in my head to reward myself for this. Mostly by going out and spending money. Which sort of defeats the purpose. But the iPod touch does look sweet. And I should get Super Smash Brothers Brawl. And I have a friend who believes that Guitar Hero 3 would be a good investment. And I haven’t done an order from Amazon in awhile.

And I’ve never been to Las Vegas…

It is a series of steps, that all may logical sense, but they lead to a horrifying conclusion.
I am still trying to keep the credit card bill as low as possible. The period ends on Monday, so I only have to survive two more days, and then I’m done and can waste my money again. (The words willy-nilly come to mind… Are those words?) Unfortunately, my car is running on fumes. I need to gas it up if I want to go anywhere, and in this economy, gas is very expensive. But if I can hold off on driving for the weekend, I’m good.
So I work at home today. That skips the daily commute. But there is still the regular Friday party. I want to go to that. Fortunately there is a great solution. I need to fit more running into my schedule, and the party isn’t that far. And now I know that it is only 32 minutes away. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. Warm. I can even run home at night.
At around nine o’clock though, it started snowing. That is not a good sign.
It was actually quite nippy out. And I am very thankful that someone gave me a ride home. She even had a very warm car.

Previous algorithm 1
Originally uploaded by ad_havoc

Previous algorithm 2
Originally uploaded by ad_havoc

Since I now have a better algorithm for random points on a sphere, I redid my program. I can’t do a distribution test like I previously did, so instead I’ll just generate some maps and compare them.

Here are two made with the old algorithm.

New algorithm 1
Originally uploaded by ad_havoc

New algorithm 2
Originally uploaded by ad_havoc

Here are two made with the new algorithm.

Don’t pay too close attention to the amount of land visible. I may need to monkey with the sea level settings.

You can clearly see the improvements.

Yeah, you’re right. I can’t see any difference either. But trust me! The code is much cooler.

Maybe I should buy a new car. I don’t really care for the stations my car’s radio is tuned to. I mean, they were fine nine years ago, but lately they haven’t been that good.

So that was Earth hour.
I have learned that I really depend on electricity for my entertainment and well being. I turned off the laptop and all the lights. And then the boredom set in quickly. There really wasn’t anything for me to do. I obviously couldn’t do computer work. I couldn’t clean up my home because it was too dark. Reading a book? You need light to do that as well.
So as an event, it felt like I’ve lost an hour of my life that I’m not getting back.
However, I did find a solution. I had a flashlight that is totally green. It doesn’t use batteries, instead you wind it up and it stays lit for quite some time. (It is dangerous for me to hold, because my hands always like to be doing something, and so I’ll start winding it for no good reason.)
I started reading a book with the flashlight sitting on my shoulder. And that is how I spent my Earth hour.

I had an avoidable purchase today. I got my hair cut. It wasn’t an emergency; I could have waited two weeks before getting it. But that would have been unethical. I made the appointment two months ago, and it is a nice luxury to have a good haircut.
It does mean I have to be even more careful about my spending habits. I only have a bit more than a week to go.
I do have other luxuries. I saw a play today. They don’t take credit cards, so I’m not breaking any goals by doing that. It wasn’t that good a play though. But that might be because I found it depressing, and I like more comedy in my theatre. What did I expect from a play based around three funerals.
A part of me is thinking of selling my scooter. It is fun to drive, but is it worth the money I paid to get it and pay to upkeep it? I don’t like selling things. It makes me feel like I am admitting that it was bad to purchase it. That is probably why I still have the same car after nearly ten years.
The scooter doesn’t save me any money. I’ve noticed that it has the same gas mileage as my car. That sounds weird, but I think it has to do with the car being able to add efficiencies due to its size. And I drive like a maniac, which probably takes more gas out of the scooter than is wise.

I saw Run Fatboy Run. Predictable romantic comedy. But now I want to go running.

When I came back from visiting my parents, I didn’t have a chance to go grocery shopping. So yesterday I ran out of milk. This meant that for breakfast I had oatmeal. I like oatmeal on days that I am running because it doesn’t bounce in your stomach. However, it also digests very easily, which causes me problems when I’m not running.
Since it is out of my stomach so quickly, I get hungry earlier. So I have to move all my meals up. Also, I don’t think it has as much nutrition. In the afternoon I ran out of energy; Lethargic for the rest of the day. I tried to eat more for dinner, but by then it was too late. I went to bed early and conked out.
I need to go on a diet.
However, I need to do it in the strictest sense of the word. Basically, to change my eating habits. I need to eat more. Much more. With all the running I do, I’m burning off calories faster than I can put them on.
I am not a fan of eating. I do enjoy a good meal, but I also don’t mind skipping a meal if I am not hungry. Most Saturdays are without lunch for myself.
I heard that people have stopped listening to their body and can’t tell when they are thirsty any more. I don’t have a that problem; I have a hunger problem.
Right now I am ignoring my body. I should be making a dinner.

I’m feeling pretty stupid. I’ve been struggling with calculus to try and figure out the best way to randomly pick a point on a sphere. And then today I find a web page entirely devoted to the subject. It even has formulas that are far more convenient than what I was trying to come up with.
Hooray for math and the internet.

I got back to my map generating program. I decided to check my algorithm for making maps on a sphere. I was always a little concerned about it. A big part of the operation is based off of finding a random point on the surface of a sphere.

The way I was doing it was based off of the methodology of the rest of the algorithm. Essentially I was taking a random point in a cube and projecting that on to the sphere in question. For the most part that is good. But is it really random? I had a theory that it wasn’t, so I devised a test. I ran the program again, but this time I took out the random element. I went through almost every point within the cube and used that as a projection. Then it generated a map from using all of those points. If my random method was good, then the map would be completely uniform. There would be no mountains and no oceans. But that wasn’t the case. Instead the map looked like this:

Sphere map test
Originally uploaded by ad_havoc

White indicates higher elevations and black is lower. So we can see that there is clumping at what would be the corners of the cube and along the edges. Just as I suspected.
So now I have to use a different method.

I can’t just use random latitude and longitude because that would cause clumping at the poles. (If you think about it, the north and south poles would be just as likely to be chosen as the equator, despite being vastly different in size.)
However, I think I can use something like it. I just have to compensate for it. For this I will need to try and remember how to use calculus to come up with a formula. Finally university math is going to be useful.