and one fine morning…
Pictures
you open doors and close them, quicker than the eyes of most
Aug 30th
In the past, I’ve decided on a specific computer hardware configuration and then purchased a custom systems with exactly that setup. In July, I chose and shopped for each piece separately and put things together myself. Here are the components I chose, taking me a total of 3 hours to physically assemble:
- Case: Antec 902
- Processor: Intel Core i7-930
- Cooling: Corsair H50 self-contained water cooling
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
- Memory: Crucial Ballistix 6GB (3x2GB in triple channel) DDR3 1600
- Boot Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ (1TB, 7200 RPM, 32MB Cache)
- GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 (1GB DDR5)
- PSU: Corsair 750TX
- Data Drive, Optical Drive, and Card Reader: scavenged from unused computers at home.
I have the system overclocked from the stock 2.8 GHz to 3.8 GHz. It’s stable and smooth, and the H50 provides plenty of cooling, even when the processor is at 80-90% load. I installed the H50′s cooling fan backward on purpose. This means that the radiator for the cooling sits on the back exhaust of the case, and not on a back intake. I based this off of an article at Tom’s Hardware which suggested that preserving overall airflow of the case is more important than getting cool ambient air for the processor’s radiator. I find that both processor and Northbridge temperatures do not exceed 65C, which is 15-20C below their suggested limits. I am also very pleased with the H50′s noise performance, since I can hardly hear it. The 902 is also a very quiet case in general, unless all the fans are turned up to high.
All in all, this build is a success! I did it for $400 under the “custom configuration” style websites, a full $550 under the Dell equivalent, with a better case to boot. As an added bonus, I now feel fearless about putting my own components together. If you are considering making such a step, just know that pieces these days don’t fit together the wrong way (for the most part) so it’s hard to “put it together wrong” and that your actual assembly process will probably take you twice as long as you think it will. Email me if you want tips or ideas. Otherwise, I think Tom’s Hardware and AnandTech are great for ideas. Check out MicroCenter for your processor (I saved $99 by going to this “brick and mortar” store) and investigate Bing Cashback for your online purchases.
Unrelatedly, I heard an interesting discussion on the Nature Podcast about an experiment that calls into question something called the “testosterone folk hypothesis.” Most people associate testosterone with aggressive, antisocial, and egoistic behaviors. However, researchers found that testosterone actually resulted in people being more fair in negotiations when blinded to the drug they had received. Here is the fascinating, yet somewhat unsurprising part: those people that were told that they had been given testosterone behaved less fairly and more aggressively in negotiations. Essentially, the prejudice about testosterone influenced people in the opposite way of the actual hormone! Read the full paper free, here, courtesy of Nature.
On July 11, my lovely friends Jonathan and Lida just had a beautiful baby girl named Eva Ann. She’s the first baby that I’ve actually known since the beginning, and despite her predilection for emptying her bowels when I hold her, I am fascinated by her.
Lastly, (since I am wary of counting chickens or bragging), I will add that my first academic paper has been submitted. It is called Predicting criticality and dynamic range in complex networks: effects of topology. You can read the preprint abstract here, or download the preprint PDF here from the arXiv. My collaborators were Juan G. Restrepo, my advisor, and Woodrow L. Shew, a physics-trained neuroscientist with the National Institute of Mental health, a part of the NIH. I am really excited about this submission, and will post any news about it here.
your boldness stands alone among the wreck
Jun 10th
Recently, I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon with how I think about decisions. Basically, if it’s after 10 or 11 P.M. I’m a bit more melancholy about things. I find myself missing people that I care about but haven’t seen in a long time. Normally, I would write this off, but it’s been relatively consistent recently. The result though is that I consider the plans that I have made for the upcoming days, and start to reconsider all of them. I start to feel lonely and wonder if the plans that I have made are just empty emollients.
Here is the thing I can’t figure out: which of my persistent mindsets is more accurate to reality? Is it the sleepy and somewhat contemplative emotional mindset? Or is it the face-to-the-sun headstrong and sanguine mindset? How does one find out?
Hot Dude Party is on a break for the summer, and Chaos is in a serious MCAT study zone and therefore not very much fun to be around because MCAT is all that’s on his mind. But on May 26, we played a show at Herman’s Hideaway and my brother took photos, for example the one above. Meanwhile, in real life, closer and closer to finishing my first paper for submission.
Gabby is out here for two days for a conference, and it’s awesome to see him. He seems to work his ass off, and I really admire him. He’s staying at the St. Julien hotel, and it’s seriously posh inside. I haven’t been in a nicer hotel since staying at 21c in Louisville, KY.
I can’t stop listening to this song: Little Lion Man, by Mumford and Sons. It’s so good. Their whole album is good. A million thanks to Mike Larremore for the recommendation on these guys.
consequence
Mar 28th
I bought new wheels for my bike today. Ultegra, tubeless. Should be fast, and a lot stiffer than my old wheels. Taking them for a spin tomorrow. Played some good pool yesterday. Haven’t done that in a while. I still remember how to play. How about that? Went out and stayed out late last night. Today I have been a bit of a zombie. But there are a lot of good things going on:
I’m on my way to being in shape again. I have been getting exercise 5-6 days a week, which is a nice adjustment back toward being healthy. My leg feels so much better without screws.
Math has been going really well. I have given 2 talks this month, and will give another one (hour long…eesh) this Thursday. Barry and I were talking, and agreed that you should probably give every talk you have the opportunity to. I have another poster for an upcoming conference too, NTD10, at College Park. After that, I think we will write the paper.
Music has been going well. HDP has gotten some radio play, which is nuts. We recorded a demo. Download it or listen here if you want. I worked on the website for a little bit today. Here is what I am thinking.Finally, my dad and I worked on a bookcase the other day. Going to put an ad up on craigslist and get a roommate or two in the house. I think that will be nice, especially this summer and in the fall.
Bri and I broke up last week. I have been thinking about her a lot. Feels weird to say this, but I really hope she is not out of my life for good.
oh they don’t have a soul like a Vincent ’52
Jul 15th
Ok, time to test myself against some more physical exertion. I signed up for the Copper Triangle and the Buffalo Bicycle Classic. The Copper ride is going to be hard, and the Buffalo one is going to be long, but I think I can do them. Frankly, it will come down to IT band issues, if they come up. Either way though, I have a pretty solid VGA these days. Plus, I can rep the throwback USPS Jersey.
Dustin pointed me to the hot new summer fashion, the couch dress. It’s a pretty fancy number. I want to commission a team of grandmas to make one.
My friend Jay was in Denver, and today, we went out to eat Indian food, lunch Buffet. I haven’t seen Jay since 2005, and so it was really awesome to catch up. We’ve been in touch, but not regularly. He is a pretty badass guy, in so many ways. I think we forged a bond during freshman year of college when we realized that we were both skinny dudes, and liked hilarious stuff. Today, we still like hilarious stuff, but we are less skinny—hard to believe, I know.
We talked for a long time, then went to see Wall-E, which was really sweet. I loved it, and even felt pretty emotional for the little guy. The animation was fantastic, and I think the eco-commentary was well-timed too. We finished the afternoon by driving to Casa Bonita, so Jay could see it IRL and in person. We asked a man if he could take a picture of us there, and he said “Oh…No Thanks,” and walked off…as if we were offering him drugs or something. Like we are two shady characters and we dupe fat old white dudes by first asking them to hold our expensive electronics and take pictures of us. Weird. Anyway. Life is good. Jay is the man. Here is a picture of Wall-E because he is so damned cute.
if you were a slalom, i’d ski you without shinguards
Jul 5th
because my legs should feel the pain when I knife your curves
A lot of people use national holidays to get drunk. I don’t like this approach. Most Americans can get drunk on the weekends. Use the holidays for something more interesting, I say. BK spent the evening with Naomi, who was one of his English professors, and is now his friend. They set up camp in the foothills overlooking Boulder, talked with other former students, and watched the fireworks. My life was invaded by Moinesters (Arielle, David, and Susan) with whom I shared dinner and funny conversations. Somehow, David and I got onto the topic of eugenics again, after 15 minutes this time, compared with 5 last time…
and let’s skip your inspection, and just have one
The new Sigur Rós album is wonderful. Download the free 320kbps title track here. Who wants to drive to Salt Lake City this fall for their show at Saltair?
and have fun, let them run, swing click, swing click:
This summer has been pretty amazing so far. KM and I rode our bikes 40 miles earlier this week, which is the farthest I’ve ever ridden at once. Slowly but surely. Soon, I will have those sweet/gross calves that look like they’re made of steel cables! My aunt and I rode lookout mountain earlier in the week, which was also fun, but way too short. On July 3, my class played DK’s class in Patriot Kickball, which was wonderful. My team won, of course, because I am a much better teacher (haha) but I think it was fun for everyone. I like organized sports, and I like the feel of summer classes. I’m nearing a point where I’m going to try stepping it up another notch in all aspects of life, which will be fun. I’m going to team up with DC this time, which should be particularly fruitful, as he is the man.
slayfest
מגע של ידיך
Apr 3rd
It was raining heavily when I left my house this morning at 4:45. My mother and I listened to the Feynman lectures on physics while we drove to the airport, which reminded us both of her parents—my grandparents. After my parents got married, they moved to the Yosemite valley, where they worked as doctors in the clinic there, and the staff was all quite tightly knit. So, my mother left this morning to visit some of the nurses from Yosemite, now in Seattle.
The rain reminded me of St. Louis and Chicago. Early morning. Cold. Rain for Denver, but drizzle by midwest standards.
When I parked in Boulder and started walking up to campus, I put on my winter coat, which is really just a wind/water-”proof” shell that makes me feel impervious to the elements. The pockets were filled with trash, so I meandered off the path to a trash can and discarded the bits of paper and carboard that I had been carrying, but I saw a flash of yellow that looked familiar. There on the top of the heap of canned trash was a small, thin-cardboard box, flattened and worn, with yellow exterior and words written on it in marker:
Restore the art of living.
I thought of who had recently worn my coat, and the hands that had written those words and held that trash, and was very pleased. Over the years, we’ve found some interesting treasures in the poverty-tortured neighborhoods around North Grand, the most recent of which were, to an outsider, bits of trash. But to those who have an affinity for growth, an affinity for vision, there’s a lot to learn from the things that society discards. So DC, I’m not sure if you ever read this, but if you do, thanks for leaving the important trash in my coat, and keeping me thinking today.
