wce.80d.org - Making sense of /dev/random

Hello Cornell Alumni!

Thu, 24 May 2007 18:24:20 -0400

I just noticed last night that the blurb I sent in so.... so long ago has made it to the alumni notes section of the Cornell Alumni Magazine. If you recognized my name and decided to stop by - thanks. If we knew each other, I'd love to hear from you. You can send mail to my old school address [lifetime email forwarding from CU! : cay4 @ cornell dot edu]. Also, meet my friend des. She's on here as well. Thanks for the visit and I apologize for the lack of life updates. I'm living it instead of managing record mode and peering through a viewfinder.

Thanks for stopping by and please do shoot me an email. Have a great day! --Cyrus

to hell and back

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 00:18:09 -0400

a few lessons learned from the trip to hell's canyon. another indescribable trip for many reasons.

- being cynical is not a flattering way of avoiding things of which you're afraid, especially when you're at a wedding, drunk, and showing your breasts to every man who will look at them (she did have nice breasts, though).

- i'm afraid of death. and marriage. and having kids. and falling in love.

- fear is fueled by uncertainty and is most intense when you have something valuable to lose.

- there's really not too much to lose by falling in love and uncertainty isn't a very encouraging way to live an inspired life.

- there is a lot to lose by dying, getting married, and having kids but i guess you get to a point when you're ready to exchange those things with what you'll lose. danielle was clearly ready to trade it all in - but she didn't have much to lose but mountains of despair.

- when you're sitting in a tent with visions of being the next set of names in the news that was never recovered from an Oregon blizzard, the claim that "we've got plenty of food to wait this thing out for several days" isn't the most comforting thing to hear.

- geology is confusing.

- scrabble is a great conversational stunt.

in a related note, i just ran across a quote that i captured back in 1997 from catcher in the rye (i think) that sums up my most recent experiences with nature and spirituality and death and love (of which there have been so many!)

"but most of all, above everything else, who in the bible besides jesus knew that we're carrying the kingdom of heaven around with us, inside, where we're all too goddamn stupid and sentimental and unimaginative to look...jesus realized there is no separation from god."

jd salinger is brilliant.

so today is earth day, which i'm mostly opposed to celebrating in the same way that i resent going to church on sundays. filter out appreciation of nature and your relationship with god from the rest of your weekly routine and we all end up a bunch of hypocrits.

a day on the rangitata

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:33:20 -0500

02.22.07

oh boy. it has been another indescribable day. we left at 8am to head to the rangitata river. it felt a little contrived when we were picked up in a bus that said “river from the sky” on the side. i later came to learn why; in maui, rangi means river and tata means sky. the rangitata river was not actually the color of the sky but something so much more brilliant - much more intense than the grey, dull clouds and sheets of rain that blew across our faces all day. despite the rain and the cold and the lack of sun, i couldn’t unhook the smile from my ears. we began in a flat, braided river as jimmie warned us of what we was ahead. my boat, largely composed of river engineers, arrogantly joked that we knew where eddies and secondary currents would take us. and maybe we did. the boat only lost one person and he was an englishman and a drama major. i felt my confidence swell as our river guide warned us of the 300m of class 5 rapids ahead- i knew we wouldn't flip. even as cully floated up over me after our raft submerged under ‘tsunami’, i somehow still knew that we’d conquer that reach. i feel a little ashamed now that i wanted so much to be in control of nature in that setting; knowing what i do about river mechanics, i should know better than to assume that we’d have any control, even in an enormous, inflatable bumper car. and really, it was more luck than cumulative knowledge of river mechanics in the raft.

in those moments as we paddled, floated, and screamed our way through each set of class five rapids, even leopold himself would have forgotten his years of hydraulics. there is something really invigorating about being so connected and aware of a moment. as i jumped off of the first set of cliffs (only 10m this time), i thought of a conversation with nicolas a few months ago; those moments as you fall, then sinking like a bullet into 10C water, then emerging with empty lungs...that makes you feel pretty alive and aware of time. i’ve spent a lot of days on rivers and it usually brings me on some level to that awareness, but never as intensely as the trip today did.

02.21.07 - heading out to the 'bush'

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:58:52 -0500

i meant to be better about keeping up with this blog, but i really haven’t had regular access to email or time to spend writing at the computer. it is actually more of a blessing than a curse, though the backlog on my email accounts is going to be tough to tackle when i do get back. i leave Christchurch early Saturday morning and am leaving my laptop here. there’ll be no email, no cell phone, no computer screen for an entire week and i couldn’t be more excited.

i’ll try to briefly recount the past few days, though it will be hard to do that briefly. my talk on tuesday was well attended and it went very well. it is nice to have gotten it over with early in the week and to have gotten such a good response from so many people. i’ve been exploring the city in my running shoes, getting lost and finding my way (literally and figuratively) through cemeteries, city parks, and the botanical garden. i took the bus out to the beach where I met bernard, a 80-90 year old woman with only three toes and not a bit of sense about how to use a digital camera. i’ve been spending a lot of time with rick, dave, and greg and i was surprised to be so comforted by their familiar faces.

i’ve also met loads of new people who are as indescribable as the nature here is. there’s the old belgian guy who gifted me with numerous bugs (dead and alive) and who, despite his complete inability to hear a melody or a bass line, kept pulling me out to the dance floor at the conference dinner. there’s ross, the ‘technologist’ who might be the loneliest and yet most arrogant person I’ve ever met. there’s ‘kitty’, who looks just like a skinny version of arthur but who puts on a more elaborate stretching routine than bikram himself every time I pass en route to and from downtown from my hostel. there’s jess and jess, two ladies from virgina tech who are fun but who embarrassingly remind me of myself when i was a masters student. no lack of strange and mostly friendly encounters here, and i feel like i didn’t even have to try.

11.18.07 - as promised from new zealand

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 17:48:23 -0500

i arrived in christchurch yesterday after traveling for 29 hours. the trip was mostly uneventful, aside from some interesting conversations with my row companions on the 14 hours flight from san francisco to sydney. i rode downtown with some strangers from the airport and my first impression of this place is how friendly everyone is. my second impression is that if i don’t get hit by a car while i’m here, it will be damned miracle. i need to memorize a mantra to remind myself to look in the opposite direction before stepping out, but i’m so confused about which direction the cars are coming in that i can’t figure out what an appropriate mantra would be. the other problem is that this place is so beautiful; it is hard to focus on moving vehicles when there is so much else to see.

i am staying at folley towers, an amazingly well-kept backpackers hostel. it is a short walk from downtown, gratefully, and across the street from an organic grocery and the herb shop, both of which i intend to explore this afternoon. the people, again, are super friendly and super rigorous. i saw a young lady leaving this morning with a quads bigger than the meatheads at dixon. quite randomly during my first walking tour of the city last night, i ran into someone from EPA who i met last year at NABS in alaska and we went to dinner along the river. we caught up over dinner and he, because he’s been here several days already, had stories of hitchhiking, hiking, and camping along the tracks that made my mouth water. despite the lack of jet lag and no sleep for three days, i wasn’t tired but decided against heading over to the battle of the bands with him for an honest attempt to catch up on some sleep. i shouldn’t have bothered. my mind was racing as i layed in bed listening to the kiwis outside my window talking about american culture. i’m so pleased to spend the first week in town and the second in the woods and really wish i had more time to legitimately explore this place.

it is hard to believe that sony could produce something so beautiful - watch it...

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 11:32:37 -0400

http://www.bravia-advert.com/commercial/braviaextcommhigh.html

20060731 - Busted video by the ACLU

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 18:43:32 -0400

Watch this video called "Busted.". Then you'll know what to do if you ever get arrested for taking a picture of a police scene!

Know your rights! It might be a good idea to keep a copy of this arrest card in your pocket. Without saying a word (ask for permission first before going for your wallet!) you can explain to the officer you will not be talking to him and will not be unintentionally revoking any of your rights rights. Stay silent and calm and hand him the card.

Visit flexyourrights.org for more info and some guidelines on dealing with a few police stop scenarios. Visit flexyourrights.org for scenarios like dealing with a traffic stop, on the subway, during a street stop, or at your residence.

Here's an excerpt from dealing with a traffic stop.

1) Keep Your Private Items Out of View
...police do not need a search warrant in order to confiscate any illegal items that are in plain view.
2) Be Courteous & Non-Confrontational
If you are pulled over, the first thing you should to do is turn your car off, turn the dome light on (if it's nighttime), roll down the window, and keep your hands on the steering wheel. Don't immediately reach into your glove compartment for your license and registration. [...]

The first thing you should say to the officer is, "Hello officer. Can you tell me why I am being pulled over?" [...]
3) Just Say "No" to Warrantless Searches
Warning: If a police officer asks your permission to search, you are under no obligation to consent. The only reason he's asking you is because he doesn't have enough evidence to search without your consent. [...] "Officer, I know you want to do your job, but I do not consent to any searches of my private property."
4) Determine if You Can Leave
You have the right to terminate an encounter with a police officer unless you are being detained [...] "I have to be on my way. Am I free to go?"
5) Do Not Answer Questions without Your Attorney Present
There is no reason to worry that your failure to answer the officer's questions will later be used against you. [...] Assert your Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights by saying these exact words: "Officer, I have nothing to say until I speak with a lawyer."
*Remember- If you do choose to answer any of the officer's questions, always be honest. Police are not easily tricked and will often become hostile if they feel disrespected. If you feel it is best not to answer truthfully, then don't say anything at all.
6) Do Not Physically Resist
If the police proceed to detain, search, or arrest you despite your wishes—do not physically resist. You may state clearly but non-confrontationally: "Officer, I am not resisting arrest and I do not consent to any searches." Or you may assert your rights by simply saying nothing until you can speak with an attorney.

20060505 - "The Con"

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 20:58:51 -0400

My father was in town last week to take me to the Sabres/Canes Eastern game 7 semifinals. Very exciting. Our Sabres didn't quite take it but we had a lot of support there regardless. Good time.

With "Sweep" done, Wake Drama and my friend Maciej put another short, tentatively titled "Test," in the can Sunday. It's about a young couple in the midst of a pregnancy test - results unknown. Shot it in one day. If you take a look at my MySpace page and browse through the comments, you can probably see a shot of me holding about $2500 worth of gear, a selection of the equipment we used to shoot it. Afterwards, after Maciej fed us (it was his script :), himself, Rob and I went to see "The Sentinel" at the Blue Ridge theatre. Cool conspiracy theory stuff but a little bit action-cheesy about 3/4 of the way through. Enjoyed it.

Coming up this weekend is CarolinaCon2006 which I am thinking about attending. It sounds pretty neat. If you can go, you should check it out. It's Friday 6p through Sunday morning. It will be relatively geeky and "technology enthusiast" oriented and, for most, rather sleepless. It's at the Hampton Inn, 3621 Spring Forest Rd. in Raleigh. $20 cash at the door. If you want to book a room, call and tell them you're with CarolinaCon. I'm pretty excited about it.

At the greenhouse today Shuhai and I recovered the side of one of our houses with double layered poly, I cleaned the evaporative cooling pads of all the dead alge that grew on them last year, and I caulked all the aspirated air monitoring tubes with silicone to prevent the mist from the high pressure fog system from corroding the contacts and humidity sensors inside. His study is now up and running and things seem to be going pretty well.

thunder and lightening

Mon, 22 May 2006 14:57:52 -0400

for the first time since i arrived in oregon, i saw lightening yesterday evening. 6 seconds later, a 30 second long aleatoric cacophony followed the burst of static electricity. standing at the top of dimple hill in the rain, looking over the willamette valley, it was one of the most beautiful things i've seen in some time.

i hope you folks back in n. carolina appreciate what you have there with the intense, dynamic storms. i really miss that about the east coast. the storms there are beautiful.

20060521 - It's Carborro, more sweep footage

Mon, 22 May 2006 11:16:16 -0400

The "Sweep" footage is now mostly in the can. We shot some more dream sequence footage (giggage?) Friday night till about 2a at the dojo in Chapel Hill. Saturday was my first relaxing weekend day in some time. I played a game of disc golf @ the Kentwood Park course on Kaplan Dr., right near NCSU. It's a really nice relaxing game if you've never played before.

If you've ever been to Carrboro, NC, check out this video from It'sCarrboro.com. Pretty funny at times. "Vis to the Art to the VID-E-O" Weaver street market is also mentioned a number of times, Cat's Cradle, etc.

Carrboro is a cool town. I've spent many really nice days and nights there since I've moved to Raleigh. I'd move there next if I wanted to leave Raleigh and stay in the area. After that would be some place in Chatham Co.

Bye weekend.......

20060512 - speedtraps, cheap gas

Fri, 12 May 2006 07:32:52 -0400

Here's a list of speedtraps in Raleigh, NC. (See also Beartraps.com for interstate fuzz.)

There's also a page that shows the cheapest gas in Raleigh, NC which is a direct link to my locale for GasBuddy.com.

For tips on saving money on gas, check out drivefar.org. I gave the author some feedback which he's put up on his pitfalls.html page.

20060509 - sensors and oil

Tue, 09 May 2006 17:59:47 -0400

I was icerocketing myself this afternoon for no reason after work and came across some new stuff that google hasn't picked up. It's a nice search in that it displays little clips of each web page that show up in the results. Supposedly good for blog searches.... Haven't used it before today.

Read my rant on stopping useless PGP keys from clogging up the public keyservers out there. I'll iterate more someday or update this post later on what all this stuff is about. My public key is here and I encourage you to use it to encrypt your messages when sending me email (cyrus at 80d dot org). Read more about PGP here. PGP is a way to both ensure that only I see email you send to me (nobody can read it along the way) and a way for you to ensure (to some degree) that the email I send to you has not been forged by somebody pretending to be me.

Today I installed 14 humidity sensors at the greenhouse with Shuhai and cleaned out the evaporative cooling pad water reservoir. It was hot out there. One challenge we had at the end of last year, trying to weigh mist, that's right - about a tenth of a gram at a time, was the resolution of the scales we are using. I suggested today that we put the pan of oil (oil so the mist doesn't evaporate when it sinks (not always easy in itself)), at the end of a lever and let the mass of the water push up on a mass that goes on the scale. The mass puts the scale in the middle of the range (loaded configuration), hopefully where it's most accurate, and the weight read by the scale goes down when the mist collects, but the measurement is 'amplified' by the lever. Hopefully we can do it accurately and without a great deal of expense.

I had a long converstation last night with my mom about life and where I'm going. It was insightful for the both of us.

20060405 - voicemail

Fri, 12 May 2006 07:04:36 -0400

What wonderful friends I have. It's 3:35 am and I was just driving home from a Thursday night shoot for Sweep. Cell phones are obviously off during a shoot and I'm always curious what might be on my phone when I get in my car and head home.

3 voicemails! My friend Kristen called me back. I rung her earlier on the way over to our shoot but got her voicemail - around 6p. We haven't spoken in maybe 4 months. Kevin just finished school and gave me a ring to see what's up. Christina asked me to stop by the Jackpot for a brewski. All this stuff usually happens before like 10 or midnight - I don't get them for many hours later.

There's no reason you should care. It just makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

Time for nighty-night anyway. I appreciate the calls!

20060504 - Laughing Babies, the Twisted Pair, soap

Thu, 04 May 2006 17:55:16 -0400

CUTE!!! video. Laughing babies make you smile.

A link to my friends' radio show :: the Twisted Pair radio show with Al and Y0rii. I know them through my local nc2600 group. We meet at BitPlayers in Raleigh on the first Friday of every month. There's a 'gear swap' tomorrow. Bring some technical gear you've been trying to get rid of and maybe somebody will take it off your hands. If you'd like to find the 2600 meeting closest to you, go to 2600.com and look to the worldwide meetings list.

More on the anti-mouse stance. Learn the excellent text editor vim by using this really neat tutorial to radically flatten the learing curve. It's not intuitive in any respect but if you edit any quantity of text on a daily basis, do not deny yourself learning the vi/vim keybindings. You can find a few more resources by googling or looking to my 'learningunix' page. It's worth it and I use it every day.

Happy 5 May!!!

20060503 - f*ck the mouse

Wed, 03 May 2006 08:46:39 -0400

Besides looking for stuff on the web, grown up computer users don't have much use for the mouse.

I once heard an author remark that when you are a child you use a computer by looking at the pictures. When you grow up, you learn to read and write. Welcome to Computer Literacy 101. Now let's get to work.

Learning the command line on unix/Linux/cygwin (a unix-like environment for windows based machines).

If you've ever thirsted to extract the full power of a unix prompt, but were never really sure where to start, check out the link above. If you've ever wondered why you did something with the mouse 35 time in a row and wondered why you were doing all the work and not the computer, the command line is your friend.

One of the best window managers I've ever used is called ratpoison and requires no mouse to operate. Absolue freedom from constantly moving your hand back and forth between keyboard and mouse. While moving back and forth doesn't sound like much of a task, it can be a bear when you've got work to do. Next time you're editing a document think about how much time you spend moving back and forth.