Category: Blarghing

My general rants and speeches

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Winston Churchill

Life on a platter is easy.

I’ve been reading Manchester’s biography of Winston Churchill, and one thing strikes me: the ease at which he could interact with Parliament members and even royalty. It makes sense that he went on to accomplish so much, to lead the nation in its darkest hour, to become the lion that he is.

I don’t want to discredit him. He is a genius. The biography contains several examples at different stages of life. Even as a 11 year old, his mastery of language outclasses almost everyone I know. His memory is perfect, even savant level. But would he come this far without the endowment of having the most courted (married) woman in England being his mother? That his father at one point was the second most powerful man in the government?

Greatness might be churned to the top, but it does help to be near the top in the first place. I’ve come to realize that I am not too special. Yes, there are things I do well, but not in the grand scheme of things. Maybe the best thing I can do would be to foster an environment for my child at the top of the world.

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Love Interests

Amazon’s Kindle First service delivers new books every month from up-and-coming authors. I’ve never read anything from it, until this past week. My little brother and I both finished the entire Paper Magician series in the span of two weeks.

The first book was excellent. Lovely premise of magic which can only be performed on a single material. The description of folding made me want to learn origami. As the book progressed, the climax resulted in a reveal which I think authors rely on too much: the female protagonist loves the male counterpart.

The author uses this to justify adventures later in the series. She loved him so much that she’s willing to go on incredibly foolhardy quests, but the premise was she was quite smart and rational.

Yes, this was a book for tweens. Yes, the plot (overall) was enjoyable. No, the huge focus on the love interest was not needed.

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Various Updates

  • I’ll eventually post a review of my travels through NYU, Austin and Brown. The final review is that I’ll be at Brown next year.
  • Laolao is about to pass I think. My dad texted me to call them in the hospital. I know I should feel sad, but I don’t know how.
  • http://www.futilitycloset.com/2015/03/19/end-state/
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Robotic Art

It’s a good thing humans are imperfect. There was an article recently on fonts, and how one must manipulate them in minute ways to compensate for our eyes. The gist is that we perceive boundaries rather poorly, heavily influence by how long the boundary is. The result is that circles which have the same height as a square looks smaller. Type designers know this; “O”s and “H”s are actually slightly different in height.

From frerejones.com

This made me wonder, whether computers can artistically over-take humans in the future. With the advent of melody generations, music composition is certainly possible. Algorithms like Emily Howell certainly start to sound like a sonata from the classical age or one of those new age piano tunes, with its pleasant melodic progression.

But what distinguishes us from robots is that we are not governed by patterns. We don’t remember Beethoven for composing like anyone else in his period. If you listen to the composition above, it’s highly repetitive. Rules for the computer to pick the next notes. Unfortunately, the computer might never know how humans perceive these sounds, so it might never know how to break the rules (unless assisted). This is the same idea as our perception of borders.

There’s mathematical reasons why some sequence of tones sound good to us. Usually, it has to do with rational and irrational numbers. Tritones are basically Pythagoras’ worst nightmare. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t used in music. Jazz frequently have tritones, and they serve a purpose even in classical periods. Until the first day true AI becomes possible, I’ll believe that art is an inherently human subject.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe algorithmic music will be upon us in a few years, and I’m just too blind to see it. That’ll be an extremely interesting world though; I’ll gladly be wrong to see what that world holds.

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The Battery Pack

Coming back from Europe, I accidentally left my battery pack in a Heathrow airport hotel. In order to get it back, I would have to pay for the shipping cost in British pounds.

It is estimated that it’ll be 20 pounds.

At the time I lost the pack, GBP’s exchange rate is at a cool 1.55 USD.

Now it is 1.52 USD, saving me a grand total of $0.60

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Elated

I think that’s a good word to describe how I feel right about now.

Yesterday, I received an email from the University of Washington. It said that I was accepted into the masters instead of the Ph.D program. That put me in a rather poor mood, for UW was considered a “safety” school.

Today Brown University told me I was accepted into their program. The gush of relief was reminiscent of romance. Maybe it’s true that I’m dating math.