December 20, 2002

Lott stepping down (finally)
- Frist likely successor
- apologies, BET interview, didn't stop criticism

RNA interference Science Magazine's Breakthrough of the Year
- 'retro': could have been done 15 years ago but largely ignored
- possibilities for cancer treatment

December 18, 2002

NASA repairs Galileo from a distance
- revived recorder by repairing radiation damage
- annealed diodes by running current through them
- recoverying important data before shutdown in January 2003

ElcomSoft not guilty
- jury found that while program was illegal, intent was not criminal
- jury found DMCA confusing

December 12, 2002

Cardinal Law resigns (finally)

Kissinger steps down from 9/11 panel
- cites conflict of interest with private industry clients

'Nemesis' opens to terrible reviews

Everyone raving over Lebron James
- first televised high school game on ESPN2 in over a decade

December 10, 2002

Cardinal Law visting the Vatican
- discussing possibility of Chapter 11

December 9, 2002

Snow to take O'Neill's spot at Treasury

Mars theories being challenged
- Theory 1: Water abundant on Mars, but has mostly remained frozen
- Theory 2: 'Rivers' caused by wake of meteorites pounding surface

Lewis going to Michigan State
- 99% certain

Oil strike continues in Venezuala
- aimed at ousting President Hugo Chavez

December 6, 2002

Paul O'Neill, treasury sec, forced to resign
- Economic adviser Lindsey forced to resign as well

USC going to Sugar Bowl
- After Georgia and Washington State win, Rose Bowl ruled out
- Notre Dame not picked as at-large

Redskins fumble game to Giants, 27-21
- Comeback ruined by Bailey fumble on punt return and McCants fumble after catch in 4th quarter
- Ramsey came in for injured Wuerrfel, led comeback
- 5 turnovers

Carson Palmer won the Heisman trophy. He's the 5th Trojan to win honor (last to receive was Marcus Allen in 1981). He was also the winner of Unitas award for top senior QB. It was one of the closest races ever: first time all 5 finalists received 100 first place votes. Palmer won 5 of 6 regions, Banks won Midwest

There was a hilarious SNL on TV. Al Gore was the host. The West Wing and Lieberman/bathtub scenes were priceless.

Went to Kirkwood with meta and Rich. There was great morning snow, 18" of fresh powder. The afternoon was a hurricane with 44-50mph winds. We were the 3rd to last up Cornice before the lift was closed at 2pm. Hottub with scotch in the snow was interesting. There would have been wine as well, but we forgot the corkscrew.

Day 7 of my snowboarding experience
- day 1-2: ASD trip
- day 3: Kirkwood trip w/ meta, Matt, bp and Brinda
- day 4: Day 2 of Jed trip (post concussion)
- day 5-6: opening weekend at Kirkwood

Got their butts kicked by the Eagles

Had an awesome day at Kirkwood. It snowed overnight so there was fresh powder all day. Rich went telemarking. meta was supposed to as well, but snowboarders can't be denied powder. There were some great rides skiers-right of Cornice.

The Difference Engine
Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer
by Doron Swade

I found this book very interesting, because it balances to opposite goals: demonstrating the novelty of Babbage's ideas/vision, and showing that they had absolutely no effect on the emergence of computing. These opposing goals are laid out upon a modern day challenge: building the Babbage's previously unbuilt Difference Engine and proving that it was functional to Babbage's original design. As a computer scientist, the balance of historical background and engineering challenge made the book rewarding for me to read.

The extended entry contains outline and summary (massive spoilers).

After several weeks of careful re-emergence into public life (SNL), Gore says no-go in next year's election.

This book was really a fun read. From the tagline of the book, "The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers," the first question you might ask is, "How is the world do you write an entire book about a ten-minute argument?" The answer is, "you don't." Instead, this book serves as a consise dual biography of Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein that uses the format to juxtapose the lives, viewpoints, and backgrounds of the two. The comparison is fun, especially as there are parts set in Vienna alongside Godel, Berg, Schoenberg, Freud, Einstein, and Bohr. I never knew that the Viennese culture had been so prolific, and although none of these greats has any real role in the book, it is fun to read about the culture that produced them. The book also lands itself in Cambridge culture with Bertrand Russell and G.E. Moore.

If you read the reviews on Amazon you'll see either those who loved the book, or philosophy majors who complain that it isn't detailed enough. I personally found the complaining reviews overly pedantic, and it's unfortunate that they missed the fun portions of the book (IMHO). Granted, my background in philosophy is fairly light (I only had a Philosophy 101 course in college).

Outline below.

Bush declares missle defense system will be deployed in 2 years

Two Towers (imdb) was awesome, even better than FotR. I'm not going to say much more, other than Smeagol/Gollum is best CGI character I have ever seen ("not listening, not listening", "Stupid, fat hobbit!").

Nets rout Lakers in Finals rematch
- continued plunge of the Lakers

... to visit my Aunt and Uncle

Giants beat Eagles to get playoff berth
- ugly, ugly game
- Giants blew many opportunities, rallied in the end
- No offensive production from the Eagles

Giants beat Eagles to get playoff berth
- ugly, ugly game
- Giants blew many opportunities, rallied in the end
- No offensive production from the Eagles

Got to drive a boat for the first time in my life. I piloted the neighbor's tritoon around Smith Mountain Lake. I was able to get it up to 30mph before my mom started screaming from the cold wind :). Not the fastest little boat, but not bad for a party boat.

... in Northern VA now

Redskins beat Dallas 20-16
- Darrell Green's last game
- end of 10 game losing streak to Dallas
- Possibly last games of Emmitt Smith and Bruce Smith
- 9 combined turnovers
- Arrington on fire (fumble recovery for TD)