Turing Test Failed

I've been "kicking the tires" on Microsoft Windows Vista's new features. One new feature is integrated voice recognition. I went through the initial tutorial training and two additional training sessions, where the computer monitors you reading sentences while it learns to understand your voice.

Then, I opened up WordPad and I said:

This is neat [period] I am talking to my computer [comma] and it is putting my words on the screen [period] I find this easier than typing it myself [period] [new line]

To be or not to be [comma] that is the question [period]

The computer interpreted that to be:

This city's needs there is clear is I am talking too much and years, ended this killing my words on the screen after the rave by finest easier for landscaping yet myself your ears no land who live

After read or not TV, that is the questions the eighth and

I suppose next time I should try it without eating crackers at the same time.

Trouble on the Block

This past weekend there was a house fire on the end of the block. The house is ruined. Fortunately, everybody got out safely.



It is a miracle that the fire did not spread to the neighboring houses. I guess those firewalls actually work.

---------
update:

And, of course, I should give credit to the brave firefighters who responded quickly (thanks to the commenter for reminding me).

Somebody posted a video of the fire:

The NASA Soap Opera - My View

It seems like the media can't say enough about the tragic situation involving the rogue NASA astronaut, Lisa Nowak, who was recently charged for attempted murder and inappropriate use of diapers.

Most people may find this situation wacky or amusing. But in my case, I am quite angry and disappointed. The reason I am upset is that I was turned down by NASA to be an astronaut. I am one of the many thousands of applicants to receive the generic rejection post-card decide to pursue other opportunities. As an engineer with an advanced degree in electro-optics, I thought I could make an excellent mission/payload specialist. It's hard to believe that I had less of the "right stuff" than Lisa Nowak.

There is something to learn from all this, in the end. And that is, maybe wearing a diaper on long trips (or at footbal games) is the way to go.

My New Year's Resolution

This year I made only one New Year's Resolution: I resolve to have an interesting year.

I decided not to bother with the standard resolutions (lose weight, get in shape, train magic level to 45 in Runescape) because we all know that it would be pointless. There is no sense in making a resolution you are never going to keep. That just leads to guilt, and who needs that?

I haven't completely figured out what I am going to do to make this an interesting year, but I have a plethora of ideas. Here are a few...

• Try some new activities. I am off to a good start because I tried geocaching for the first time.
• Try something I would "normally never do". This is tough, to go against your conventional wisdom, but it can be really rewarding.
• Travel (preferably somewhere I've never been). Don't know where yet...
• Meet new people / Make new friends. Try to make at least one new connection a month.
• Be more colorful expressing myself. For starters, I am going to start using my favorite words more often (see bottom right of this blog).

Have any other good suggestions?

A Tax on My Dragon Shield?

Taxation of virtual goods has been making the news again now that there are reports of people making massive amounts of money off of land inside the virtual world of Second Life. The idea of taxing virtual goods without physical realization sounds crazy to me.


Original Post 1/23/2006:

As some of my friends know, I enjoy playing online role-playing games every now and then (Runescape is my current favorite). A recent article on ZDNET has me concerned. Would the government actually consider a tax on virtual goods? What do you think?

I Love the Fall!

Fall is the greatest season, by far. I love the way the trees change color. Fall is great for hiking and camping. My favorite holidays are in the Fall (Halloween and Thanksgiving). And, of course, there is the renewal of football season. I look forward to watching the Philadelphia Eagles without TO and with a healthy McNabb. And Penn State plays Notre Dame again for the first time since 1992 . I was still ATTENDING Penn State the last time they played. Aahhhh.

You're So Great!

One of the things I miss the most about being young is all the positive support you receive. When you are six, nobody comes into your office and says "you screwed up big time, dipshit". We always give children positive feedback and encouragement all the time. What is even more remarkable is that we always believed it too. When we came in last place in the race we still got a medal. Our parents looked at us with such pride and showered us with praise for how well we did. You always felt like a winner. Ah, to be so young and naive, it was great.

(To those of you who had lots of negative feedback as a child, I'm truly sorry. Drop me a comment and I will shower you with praise!)