Clogged toilet?

The toilet that came with my house is a low water type, which means it saves water but it gets plugged more easily.  The bowl is shaped funny such that I cannot get a good seal with my plunger.  I found out that Drano is a no-no for toilets because it can cause the pipes under the toilet to explode, which is bad on many levels.  In desparation, I got a drain snake, which worked, but it's a pain to use and scratches the porcelin. 

Then (trumpet fanfare, please)  I found someone on the Internet who recommended Dawn dishwashing liquid.  Put in about 1/2 cup, wait a while, then flush.  Works like a charm!  It usually works in about 1/2 hour, though one time I had to give it another "dose" and go to work.  I flushed it when I got home, and everything did what it was supposed to do. 

It's cheap, safe, won't scratch anything, and leaves a pleasant scent.  And if it doesn't work, you can always get out the snake.

Cows Eating Grass

The southern state where I was born and raised is considered something of a "backwater" to sophisticates on either coast.  However, it is positively cosmopolitan compared to where I live now.  Don't misunderstand, I'm not complaining.  A quiet life is just what I need right now.  However, sometimes things happen that remind me of just how remote it is here.  Last night was one of those times.

I usually don't watch the local news on TV, but I did last night to find out the weather forecast.  The first several news stories on the broadcast were the kinds of things you might expect from any local news show...a guilty plea in a murder trial, etc.  But, at that point, the station evidently ran out of news altogether.  So, what do you put in a news cast when there is no news?

The next "news" story was about a rancher who was pleased to discover that some of his land had very little snow, so he was able to keep his cattle on the pasture rather than feeding them hay.  That's all.  I stayed tuned in, thinking there would be some angle that would make it newsworthy.  Nope.  It talked about the money he was saving on hay, and the various places on his land he was using. 

That was the news.  Cows are eating grass.  Yes, it's a quiet life here.

One of the right questions.

A few weeks ago, I proposed that the question of big government vs. little government was the wrong question to ask about any aspect of government.  What's the right question?  I think there are several.  One is SMART government vs. STUPID government. 

I will address an area that I have a little expertise in, and that's battered women.  Experts estimate that about 25% of American women will be abused at some time in their lives.  From my experience, I think that estimate is way too low.  It's an epidemic.  When children are raised in that kind of environment, it teaches that violence is the way to get what you want, and perpetrates the problem to the next generation.  It keeps the jails full and the emergency rooms too busy. 

Battered women's shelters are terribly underfunded, which is nothing but stupid.  A small additional investment in more shelters will save much, much more money in the future.  Putting people in jail is very expensive.  But most states are too damn short sighted to act on these facts.  Even if we care nothing for the lives of the women, the best way to get the kids out is to get Mom out.  If the kids are out, the boys won't learn that hitting is the way to go, and the girls won't learn that love = pain. The next generation will have less of this, and hopefully, this will start a downward trend.  I have not read any stats on this, but I believe it will reduce illegal drug use, too, as people use drugs to escape a bad reality and an inner pain.  But, the money savings will take several years to materialize, and most state legislators can't see beyond the end of their nose. 

Easy Chili Recipie

This chili recipie is very easy, flavorful without being hot. 

1 package ground beef - 1 to 2 pounds
1 bag frozen sliced bell peppers (various colors)
1/2 to 1 chopped onion (optional)
1 large can tomato sauce
1/4 cup chili powder
2 cans beans (black, kidney, or chili)
Salt and pepper to taste.
1/2 can or bottle of beer (optional.  Drink the other half while you are cooking.)

In a large skillet, crumble the ground beef, and add the bell peppers and onions.  Stir and cook. When the beef is brown, put it all in a large pot.  Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a slow simmer and cook for at least an hour, or longer if you can. You can add your favorite hot sauce if you like it hotter.

The wrong question.

Years ago, I learned about a tactic that salesmen sometimes use to close a sale.  Instead of asking "Do you want to buy X", or something similar, they ask "Do you want a red one or a blue one?"  Either answers implies a "yes", and the customer wonders later just when he/she actually said "yes." 

There has been a huge debate in this country ever since I can remember about big government vs. little government.  To me, this is like asking if we want a red one or a blue one.  It's the wrong question. 

Conservatives believe that little government is, in general, better than big.  This is a rather sweeping generalization.  I very much dislike generalizations, even if they are true, because they can blind us to the details and the exceptions. 

Every issue or item must be analysed separately and independently.  We must ask first - what do we want to happen?  Then we look to see what works.  Period.  If it's big government, little government, local government, federal government, private industry, or some combination, we should stick to what works. 

Let's look at function of the federal government that is huge, spends lots of money, and yet even conservatives (or especially conservatives) agree is in general, money well spent.  That's the military.  Yes, it's a function of the federal government.  Our military is the best in the world.  Recently, there have been scandles about private contractors working for the military and making complete asses of themselves.  In this case, was private industry better than the governement employees (soldiers)?  No way!  The private contractors were much more expensive and did a much worse job.  Blanket statements about how private industry is better than government just don't apply here.

So, what's the right question?  More later.

JOBS!

Just a quick note:  There are two major companies that I know of that are screaming for CS/IT people to hire, including college students for internships.  They are the Fargo, ND Microsoft office, and Hormel Foods in Minnesota.  Pass the word. 

Why can't we be friends?

Since I moved to this new community and new job, I have been very, very busy;  however, my new job is much less stressful than my old one, in spite of the long hours.  Therefore, in my time away from work, I have not been obsessing about work problems, and so I have had a little space to indulge in contemplation of current events, including my own political views. (The last 2 and a half years have been quite political!) In rethinking various issues, I have discovered that my political views are much more complex than I had previously thought.  As I have mentioned in a previous post, I am part libertarian and part liberal, and part my own unique views.  My father was a Goldwater conservative, and raised me to be the same, but events have conspired to cause me to re-think lots of things. 

Today, I want to start a series of entries that slowly, carefully, and logically, explore ideas and issues, in the spirit of calm and rational discourse, which seems to be sorely lacking in our political climate.  I believe that the current climate of extreme division, rudeness, lack of compromise, and animosity is doing FAR more damage to this country than any idea or policy by any political party.  This little town is friendly and polite, but a few weeks ago a total stranger came up to me in front of the post office and started calling me names because he took issue with a bumper sticker on my car.  That's just wrong.  The bumper sticker was poking fun at the "trickle down economics" phrase that was so popular in the 80's.  It was, I thought, more funny than anything else.  (It shows an elephant taking a leak.)  But this guy was just out of control.  I would never accost a total stranger (or anyone else) because of a bumper sticker. What's wrong with people? 

John McCain is a fine American, and a true gentleman, who has done far more for his conservative cause by just being who he is than any angry screaming people every could, including that jackass at the post office.  Let's all imitate his manners.

News about Microsoft's Bing

The local Microsoft office has been hosting live events via their live meeting software, broadcast to nearly every college in a 3 state area, including this one.  Today, the presentations were about Bing, (the search engine that is Microsoft's answer to Google) about what they do, what kind of people they want to hire, etc.  Just casually in passing, a couple of presenters talked about the "partnership" with Facebook, and how they were able to exploit that in deciphering the intent of a person's query.  Deciphering intent can be challenging.  For instance, if a person searches for "jaguar", do they mean the animal, the car, or the sports team? 

I was astonished when they described how they used Facebook, so during the question and answer session, I asked them to describe the interface more fully.  Yes, I had heard them correctly.  Essentially, if you log into Bing, and if you also have a Facebook account, they will search your interests on Facebook, and go out to your Facebook friends, and search their interests, also, to better determine your search intent. 

Does anyone besides me find this a little spooky?

The strange tale of Ralph the Eskimo.

This is a true story about my friend Ralph. 
Years ago, Ralph was a graduate student in a college in the southern part of the U.S.  He had to fill out an enrollment form that included those questions that are supposed to be for statistical purposes only, including one for "race or ethnic origin."  One of the options to check was Eskimo.  Ralph assumed that few people in that state would be checking Eskimo, so he did, just so their data would be more interesting. 

Then something happened that is not supposed to happen.  Someone used that data for other than "statistical purposes only."  Someone noticed that Ralph was a non-Eskimo kind of name, and that Ralph's surname was very German, and called him about his Eskimo indication.  (Please note:  the only way to ensure that computerized data is not misused is for it to not exist.) 

So what was Ralph to do?  I must give him credit for his ability to think on his feet.  He told the caller that his father was from Germany, and emigrated to Alaska to look for work, where he met and married an Eskimo girl.  He also said he spent his youth with his mother and her people, and so identified with his Eskimo heritage much more than his German heritage, although he had his father's name.  The caller was satisfied, and hung up. 

Of course, this tale was completely fabricated.  Ralph's family was all from Texas, and had never even visited either Alaska or Germany.  But it makes a great story.

What the heck is race? 

A wise person once told me to beware of any idea that did not have a clear definition.  “Race” seems to be one of those.  Trying to nail down this idea is like nailing Jello to a tree.

For instance, why do we call a person “black”.  I suppose, originally, it was identified by skin color.  However, most people we call black today are more of a beige or tan.  Even more confusing, many of my students from India or Pakistan have darker skin than many folks that are called black.  So, what is the real reason a person is called black? 

The President’s mother was white, and his father was black, so that makes him “black” even though he is more of a beige, actually.  But, why is he called black and not white?  Any person with one parent who is black is called black.  For instance, Tiger Woods is called black because his father was black.  What about his Asian mother?  She doesn’t count?  

The picture above is of Mariah Carey.  She is supposed to be “black”.   (What!!!!????)  Why?  Because she had a parent that was labeled black.  I don’t get it. 

OK, well, maybe the rule is that if you had any ancestor that was once labeled black, then you are black.  But, we are all descended, science says, from one woman who lived in Africa.  If she lived in Africa, she would have to have black skin, or she would have died of skin cancer or a really bad sunburn.  So, we are all descended from a black woman.  So, we are all black. 

If we are all black, why do we keep talking about race?  It turns out that the idea of “race” entered the world fairly recently.  It’s just a leftover term from a confused period in history.  Let’s get rid of it.  I am hereby initiating a campaign to eliminate the term from the language altogether.  Unless, of course, we are talking about something like the 100 meter dash. 

The Girl Programmer vs. the Dumb People - Round II

Just a few more war stories for your amusement.

One time I was giving a midterm and all of the students had finished and left except for one guy in the back row.  He looked worried.  Then, as I was staring right at him, he reached into his shirt pocket, referred to his notes, then continued with the test.  No, the notes were not allowed.  Now, if you are the only student in the room, who will the teacher be looking at?  

On another midterm, an young lady turned in her test, then went back to her seat and immediately began to look up something in the text, which is not unusual.  What was unusual was that after she found the item in the text, she closed the book, came back to my desk and took her test back.  I was so surprised that it took me a few moments to recover and ask her to bring the test back to me.  Even more surprising was that she began arguing with me.  She said "But I made a mistake."  Fortunately, I was able to retrieve the test before she altered it, and so saved her grade.

Finally, I must share something that another faculty member told me about something that happened where he used to work.  I may not have all the details exactly right, but in essence, this is what happened. 

As with most computer science programs, this one had a significant number of Chinese students. A certain faculty member would give frequent short quizzes.  On quiz day, as soon as every student was busy with the quiz, the teacher would post the answers just outside the door, so the students could check them after they left.  I don't know how hard each question was, but the number of questions was fairly short.  During one quiz, a Chinese student came in who was not in the course, bowed deeply to the professor, mumbled something in rapid-fire Chinese, then left.  It seemed to be an apology for accidentally entering the wrong room.  The teacher thought nothing of it until the next quiz, when the same student came in and did the same thing.  As most experienced teachers, he became suspicious. How likely is in that the same student would make the same mistake on his room location twice, especially on quiz day?  During the next quiz, he asked his graduate assistant, who knew Chinese, to sit in the class with him.  Sure enough, the same student came in and did the same thing.  But the graduate assistant was able to understand his mumbled Chinese, and found out he was zipping off the quiz answers that he had just memorized from the posted answers, for the benefit of the Chinese students in the class. 

So, the experiment with "code talking" didn't work out so well. 

The Girl Programmer vs. The Dumb People

I enjoy watching and hearing about dumb criminals, such as the guy who went to his own bank to hold it up, and wrote the note on the back of his own deposit slip.  Here are some stories in this same vein.

Years ago, when I lived in the country, the door that we used most often was an old kitchen door with a large, plain glass window.  We returned one day from a shopping trip and discovered that someone had tried to chisel their way into the dead bolt, but were stymied by the very old, rock hard wood.  They ignored the large sheet of very breakable glass just above it.  They also ignored a nearby pile of bricks they could have used.  Thank God that people don't turn to a life of crime because they are smart.

Likewise, students don't turn to cheating because they are smart.  In my 15 years of full time teaching, there have been several incidents that stand out, both from personal experience and from tales told to me by my fellow faculty members. 

Early in my career, students were starting to copy papers from the Internet rather than writing their own.  Another faculty member showed me one that was turned in to him.  The student had not even read it, evidently, because the last paragraph of the paper was titled "About the Author"..which was not him. 

Another incident happened when I was teaching both an undergraduate database course and a graduate database course.  At this time, our lab facilities were not personal computers, but terminals to a VAX minicomputer.   I was conducting a lab for the undergraduate course, when a student, who had been in my graduate course in the previous semester, asked if she could use one of the ununsed terminals.  I told her she could, and she took a seat next to one of the lab students.  I spent the lab walking behind the students, looking at their screens to see if they were doing OK, or having trouble, or whatever, as was my practice.  In the process I walked behind my "visitor" and noticed she was working on the project that I was requiring for my CURRENT graduate course section, not the previous semester's project that she had done.  As the VAX used UNIX, it was easy for me to see the current logins.  The "visitor" student was not logged in under her name, but I noticed two logins for a student in my current semester's graduate class.  Yes, you guessed it, she was doing the project for one of my current students. 

It was easy to know what to do with my current grad student - he earned a zero for the project.  But what to do with her?  We had nothing in the academic honesty policy to cover that situation.  The only thing we could nail her on was using someone else's login.  Of course, we revised our policy as soon as possible to include things like this.  But what still astonishes me is that she chose my class to sit in to do this.  Not the brightest move.

I have more stories, but they must wait until my next post.

The Girl Programmer vs. the White Board.

In about 1979, I was hired by the financial division of a large, multinational corporation which shall go nameless for now.  The company had a revolving charge system that was written in assembler and ran on a machine so old and so small that it had no disk drive--only tape.  I was hired with a group of people charged with re-writing the system in Cobol, which was relatively new at the time, on a Honeywell mainframe. A few weeks after I started, we were all sent to national headquarters for a week of training in a file system (they called it a database--not so!) that we were supposed to use.  

The class had some "lab" time built in.  I use "lab" loosely because there was only one terminal for every 4 people, and that was only because they were using terminals in the offices of executives that were out of town.  The terminals had no screens, but were miniature teletypes with built in dial-up modems.  They were about the size of an old portable typewriter, produced print about the same size as a typewriter would.

During the first lab time, four of us were sent to a vice president's office to use his terminal.  It is impossible for 4 people to see such small type at the same time.  In our group, a person from my office (Donna) settled in front of the terminal and started typing.  The two other members looked on.  I could not even see what was happening at all, never mind participate, so I settled into a chair on the opposite side of the room to wait.  As I glanced around the room, I spied what I later found out was a white marker board.  I had never seen one before.  I asked Donna what it was.  She absently said that it worked like a chalk board.  A person could write on it with markers and then erase it like a chalk board. 

I thought this was a great idea!  I looked around the room and saw a coffee can of markers on the VP's desk.  I used them to draw trees, birds, flowers, and lots of other nifty things and generally entertained myself wonderfully while waiting for the terminal hogs to get done.  After some minutes, Donna and the guys declared their lab complete, so  grabbed the eraser and started erasing.  A few things erased, but most of it did not.  I asked Donna why. 

She said "Did you use the special markers?"  She had not said anything about "special" markers.  I knew nothing about special markers.  We looked at the can full of markers, and only a few were actually white board markers.  The rest had phrases like "waterproof" and "permanent".  Oops. 

We did manage to get the board cleaned, and I was not fired, although we were late getting back to the classroom.

Jesus was smart.

Jesus was one really smart dude.  One of the things he did that was smart was stay completely out of politics.  He made it quite clear that his kingdom was "not of this world".  So..no politics, no economic theories, nothing but God stuff. 

Living in a "red" state can be a challege for someone like me whose views are generally not very red.  I tend to be a mix of liberalism and libertarian (yes, they mix), plus a little that seems to be my very own take on things.  But, some folks assume that all Christians must be conservative Republican, and will lecture at length on why that is so.  Nope.  Please, please, please, don't connect certain political views with certain religious views.  Same with economics.  A free market is neither Christian nor non-Christian.  Same for socialism.  Economics is not politics is not religion.  Sorry.  

The changing world

 As someone who is no longer young, I am particularly struck by how rapidly the world in changing, and how the rate of change is accellerating, particular regarding the computerized aspects.  I decided to start this blog to journal my observations in this regard, as well as insert comments about other parts of life from time to time.  The world can be very interesting!!!