I neglected to take my annual political compass last year, but here’s where I stand this year:

Economic Left/Right: -3.62, Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.87

That’s a contraction of +1.5 on the Left/Right scale, and +.67 on the Libertarian/Authoritarian scale from 1.5 years ago. Again, I attribute the Left/Right movement to continuing studies in the field of Economics. I have no explanation for the Libertarian/Authoritarian change.

Last night at around 9pm, I was mugged by a pair of 16 year olds while on the way to campus for a late-night meeting. Without going too far in to the details, I’d like to present you with seven different accounts of what happened from the local media. I find the variety of the articles, and their inaccuracies, intriguing.

Newspapers:

• Times Union – This article is a good starting point, as it probably should be given the Times Union’s position as largest media outlet in the region. It does contain an inaccuracy though. “[O]ne of the suspects threw the wallet into the woods to try to hide it, Cooney said.” They actually threw the wallet down just feet from the scene of the crime, which was in the road at 15th and Christie. There aren’t any nearby woods to throw things in to anyway. The inclusion of the maximum sentence is interesting. I’ve never really understood the reason to print the full addresses of those charged with crimes, but most of the articles include this detail.
• Troy Record – This article actually mentions my condition, which is described as “The victim was slightly injured and required no medical attention.” It’s more like I “refused” medical attention. I had several open scrapes that were bleeding and required band-aids. A couple hours later, Public Safety wanted to take me to Samaritan… Also note the incorrect spelling of “Robbery” as “Roberry”. I’m wondering if that typo will make it to print tomorrow.

TV Stations:

• WRGB 6 (CBS Affiliate) – First of all, I LOVE the image selection. This article has a bit more of a narrative, and it includes a new item that neither newspaper mentioned – “… when he noticed a group of males paying attention to him.” Indeed, I did notice them ahead of time, and I knew they were following me. I guess a narrative lends itself a bit more to a TV report.
• WTEN 10 (ABC Affiliate) – This may be the best overall article. It contains an even additional tidbit, “Police say the victim attempted to flag down several passing vehicles immediately after the alleged robbery and his efforts were ignored.” This was probably the worst part of the event — four cars drove by in the other lane after the two had fled, but before I’d gotten up, and despite my frantic waving, none of them stopped to help. The article covers everything quite nicely, providing a strong narrative and skipping out on irrelevant things like their home addresses.
• WNYT 13 (NBC Affiliate) – Not much to say on this one; it was posted later in the day than most of the others, and it’s a direct rehash of the previous stories. It also doesn’t appear on the main WNYT site, just the Troy site.
• YNN (Time Warner 24 Hour Local News) – I believe this was the first article to be published. It’s minimal on the details, stating that I had “some personal items stolen.”

Other:

• 105.7 Crush FM – I think this is my favorite, I wish I could actually hear the radio DJ read this one. The little embellishments are what make it awesome. “Sunday night was not a very good night” for me. I disagree, it was an exciting night, but what an intro. “The dynamic duo will really love this. They have been charged with robbery which is a felony charge that could net them 15yrs in prison.” Dynamic Duo? Hahaha… Good stuff.

From the aggregate, one can get a pretty good idea what happened. There’s a TON of extra details that make the story more interesting, like how I saw their shadows on the wall of a building ahead of me as a car passed, and how I felt “safe” while their were cars passing, but as soon as the road was empty, they took the opportunity and shoved me from behind. It’s interesting that none of the articles got my direction of travel correct, which was to campus. My injuries were actually pretty decent — My left knee was scraped up pretty good and was bleeding, left hip was substantially scraped (it hurts the worst, currently), right palm was punctured and bleeding, left elbow was scraped, left shoulder scraped, left cheekbone scraped, and an area above the hairline above my temple was scraped and bleeding as well. The bleeding was nothing substantial, but you could smear blood from any of the indicated scrapes.

After the incident, and after four cars had passed, I ran across the street to Joe Perchiacca’s apartment, who was thankfully there. I’m extremely grateful towards Troy PD. Their quick response was more than I could have hoped for. At least six cars were involved, and they had apprehended multiple subjects within minutes. Based on what I’ve seen from the RPI Crime Notice fliers, it seems that arrests being made on Troy muggings are rare. I’m glad things worked out for the best.

Cuttlefishtech is finally up and running on Dreamhost. I genuinely haven’t had time (or had forgotten) to set everything back up. First, in mid September, I forgot that you actually have to move files around when you change webhosts. I purchased two years of Dreamhost in late August, and my IXWebHosting ran out in mid September. I completely forgot to download my files off IX, so I renewed for one month to grab everything. Things grabbed, I then procrastinated sending them back up to DreamHost. When IX ran out again in mid October, I switched “important” things like my email address and my Mom’s web site over immediately, but it wasn’t until earlier this evening that I bothered to finish the job. And the job probably isn’t even finished, surely there will be odds and ends everywhere that are still broken.

One of the main reasons I jumped ship from IX was the fact that I didn’t have fucking PHP5 support. It’s 2011. Who the hell doesn’t have PHP5 support in 2011? As it turns out, IXWebHosting doesn’t. Now, we’re running the newest and greatest WordPress 3.2.1 (at some point, PHP5 was required). I also went with Dreamhost as they claim to have some sort of Rails support. I haven’t poked around with it yet (I’m not convinced a shared host can actually do a decent job at providing Rails hosting), but eventually (within 3 months) this site will be either running Rails or extremely overhauled and reskinned. It’s about time for me to put together my Portfolio / Professional site. Of course, a redesign will be met with the same, normal, 3-5 day period of daily posts followed by a year-long abyss.

Note: Originally posted on someone else’s Google+ post, but figured I’d cross post it here, since hey, I have a blog that needs content, and this way I can link to it on Facebook

Background: I’ve used Grooveshark for around a year now, and have been paying for VIP since September. I’ve been getting increasingly frustrated with disappearing songs from my playlists and the unavailability of “key” songs like Rolling in the Deep. Grooveshark’s “host music until we receive a DMCA” model stops working when record companies start caring and start DMCAing.

I splurged last night on the Unlimited ($5) subscription and spent 4-5 hours setting up my entire “collection” on Spotify. It’s great. All the music is “legit”, ie actually licensed as opposed to Grooveshark’s mostly illegal model. A couple albums are missing here and there, namely all of Arcade Fire, and Daft Punk’s Discovery, but they had just abut everything else I wanted available, including many “rare” Muse B-sides, “indie” artists, and random dance remixes of stuff. It automatically scans your hard drive for music files and adds them to your library, which is AWESOME, and perfect for someone who doesn’t want to abandon their extensive catalog, or if you have super rare stuff that the Spotify catalog doesn’t have, or if you like The Beatles. Unfortunately it doesn’t like my WMA lossless files (probably not FLAC either), but I have most of them transcoded to v0 VBR on a separate hard drive which I’ll move around and import eventually.

Sound quality is 160 kbps Ogg Vorbis at the free and Unlimited level, 320kbps at Premium ($10 a month). It sounds fine (on RPI TV’s stereo monitors), much better than Grooveshark. Albums do NOT play back gaplessly. I do prefer Grooveshark’s “now playing” bar, but Spotify does allow you to queue things on-demand with a simple right-click -> Queue. It also shows the list of upcoming shuffled songs, which is a wonderful feature Grooveshark neglected. However, it doesn’t shuffle “queued” songs, only songs from whatever source you’re “playing from”. Additionally, you’re only able to reorder songs you’ve queued, so if you’re playing from a playlist you can’t reorder the songs in your “play queue”, like you can in Grooveshark. The workaround is to queue the whole playlist instead of playing from the playlist, but that’s slightly awkward and counter-intuitive, and then you can’t shuffle. So, some improvements to be made to the Now Playing interface.

Social networking integration, blah blah, I see Jeff in my right panel. It’s missing a “music discovery” tool like Grooveshark’s Radio, but I suppose there are enough other tools out there to help with that (Grooveshark mostly suggests garbage anyway).

I’m already considering upgrading to the $10 a month plan, namely for the mobile app. 320kbps and offline support would be nice too, but I’d be mostly paying for the mobile app.

I accidentally stumbled across Google’s Ad Preferences page, which lists all the “information” it has gathered about me through tracking cookies.

It was quite accurate with no false positives. I mean the following list describes me pretty much completely:

• Arts & Entertainment – Events & Listings – Concerts & Music Festivals
• Arts & Entertainment – Humor
• Arts & Entertainment – Music & Audio
• Arts & Entertainment – Music & Audio – Rock Music
• Arts & Entertainment – TV & Video – Online Video
• Autos & Vehicles
• Autos & Vehicles – Custom & Performance Vehicles
• Autos & Vehicles – Vehicle Brands – Porsche
• Computers & Electronics
• Computers & Electronics – Programming – Scripting Languages
• Computers & Electronics – Software – Internet Software
• Computers & Electronics – Software – Operating Systems – Windows OS
• Games – Computer & Video Games – Driving & Racing Games
• Internet & Telecom – Web Apps & Online Tools
• Online Communities – Blogging Resources & Services
• Online Communities – File Sharing & Hosting
• Online Communities – Photo & Video Sharing – Photo & Image Sharing
• Sports – Motor Sports
• Sports – Team Sports – Hockey
• Demographics – Gender – Male

I’m curious why it singled out Porsche, and I’m not sure about the very first Concerts and Events category either, but still, great job stalking my internet habits, Google!

I believe the following link should bring you to the page, but I’m not sure as I stripped a ton of session variables from the URL.
http://www.google.com/ads/preferences/

I killed my laptop today. With water. It’s been sent off to who-knows-where for repair by dedicated Lenovo technicians.

I’m now going to take time to reflect upon my old, surprisingly unnamed laptop.

Here’s the earliest photograph I have of my old T61p, taken when it was only one day old…

It was involved in some early hijinks, here it’s joined by my T23 and my desktop in a rickrolling session:

In November of 2008, I chose to upgrade its motherboard to support four processors and dual graphics cards. The eBay listing for the motherboard provided by the Taiwanese vendor was a bit sketchy, but the product performed flawlessly. A++ would buy again.

The power unleashed by a Core 2 Duo, a Core 2 Extreme, a Core 2 Quad, AND an AMD Turion X2 coupled with both ATi and nVidia graphics was intense. Luckily, the motherboard vendor supplied an extremely efficient one-piece heatsink that cooled all six silicon dies to a reasonable operating temperature.

Massive power occasionally caused massive instability

Also sometimes Windows Vista was a bitch

Fuck you, Windows Vista, fuck you!

This is why I will use Thinkpad laptops for the rest of my life:

My first battery, posthumously named Ted Kennedy, was deemed inadequate for my needs in August 2009. Kennedy was succeeded by the exuberant Billy Mays

During winter break 2009/2010, my T61p underwent several critical changes. I once again overhauled the motherboard, dumping support for the factory Core 2 Duo in favor of a newer Xeon chip. My newly reinvigorated laptop is seen here with its new Xeon processor, providing titles for RPI TV’s hockey coverage:

Shortly after, I ditched my stock DVD/CD-RW drive in favor of new cheap technology from Asia. I absolutely love buying from sketchy Hong Kong vendors; I’m always amused by the strange stamps and customs stickers attached to the packaging. The product this time was a Hard Drive caddy. Coupled with a new hard drive, my Thinkpad’s storage capability increased by 412.5% from 160 GB to 660 GB. The blue hard-drive indicator light on the caddy confuses a lot of people. It also causes the thinkpad to not boot half the time when restarting. A complete shutdown / startup works fine, however.

I held off upgrading to Windows 7 until May 2010. I didn’t want the OS upgrade to wreak havoc with my RPI TV titling programs. I’m happy to say 7 has only bluescreened once.

During summer 2010, my Thinkpad had an unfortunate encounter with a feline. The family cat has always enjoyed keyboards; unfortunately she enjoyed my laptop’s keyboard while it was perched precariously near the edge of a table. The ensuing fall cracked the LCD bezel, broke the PCMCIA door, and took out part of the palmrest as well. I don’t have any pictures of the damage, so here’s a picture of the culprit:

I continued to overhaul the motherboard on two more occasions. I upgraded to 5 processors, adding an i7 chip in Spring 2010. Finally, just two days before its wet demise, I added a 6th, an AMD Phenom II X4.

The incident itself occurred early this afternoon. It was a blustery day, and my window blinds were making quite a racket banging against the window with each gust of air. I was in the kitchen, preparing a lunch of fake ham sandwich and strawberry waffles. I grew more and more agitated by the incessant banging of the blinds, so I dropped my lunch and headed to my room, intent on raising the blinds to the stowed position.

As I entered the room, I noticed that my laptop screen was blank. It was sitting emotionless on my bedside table, just under the windowsill. Perhaps it Windows Updated and shut off? I grabbed my phone from the palmrest and was alarmed by the puddle of water that was revealed by its ascent into my hand. Closer inspection revealed a soaked keyboard and soaked palmrest. Only the battery, plug, and bluetooth LEDs were lit. A now empty water bottle lay on the floor next to the table. I conjectured that the bottle, which was capless, had been blown and/or knocked off the windowsill by a gust of wind and/or the bottom of the blinds. The ensuing spill soaked my laptop and phone.

I rapidly retrieved four select-a-size paper towel segments and began drying off the keyboard and palmrest. I was a bit alarmed that the water had not drained through the keyboard drainage holes on the bottom of the laptop. Lifting the laptop revealed a massive puddle. Just how much water is in a 16.9oz water bottle? It was now clear that water had drained. I attempted to powercycle the laptop a couple times. The bluetooth status LED flicked on and off. This was bad. I removed the battery (whose contacts were quite damp). No change. I removed the hard drives and resigned myself that this was the end of my 6 processor, 20 core, dual GPU laptop.

I later traveled to the Rensselaer Computer Repair facility, and all I got was this lame loaner laptop.

Given the extent of the water damage, I don’t expect the laptop I get back will be spiritually my laptop. Since the palmrest was damaged in the Summer 2010 feline incident, I don’t expect to get my stickers back. I hope the Lenovo techs are taken aback by my awesome Taiwanese 6 socket motherboard.

May you rest in piece, my curiously unnamed T61p. I hope the 3rd world “computer recycling center” you end up in is pleasant, and I hope the toxic water runoff you cause doesn’t kill too many remote villagers.

In keeping with one of my annual traditions, here’s this year’s Political Compass result:

Economic Left/Right: -5.12, Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.54

I’m slightly less liberal and a little bit more libertarian than I was last year.

Full gallery located at http://photos.cuttlefishtech.com/gallery.php?dir=cherry-10-2, highlights and captions below!

1. Senior forward Bryan Brutlag (#4)

2. Sophomore defenseman Nick Bailen (#29)

3. Senior defenseman John Kennedy (#5)

4. Freshman forward Johnny Rogic (#12) receives a pass and sets up for the 2nd goal of the game, a slapshot past goaltender Allen York.

5. Junior forward Patrick Cullen (#19)

6. Freshman forward Brock Higgs (#23)

7. Junior goalie Allen York (#30)

8. Joel Malchuk (#13) faces off against Polacek (#21) to start the 2nd period

9. Sophomore netminder Bryce Merriam (#32)

10. Freshman defenseman Pat Koudys (#2)

11. Junior forward Alex Angers-Goulet (#18)

12. Junior forward Josh Rabbani (#24)

13. Freshman defenseman Bo Dolan (#11)

14. Junior defenseman Mike Bergin (#8)

15. Freshman defenseman Guy Leboeuf (#3)

16. Johnny Rogic (#12) gets sent into the boards by John Kennedy (#5)

17. Senior forward Kevin Beauregard (#20)

18. Kevin Beauregard (#20) yells as Josh Rabbani (#24) looks on

19. Justin Smith (#17) holds Tyler Helfrich (#15) against the boards as Johnny Rogic (#12) and Guy Leboeuf (#3) chase after the puck

20. Senior forward Tyler Helfrich (#15)

21. Sophomore forward C.J. Lee (#22)

22. Sophomore goalie Bryce Merriam (#32)

23. The RPI Pep Band has been forced from its former home on the eastern stage to its new location in the stands

24. Senior defenseman Jeff Foss (#7)

25. Allen York (#30) lays on the ice next to a deranged goal after a close save

26. Freshman forward Matt Tinordi

27. Alex Angers-Goulet (#18) trips Chase Polacek (#21), drawing a penalty

28. Chase Polacek (#21) slides along the ice after being tripped

29. Alex Angers-Goulet (#18) contemplates his actions in the penalty box

30. Mike Bergin (#8) and Bryce Merriam (#32) celebrate the equalizing goal (2-2)

31. Sophomore Greg Burgdoerfer (#14) reacts to his time in the penalty box

32. Joel Malchuk (#13) dives after a puck as Bryan Brutlag (#4) races to intercept

33. Senior forward Scott Halpern (#10)

34. Freshman forward Brock Higgs (#23)

35. Senior forward Chase Polacek (#21) reacts to missing a shot during the final minute of regulation

36. Junior practice goalie Jeremy Coupal (#35) confers with the team during the short break before overtime

37. Allen York (#30) is knocked over during a scrum in front of the net

38. Tyler Helfrich (#15) loses his footing during the same play

39. The referees agree to settle the tied game via a shootout among

40. Head Coach Seth Appert and Troy Record reporter Ed Weaver look on

41. Johnny Rogic (#12) prepares to take his shot against Allen York (#30)

42. Brock Higgs (#23) fails to negotiate the puck around Bryce Merriam (#32)

43. Marty O’Grady (#27) lines up his shot against Allen York (#30)

44. Tyler Helfrich’s (#15) shot goes wide right of Bryce Merriam (#32)

45. Allen York (#30) deflects Chase Polacek’s (#21) shot, keeping the shootout scoreless

46. Alex Angers-Goulet (#18) trips over Bryce Merriam’s (#32) stick as his shot is deflected

47. Patrick Cullen (#19) squares up against Allen York (#30)

48. John Kennedy (#5) floats the game winner passed Bryce Merriam (#32)

49. The White team celebrates their victory

50. The team returns to the locker room after a successful and entertaining scrimmage

The postering ban is lifted in 2 hours. Let’s see what I have in stock!

• 11 O REILLY Owls – Deployed in the DCC/CII Walkway
• 3 YA REILLY Owls – Deployed in the DCC/CII Walkway
• 2 O/YA REILLY Combos – Deployed in the DCC
• 12 2 Vector Imitations (10 Union stamped) – Deployed in the Union
• 3 Clean and Green – Deployed in the DCC
• 5 4 RHAM – One deployed by Java++
• 7 RNE Imitations – Deployed in my room

I’m definitely going to print more Piggies. The RNE imitations probably won’t go out as they have improper times listed (and most of the signs they imitate are gone). I might try to expand my use of the Clean and Green signs on recycling bins.

Nominations are due at 3:00 PM on Saturday! 125 nominations required for Senator positions.