limniscate's Xanga

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Sat, 08 Oct 2005 13:01:29 GMT

Here's a quick update:

I'm a 1L at UT now, and I bought a house in southwest Austin. This semester I'm taking Torts, Contracts, Criminal, and Legal Research and Writing. My schedule is the ish. Class goes from 12:30 to 4:00 Monday through Wednesday and 2:00 to 4:00 on Thursday. On Friday, I only have one class from 11:30 to 12:20. This works out well since I live 12 miles from campus--far by Austin standards.

Deciding to go into law was probably one of the best moves that I've ever made. So far, I'm loving the study of law. Classes are interesting, and the people are pretty cool.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 11:34:11 GMT

My new computer is up and running. For those that care, here are the specs:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester Core
DFI LAN Party Ultra-D nf4
2x512MB Mushkin Blue Line
Western Digital Raptor SATA 10k RPM
LeadTek Geforce 6600GT
OCZ PowerStream 450

With each passing day, it looks more and more like I'll be going to UT this fall which isn't a bad thing. I'm really looking forward to the Austin swing scene. On a related note, LindyFest was freakin' amazing. It was definitely some of the most fun I've had in my life. Here are some cool pics from the weekend:

http://www.cs.rice.edu/~dwallach/photo/Lindyfest2005/

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 19:54:34 GMT

I'm going to be an uncle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Thu, 21 Oct 2004 12:24:40 GMT

For those that don't know what Eric Disease is:

On the last day of middle school, before winter break, I remember hitting my fluffy pillow and thinking to myself, “Thank God school is over!” A few days later I woke up from the longest nap my doctors had ever heard of.

Though now awake, I still felt half-asleep. I saw trails behind moving objects like a drugged hero’s vision in a movie. I shrugged it off, attributed my problem to exhaustion, and went to bed that night expecting sleep to refresh me. Twelve hours later, I woke up feeling even more tired than before. I went to sleep again for another eight or ten hours, waking sporadically with the feeling that I was dreaming. This cycle would come to characterize my affliction, one that panicked my parents and puzzled many doctors.

Despite Houston’s impressive medical reputation, it took several specialists many years to find an accurate diagnosis. As those years passed, I continued to have random temporary occurrences, and my parents and I began to lose hope.

In November 1998, nearly five years after my first episode, doctors finally found the correct diagnosis: Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS), a rare sleeping disorder characterized by, among other things, hypersomnolence (an excessive need for sleep). They told me there were no effective treatments. Their only suggestions were to eat right, sleep right, and exercise—things everybody knows and I ought to have done anyway but didn’t. Perhaps I was a little skeptical of the diagnosis after so many years of being misdiagnosed, and like most kids, wanted to be normal. But living the life of an average American teenager is not enough to stay healthy—everyone has heard that on the news a thousand times, but I experienced the effects first-hand. In the spring of 2001, my sophomore year at UT, I withdrew from school and knew that I had to change.

First off, I couldn’t be a night owl like a typical college student; I went to bed by 11:00 p.m. every night in order to awake at exactly 7:30 a.m. Eventually, my Circadian rhythm attuned itself so well to my routine that I didn’t even need an alarm clock.

Tackling exercise became my next goal. I had always hated exercise and thought it was unnecessary because I wasn’t overweight. But I was resolved to change my lifestyle. Initially, I couldn’t run very far; now, I run three miles on a consistent basis. I begrudged it at first, but over the course of a few years, it became as familiar as brushing my teeth.

Before I initiated my lifestyle changes, the threat of another episode always loomed, but I don’t fear KLS anymore. In retrospect, it was a catalyst for change, not a handicap. It forced discipline in my life and helped me to appreciate something that most people take for granted during their youth—their health.

Friday, September 10, 2004

Fri, 10 Sep 2004 12:06:57 GMT

It amazes me how ignorant people are about the "Assault Weapons Ban." First of all, the media coined the phrase "assault weapon." There is no such thing as an "assault weapon" in firearms terminology. There is such a thing as an "assault rifle," but these are classified as select fire i.e. capable of fully automatic fire. The media is purposely deceiving the public when it comes to this law. It does not cover automatic weapons. The law banned the further manufacture of magazines holding more than 10 rounds for civilian use, and it banned the further manufacture of rifles that have more than two of the following features:
1. pistol grip
2. detachable magazine
3. flash hider
4. collapsible/folding stock
5. bayonet lug

It also limited the number of rounds that a pistol gripped shotgun can hold to five.

It did not ban the importation of magazines that were made before 1994. It did not ban magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds that were made prior to 1994 either. It did not ban rifles that were made before 1994 that possessed more than 2 of the "evil" features. The rifles in question are still made, but now, they lack some of the features - namely a flashhider, bayonet lug, and a folding/collapsible stock. When's the last time you heard of a crime being committed with a bayonet? When's the last time you heard of a crime where the police couldn't locate a shooter because the shooter had a flash hider on his rifle? And even if this law did cover automatic weapons, it should still be allowed to sunset. I believe only one or two legally owned automatic weapons have been used in a crime since the passage of the 1934 National Firearms Act, and one of them was by a police officer!

The Department of Justice released a study saying that the effects of the AWB are "uncertain," and this was under the Clinton Administration. This law has had no effect on crime because criminals, by definition, don't follow the law. Mere ownership of a firearm is a victimless crime, and ultimately, these laws erode property rights. The DC Sniper obtained his Bushmaster AR-15 illegally. The Columbine kids obtained their firearms illegally, and I believe the North Hollywood shootout guys obtained theirs illegally also.

Come next Monday, this law will be dead in the water and rightfully so.

/rant mode off

Saturday, October 11, 2003

Sat, 11 Oct 2003 12:24:35 GMT

I didn't make it to second round Goldman, but did make it to second round Deloitte. I have an interview with Intel on Friday. Hopefully, I'll get one of these and will have one less thing to worry about.

Sunday, October 05, 2003

Sun, 05 Oct 2003 20:29:48 GMT

I've come to the realization that I don't know jack about finance or MIS. Despite my grades, I'm just not that talented at either of these disciplines. It's a good thing that I want to go to law school.

As far as academics go, I guess I've always tried to force myself into matching the archetypical Chinese male. I should have realized that I'm not as geared toward math/science as I am toward English/humanities. Now, I've screwed myself both ways. I should have focused more on developing my writing and speaking skills while in high school and college.

Recently, I've really noticed a distinction between people that live to work and people that work to live. The former generally do not have any of the hobbies that one would consider traditional hobbies. Instead, their hobbies include such things as organizational tasks or volunteering. They tend to consider these things fun and have thus aligned work with play. They also tend to get bored easily. The latter are more inclined to do what is necessary and screw around the rest of the time.

I have come to the conclusion that I am definitely in the latter group. The funny thing is that I doubt anyone will really admit that they live to work when in fact, they do. No one wants to be labeled a workaholic.

perfidious \per-FIH-dee-us\ adjective

: of, relating to, or characterized by faithlessness or disloyalty : treacherous

CHAMBER: The rear part of the barrel that is formed to accept the cartridge to be fired. A revolver employs a multi-chambered rotating cylinder separated from the stationary barrel.

Thursday, September 11, 2003

Thu, 11 Sep 2003 12:18:29 GMT

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

prolegomenon \proh-lih-GAH-muh-nahn\ noun

: prefatory remarks; specifically : a formal essay or critical discussion serving to introduce and interpret an extended work

Caliber: (n.) This is a term with several related meanings which can cause some confusion. 1. The internal diameter of a gun's barrel. This can be measured either in English units or in metric. The measurement can be taken in a rifled arm either land to land or groove to groove. E.g., in most .30-caliber rifles, the diameter of the bore land to land is .300 inches, while groove to groove it is .308 inches. 2. Sometimes, caliber is used as a synonym for cartridge. E.g., "This is a .30-30 caliber rifle." 3. When used in reference to artillery pieces, caliber is used to measure the length of the barrel. A 5 inch/50 caliber piece would have a barrel 50 times the bore diameter, or 250 inches long.

Sunday, September 07, 2003

Sun, 07 Sep 2003 14:46:50 GMT

Life is good.

gauche \GOHSH\ adjective

*1 : lacking social experience or grace; also : not tactful : crude
2 : crudely made or done

Iron Sights: (n.) Metallic sights on a gun. The term is used to differentiate them from optical sights (scopes).

Thursday, August 28, 2003

Thu, 28 Aug 2003 00:19:16 GMT

My place is a mess, and the previous tenants left a time bomb, a massive supply of feminine pads underneath the sink. At least they weren't used. That would be foul. College flew by too quickly. I can't believe this is my last semester.

macadam \muh-KAD-um\ noun

: a roadway or pavement of small closely packed broken stone