Freeport

On the topic of Freeport and what America does to countries:

http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/tncs//2005/1227gold.htm
http://www.minesandcommunities.org/Company/freeport12.htm

It's ridiculous that nobody in the U.S. cares, they'd rather talk about what people in the middle east may or may not do in the far distant future with the nuclear weapons that may or may not exist.

What the Professor Really Means

I found this relic from my sophomore year. Copyright by this good man.

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"What The Professor Really Means"

You'll be using one of the leading textbooks in the field.
I used it as a grad student.

If you follow these few simple rules, you'll do fine in the course.
If you don't need any sleep, you'll do fine in the course.

The gist of what the author is saying is what's most important.
I don't understand the details either.

Various authorities agree that...
My hunch is that...

The answer to your question is beyond the scope of this class.
I don't know.

You'll have to see me during my office hours for a thorough answer to your question.
I don't know.

In answer to your question, you must recognize that there are several disparate points of view.
I really don't know.

Today we are going to discuss a most important topic.
Today we are going to discuss my dissertation.

Unfortunately, we haven't the time to consider all of the people who made contributions to this field.
I disagree with what roughly half of the people in this field have said. 

We can continue this discussion outside of class.
1. I’m tired of this - let's quit.
2.You're winning the argument - let's quit 

Today we'll let a member of the class lead the discussion. It will be a good educational experience.
I stayed out too late last night and didn't have time to prepare a lecture. 

Any questions?
I'm ready to let you go. 

The implications of this study are clear.
I don't know what it means either, but there'll be a question about it on the test. 

The test will be 50-questions multiple choice.
The test will be 60-questions multiple guess, plus three short-answer questions (1000 words or more, and no one will score above 55 per cent. 

The test scores were generally good.
Some of you managed a C+. 

The test scores were a little below my expectations.
Where was the party last night? 

Some of you could have done better.
Everyone flunked. 

Before we begin the lecture for today, are there any questions about previous material?
Has anyone opened the book yet? 

According to my sources...
According to the guy who taught this class last year... 

It's been very rewarding to teach this class.
I hope they find someone else to teach it next year.

I share the same ...

birthday as the President of Indonesia. This should mean something.

Interesting...

Study Shows One Third of All Studies Are Nonsense

Sprite tastes a lot better in Indo than in the U.S. Go figure.

So, brown women?

Multiplayer Tetris!

We built a network Tetris game, haha, spent a total of 4 days on it, and very proud of it. Here's the project page. Executables, sources, and full writeups are there, too, and it works! Game is based on Andrew McCarter's single-player title posted at C# Corner.

System Requirements:
-Windows 2000/XP/2003
-Microsoft .NET Runtime version 1.1 (you probably have it already, but if not download here)

Future enhancements:
- Better single-play, cuz right now it's ugly try-catch around every network exceptions
- A preview screen, so you can know how your opponent is doing
- Better GUI, it's so ugly right now
- Moving the database to my own server instead of the school's :)

Development will resume after final exams week :-P

Valentine's Day

DeBeers, they recently changed their slogan. Before, it was "Diamonds Are Forever". Now it's "Diamonds: Render Her Speechless".

Which is almost true.

They should've just said it outright.

"Diamonds: That'll shut her up"

(h/t Ron White)

how to sell on ebay - a behavioral analysis

I've sold a few things on Ebay (40+ positive feedbacks, not that many , but still enough to have opinions to share).

First off, in the item description, give the impression that you give a shit about whatever you're selling, so do post good pictures. That means enough lighting, use a tripod, and (can't emphasize this enough) make sure the item's sharp in focus. If the item has observable defects/blemishes, document and show those too.

Side note: If you describe a product as NEW and the item turns out to have flaws, the buyer has a legit claim to get his/her money back. Describe it as LIKE NEW or EXCELLENT+ or EXCELLENT+++++++ and they'll be hard-pressed to bitch you out.

Answer questions/emails truthfully and respectfully, but don't make yourself look desperate. By that, I mean even if you check your email every 10 minutes, take time to answer it (rule of thumb: more than a couple hours but no longer than a few days). As long as you reply eventually, the buyer cannot accuse you of being a bad communicator. That way, buyers will know that you have better things to do than being their servant, and they won't feel compelled to manipulate you. This is what I mean by manipulation:

- negotiating fees/shipping *after* the auction closes. "How about we split the Paypal fee?" "Screw you!" You've set the fees in writing, they agreed to it by placing a bid, and they negotiate after the fact? I hate this so much.
- senseless claims. If they say the item has flaws that you know doesn't exist, and they ask for money back for repair cost, just ask them to return it for a refund excluding shipping costs.

Only leave a feedback after the buyer receives the item, approves it, and leave you a positive feedback. Since most buyers have less # of feedbacks than sellers, even the fear of retaliation will keep their behavior in check.

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No picture to show, but here's a bad academia joke I witnessed last week:

Student: "Professor, I heard a rumor that you're actually just a big softie who likes to feed squirrels, is that true?"
Professor: "..... I ... feed ... squirrels? ..... YES ! Wanna know what I feed to squirrels?"
S: "What?"
P: "Little pieces of grad students."