My Tracks is an app that takes advantage of the G1′s GPS to automatically record statistics for and create maps of your movement — no matter whether you are traveling in the car or on a bike or on your favorite pair of running shoes! All you need is a reasonably clear view of the sky so that the GPS can talk to the satellite. In addition to that, My Tracks can automatically upload this data to Google Docs and Google My Maps for you. Here is a look at today’s map:

View 20090414-Cycling in a larger map

And here is a look at today’s stats:

Distance: 34 miles
Total Time: 02:50:33
Moving TIme: 02:12:02
Avg Speed: 11.96 mph
Avg Moving Speed: 15.45 mph
Maximum Speed: 30.2 mph

The GPS also records elevation data and charts that against time. However, I don’t trust that data. According to My Tracks, I reached -331 ft yesterday…that seems pretty far below sea level for southeast Houston.

My only other beef is that I’ve had trouble uploading my map to Google My Maps the last two days. The only issue this has created has been that a link has not been recorded in my Google Docs spreadsheet for My Maps the last two days. This will probably annoy me if it persists, but the benefit outweighs these minor issues. Hopefully the GPS stuff can get worked out so that elevation will work a little better…then I’ll be a super happy guy!

Update

The first leg of the MS 150 was canceled this year due to weather. However, the second leg (from La Grange to Austin) proved challenging for me. Unfortunately, My Tracks failed me! Here’s the map it produced:

View Crazy MS 150 Map in a larger map

And here are the stats it spat out at me:

Distance: 652.81 miles
Total Time: 06:55:05
Moving TIme: 05:59:50
Avg Speed: 94.36 mph
Avg Moving Speed: 108.85 mph
Maximum Speed: 398.24 mph
Minimum Elevation: -29,558 ft
Maximum Elevation: 59,964 ft

Ooops!

Here are my real stats from my bike’s computer:

Distance: 77.97 miles
Time: 06:10:06
Avg Speed: 12.6 mph
Maximum Speed: 37.7 mph

Not bad for my first trip through crazy hills!

Here is the real map:

View 2009 BP MS 150 Challenge Route (Day 2) in a larger map

One week later, on December 23, I had my first interview. Here is the blow-by-blow:

Title: Software Developer

For two years I’ve been working in IT for a small-ish company that has given me some latitude. While on the job I was able to learn some about network administration (yea for Cisco!), server administration (mostly Linux stuff), as well as software development (Perl, Ruby, Python, Ruby on Rails, and Django). In addition, I had some time to home my golf game.

As it happens, a company got a hold of my resume through my extended church network, and they brought me in to interview for a Java developer position.

Let me just say that I had never in my life touched anything that wreaks of Java before. However, the software development group was interested in my language skills. On my resume, I always mention that I can read Ancient Greek, Latin, and Classical Hebrew. Why? Well, because it makes me look cool. In this case, however, it was probably the difference between getting an interview and not getting an interview.

In two of the three meetings that comprised this interview, I was told that language learning skills were analogous to computer science training. One interviewer even went as far as to say that Computer Science degree plans should have more foreign language requirements.

I told him that I hoped we could meet in the middle. I’d teach them some Greek/Latin/Hebrew, and they could teach me some Java.

Because I have no Java experience, I’m not expecting to get this job. However, I must say that it is an intriguing position. I’ve decided to do a little self-study Java in my new spare time. Here are the resources I’m using:

• Learning Java, 3rd Edition
• WikiBooks: Java
• MIT: Introduction to Software Engineering in Java
• MIT: Laboratory in Software Engineering

I’m sure I’ll find more resources as I move forward. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get this job! Wish me luck!

So, I am looking for work. Where will it come from? I don’t know. Anyone have any bright ideas?

NB: In case you were unaware, RIF means “reduction in force.” It’s the clever HR propaganda for “above average pink slip abundance.”

If you’re not familiar with the game, then I suggest that you hop over to the site linked above and get to know it. For about a week now, this game has been a bit of an obsession at our house. In fact, I think we’ve played it every night since we were first introduced to it. However, we have modified the rules, largely because we are competitive people with competitive friends who enjoy things like “scoring.”

Last night, after a particularly contentious round of Bananagrams, the Bananagrams Council of League City (2008) convened for the first time. This group, which currently consists of five representatives (James, Daron, Wendy, Natalie, and me) hopes to codify the rules for a new type of Bananagrams game that lends itself to scoring. Here is what we’ve come up with so far:

1. The Setup
All tiles are arranged face down in the middle of the table. Each player selects a pre-determined number of starting tiles. This determination is made prior to the game and his little or nothing to do with however many tiles Daron claims a player needs to have.

2. The Start
Once all players have drawn their tiles, anyone may say “GO” to start the round. Typically, however, this duty falls upon the youngest in the group — though this is not ALWAYS the case.

Note that “GO” may only be said when all players have selected their tiles. Note also, however, that as soon as the final player puts his/her finger on the final tile that he/she needs to select, a valid “GO” may be uttered.

3. The Play
Each player uses tiles to create words in a crossword or Scrabble fashion. Each word must connect to another word, and may only be spelled left-to-right or up-to-down. No backwards spellings here.

A word is valid if and only if it is a non-proper (e.g., no proper nouns such as “Texas”) dictionary word. The host determines which dictionary or dictionaries are valid for this match. At the Hebert house, for example, the New Oxford American Dictionary shall be used unless otherwise noted.

At any time a player may trade in a disagreeable tile. To do so, the player simply returns that tile face down to the large pile in the middle. After returning the tile, the player must then draw three additional tiles from the middle. If three tiles aren’t available, then the player must take the remaining tiles.

Whenever a player has used all the tiles in his/her hand, he/she shall say “DONE.” At this point, all players must draw two tiles from the middle and add them to their stash. If there are not enough tiles for each to draw two, then the tiles shall be evenly distributed amongst all players. However, let’s keep this loosey-goosey, no need to be NAZIs about this.

4. The Finish
Play ends when a player has used all his/her tiles and said “DONE” for the final time. The offending winning player’s words shall be checked by the group. If any word is found to be invalid, play resumes.

The round is over when a player has successfully used all of his/her tiles to create valid words and no tiles remain in the pool in the middle.

5. The Score
At the end of the round, each player totals his/her points. Scoring is based on the number of letters (n) used in a given word.

For example, the word “IT” is worth two points. The word “PIT” is also worth two points. The word “SPIT” is worth three points, while the word “SPITE” is worth four points. Hopefully, you get the idea.

In addition to this point total, the player who finished first receives five bonus points.

Finally, to discourage haphazardly trading in particularly difficult to use letters (i.e., J, Q, X, and Z), additional points will be awarded for using these letters. Currently, the Council is undecided as to how these points should be awarded. Two possibilities are being debated.

Option #1: Jamesian Scoring (aka Double Word Score)
Under this method, any word that uses one of the difficult letters listed above will receive a double word score. For example, “ZOO” would be worth four points instead of two. Additionally, if a player builds another word off of the Z in “ZOO” then double points are awarded for that word. Therefore, if “QUIZ” is formed off of the Z in “ZOO” then “QUIZ” receives six points.

QUIZ = 6pts
ZOO = 4pts
TOTAL = 10pts

Option #2: Daronian Scoring (aka Point Per Difficult Letter Used)
According to this scoring method, an additional three points are given for each difficult letter used. However, these three points only count once, meaning that additional points are not added for building off of difficult letters. In our example above with “QUIZ” built off of the Z in “ZOO” the points would break down as follows:

QUIZ = 3pts
ZOO = 2pts
Use of 1 Q = 3pts
Use of 1 Z = 3pts
TOTAL = 11pts

Until this debate is put to rest, the use of Daronian Scoring or Jamesian Scoring shall be up to the host of the game. Note, however, that both of these options are completely valid according to the Council so long as they are not mixed. There shall be no commingling of Daronian and Jamesian Scoring.

5. The Win
Typically, games have been played until a player goes over 300 points. Once a player has gone over 300 points, the player with the highest total points wins.

However, like so many other things, the objective score is up to the host. If the host deems that a higher or lower objective score is more appropriate, then it shall be so. However, this decision, and all other rules decisions that are the prerogative of the host shall be decided prior to the beginning of the game.

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Leave ‘em below!

Bjork got me thinking about my own college experience.

After being a reasonably successful high school student, I went through an intense period of humbling in college. I sat in lectures and read books and began to realize that I did not have all the answers. In fact, I seemed to have none of them. This new found humility really did a number on me. Part of me wanted to react: “Stephen, you don’t know anything. You better get crackin’!” Another part of me said: “Stephen, you don’t know anything. What’s the point? Watch some TV.“

I went on to make a 3.5 my freshman year, which is admirable, but not what I wanted. It was truly symptomatic of what I was going through. I felt really motivated to do well in some classes. I tended to ace those classes. For other courses, effort seemed futile or useless — those typically resulted in B’s. My sophomore year was very much the same.

I also had a genuine fear of professors. They intimidated the heck out of me. As Professor Lino Pertile told Samuel Bjork:

“Students are always afraid that any conversation with their professors will become an exam, or interrogation, or a test of knowledge.”

That sums me up perfectly. I was so worried that these professors would expose me for the fraud that I was. They would lay me open for all the world to see: “Stephen Hebert is a dumbass. It’s been proven…once and for all!”

Luckily, through required meetings, I ran into a couple of University of Texas professors who made me feel at ease: L. Michael White and Ernest Kaulbach. Both of these professors made me feel OK about not knowing everything. They encouraged me to ask questions and come by their offices to chat. It was a healthy relationship. My final two years at UT were drastically different because I felt like I could approach professors and ask them questions. I started to learn.

This practice carried over to Harvard. Even the title “Harvard Professor” couldn’t intimidate me. In fact, it probably made me more eager to ask questions. Thankfully, certain professors really took me in — even into their homes. Frequent lunches or dinners with exemplary fellows like Helmut Koester and Francois Bovon set me at ease. There was a time when I would have feared a meeting with a professor, not the case with Helmut and Francois.

As with most other aspects of life, proper relationships yield excellent results. Restoring the appropriate student-professor relationship yielded excellent academic results. Students and professors should operate out of a mutual respect for one another. There is a symbiotic relationship going on here. Students need professors to help them learn. Professors need students to fill their classrooms so that they can get a paycheck. Well, professors might also learn a thing or two from a student. Students shouldn’t fear professors. Professors shouldn’t be annoyed by students (you did choose a career in teaching after all).

Bottom-Line: If you are a student headed to college, I strongly encourage you to cultivate some relationships with professors. Luckily, most schools have institutionalized office hours: time set aside for you to come in and ask your questions and have conversation about important issues without the pressures of lectures and seminars. Take advantage of it! You’re paying tuition…get your money’s worth!

Part of me would like to vote for Obama. I like the idea of a real image changer — someone who can come in and get the “U.S. Empire Building” monkey off our backs.

Part of me would like to vote for McCain. Time and time again he seems to act as a little maverick, doing whatever he thinks is right (I realize that this is probably an over-generalization).

Amidst all of this indecision, I was looking for a little perspective, or perspctv.com. Thankfully, Jeff Croft, provided me with the link via his ma.gnolia.

Perspctv.com is a sweet mashup that illustrates the differences in media coverage between Obama and McCain. Not only that, but it shows you the latest poll results, with a comprehensive electoral map, and provides running feeds of recent tweets (for those who are Twitter-savvy), blog posts, and news pertaining to the two frontrunners.

It may help you make a decision. It may not. At the very least, it’s an interesting statement about media coverage and how it effects an election. It would be interesting to plot poll data on a line graph to see how the mentioning of candidates names during a news cycle affects what people on the street are thinking.

9abx08: Trust No 1
Terry O’Quinn makes his return! As yet another character, O’Quinn, a total stranger, convinces Scully that Mulder, who is in hiding, may be dead.

9abx17: William
A terribly burned man leads Scully to believe that he may be Mulder. The strangeness that ensues causes Scully to make a very difficult decision about the safety of her child.

9abx19-20: The Truth
This is it, kids. The series finale. Nowhere to go beyond this. Whether you like it or not doesn’t matter.

That completes my review of the X-Files. You should be primed now to watch the new movie tomorrow night! And now I can get back to real life…

8abx01: Within (II)
Special Agent John Doggett is appointed by Deputy Director Kersh to head-up the task force searching for Mulder. He and Scully get off on the wrong foot, which culminates in an awesome sci-fi soap opera drink in the face for Doggett. We see some tender moments from Scully as she longs for Mulder (who is probably the father of her child…yeah…she’s preggers now). The whole thing winds up in rural Arizona.

8abx02: Without (III)
Doggett watches Mulder plummet to his death. Except that he apparently got up after the fall and ran away. Scully, convinced that the alien bounty hunter is among Doggett’s task force, attempts to protect Gibson Praise, in hopes of finding Mulder.

8abx14: This Is Not Happening (I) & 8abx15: Deadalive (II)
OK. This storyline just gets way ridiculous. But, at least we have Mulder back for a few episodes!

8abx17: Empedocles
I really wanted to like Doggett and Reyes. Honestly, in a different universe (one not populated by Mulder and Scully), that might have been possible. In “Empedocles”, Reyes brings Mulder in on a case that she believes may have something to do with Doggett’s son’s disappearance — a case she worked many years ago.

8abx20: Essence (I) & 8abx21: Existence (II)
I find it difficult to separate these two episodes, as the first is purely setup for the second. Most of the action revolves around safeguarding Scully’s baby (who is finally delivered at the end). A lot of major character plots are tied up, which is nice to see for a season finale. All-in-all, it’s good enough I think.

7abx03: The Sixth Extinction (II)
With Mulder laid up in a hospital, conscious but unable to speak or communicate, Scully continues her work with the alien ship in Africa. These episodes of the X-Files take the biogenesis theme, that extraterrestrials are the origin of life on Earth, to the extreme. It’s an interesting angle, and ultimately may hold the key to getting Scully to accept “extreme possibilities.”

7abx04: The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati (III)
The Smoking Man pays a visit to Mulder in the hospital, and takes him to suburbia to make him an offer. Meanwhile, Scully has reason to suspect that Fowley is working with the Smoking Man, and not in Mulder’s best interest. Good conclusion to this three-parter. Plus, the return of Albert Hosteen (our Anasazi friend from way back in season 2) doesn’t hurt.

7abx02: The Goldberg Variation
I find this particular installment to be interesting because of its humor (like my opinion of many episodes from season 6). Here Mulder and Scully are trapped in a real-life Rube Goldberg machine.

7abx10: Sein Und Zeit (I) & 7abx11: Closure (II)
Finally, after nearly 7 years, we have some idea of what actually happened to Mulder’s sister. Sorta. Watch it and see. I just don’t know what to think, honestly.

7abx12: X-Cops
A funny episode that follows our agents around in COPS-style documentary format. Some of the secondary characters are hilarious. A fun watch.

7abx15: En Ami
The Smoking Man makes an irresistable offer to Scully: the cure for cancer. Unfortunately, she must hide this from Mulder. What does the Smoking Man really want? What is his interest in Scully?

7abx17: All Things
Directed by Gillian Anderson, “All Things”, a rumination on fate and the unknown, shows us a side of Scully that we rarely see. Separated from Mulder for the weekend, Scully bumps into an old flame who has taken ill. She finds that she’s more than willing to consider alternative forms of healing, surprising to the audience and her. What most people talk about, however, is the scandalous teaser.

7abx18: Hollywood A.D.
I have to include this episode because it involves one of the funniest moments in the entire series (pay attention to Scully and Leoni). Mulder and Scully get involved in a film project based on their own exploits, starring Gary Shandling and Tea Leoni!

7abx22: Requiem (I)
Returning to the site of their first case in Oregon, Mulder and Scully attempt to explain the disappearance of a deputy sheriff. Krycek and Covarrubias become involved in the hunt for an alien spaceship which seems to be cleaning up its own mess. The end is full of twists and surprises…

6abx01: The Beginning
The end of Season 5 saw the X-Files office burned to the ground. The end of the movie gave us a promising telegram to the Smoking Man indicating that the X-Files were being reopened — a triumph for Mulder and Scully. Right? Wrong. “The Beginning” opens up with an FBI panel (where is Blythe Danner?!?!) taking the X-Files from Mulder and Scully and giving them to Pendrel and Fowley. But, you know Mulder, he’s not going to go for that, and Scully’s going to follow him.

6abx03: Triangle
Mulder kisses Scully! Sort of. This is a fun episode because it was shot with all steadicam. So, it features these long meandering shots through the S.S. Queen Ann and FBI Headquarters. But the real fun is Mulder expressing his true feelings for Scully, and Scully’s unexpected reaction.

6abx10: S.R. 819
Skinner is taken to the hospital for what seems like a concussion incurred during a boxing match. However, Mulder and Scully think that he’s been poisoned. A mysterious phone call tells Skinner that he has only 24 hours to live.

6abx09: Tithonus
Scully is teamed up with an ambitious new partner, Agent Ritter. When Scully’s need to find the truth comes into conflict with his ambitions, Ritter threatens to bring Assistant Director Kersh into the mix. All of this tension revolves around one of my favorite X-Files characters of all time: Alfred Fellig.

6abx11: Two Fathers (I)
The rivalry between Mulder and Spender heats up when Cassandra Spender, an alien abductee, is returned and asks immediately for Mulder. In the end, the wickedness of one cast member will be confirmed.

6abx12: One Son (II)
The first time I saw this episode, the end came as a total surprise to me. This episode leaves you wondering where the conspiracy/mythology arc will go from here.

6abx15: Monday
The worst Groundhog Day ever! Mulder and Scully constantly relive a day in which a bomb goes off in a bank. A good idea, with some really great moments.

6abx13: Arcadia
OK, not the greatest storyline here, but don’t you want to see what Mulder and Scully would look like as suburbanites? Here they go undercover as just that…

6abx18: Milagro
I am drawn to this episode for a few reasons. One is that it’s a nice Scully character study. Another is that it deals with a writer and the power of imagination. “Milagro” makes me think, probably as much as any other episode.

6abx19: Three of a Kind
We revisit the plot of Season 5′s “Unusual Suspects” and get another Lone Gunmen focused story. It’s a good episode, but, honestly, I’m including largely because I know some out there are curious to see what an intoxicated Dana Scully looks like…haha. Comic gold!

6abx22: Biogenesis (I)
When a mysterious artifact appears on a beach in Africa, Mulder and Scully become involved in an investigation into the murderous trail it leaves behind. All the while, the artifact seems to be having some strange effect on Mulder’s brain.