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First real blog since Tuesday! Woo!

There's a world of difference between someone's reasons and their justifications. You can knock argument after argument for six and still have absolutely no effect on the arguer, because the points being made are merely effects, not causes, of the person's conviction. If you follow. The person arguing will rarely divulge the actual reasons; most in fact will not even know the reasons. So never argue about relationships, religion or politics :-) And if you do, try and think what and why you are arguing in the first place.

Ow, my face is badly swollen. Antibiotics tomorrow morning methinks, reluctant as I am to restrict myself to not being able to drink for a few days. Haven?t been out since Monday! Have done much work today though; I'm getting into the habit of getting read-outs for everything that I do so that I actually look like I've been doing it. Cunning plan.

It's been too long since I've /done something/ interesting. The last time was probably the one that involved amusing pills, my then-new digicam, a beach and New Year's Day's sun.

I love my digcam. I can?t believe how much money I used to spend on developing pictures! And although the process of putting them online using the crappy movable type interface is damn laborious compared to Wabson, it still takes less time that it did to scan them all in.

Until recently I had no experience of people growing apart and losing track that could not be put down to negligence, mostly on my own part. It's not a terribly nice feeling to have people drift away and not be able to do anything about it, but then it makes you value those that are left all the more.

Homework for today: Pick a random song about turning back time and hum it to yourself.

This picture was taken with all the lights off =)

I don't have a TV in the house. Which means I can?t join in conversations about the latest reality TV show or remind myself just how bad Will and Grace is but aside from that I don't feel any loss…

…I forgot how fast I could run in shoes with laces. I forgot how fast I could run full stop. Though asthma meant I had to stop after a couple of blocks and arthritis meant I regretted it later?

…I believe the future is chaotic and the past is determinant. You can never tell what's going to happen in the future, but if it has already happened then it was always inevitable….

…Penne pasta with regular pesto, capers, extra olive oil and lots of oregano. It always tastes better when you cook it yourself ;-)

I drink pretty much every kind of alcohol aside from Gin and Guinness. Tonic Water also mings. I've dabbled in drugs; I believe they widen your horizons same as any other unique experience. I think the social stigma attached to them is stupid, but then so are most social stigma. But most of all I love coffee. Of all colours and creeds, just so long as it's very sweet and significantly caffeinated.

macro 'Preperation';

Begin;

SetPicName('average');

Duplicate('average');

SetPicName('control');

selectWindow('average(Red)');

multiplybyconstant(0.25);{1/number of samples}

end.

macro 'Seek';

var

average, control, input, output, sub1, sub2, running, a, b, x, y, z, m, n, correlation : integer;

begin;

SetPicName('input');

input := pidNumber;

selectWindow('average(Red)');

average := pidNumber;

selectWindow('control');

control := pidNumber;

{get rid of old input/outputs?}

a := 0;

b := 0;

m := 255;

n := 255;

{Arbitry starting values, high or low}

x := 180;{total range of rotation/2}

y := 1;{increment of rotation}

z := -x;

repeat;

{rotation in one direction}

selectPic(input);

MakeRoi(0,0,256,256);

scaleandrotate(1,1,x);

SetPicName('running');

running := pidNumber;

ImageMath('sub', running, control, 1, 0, 'sub1');

sub1 := pidNumber;

ImageMath('sub', control, running, 1, 0, 'sub2');

sub2 := pidNumber;

ImageMath('add', sub1, sub2, 1, 0, running);

selectPic(running);

measure;

if rMean[rCount] < m then begin

m := rMean[rCount];

a := x;

end;

Dispose;

SelectPic(sub1);

Dispose;

SelectPic(sub2);

Dispose;

{rotation in the other direction}

selectPic(input);

MakeRoi(0,0,256,256);

scaleandrotate(1,1,z);

SetPicName('running');

running := pidNumber;

ImageMath('sub', running, control, 1, 0, 'sub1');

sub1 := pidNumber;

ImageMath('sub', control, running, 1, 0, 'sub2');

sub2 := pidNumber;

ImageMath('add', sub1, sub2, 1, 0, running);

selectPic(running);

measure;

if rMean[rCount] < n then begin

n := rMean[rCount];

b := x;

end;

Dispose;

SelectPic(sub1);

Dispose;

SelectPic(sub2);

Dispose;

x := x - y;

until x < 0;

if n < m then begin

a := b;

end;

selectPic(input);

MakeRoi(0,0,256,256);

scaleandrotate(1,1,a);

SetPicName('output');

output := pidNumber;

begin;

selectPic(output);

multiplybyconstant(0.25);{1/number of samples}

ImageMath('add', output, average, 1, 0, average);

end;

end.

macro 'Preperation FFT';

Begin;

SetPicName('average');

fft('foreward');

SetPicName('control');

selectWindow('average(Red)');

multiplybyconstant(0.25);{1/number of samples}

end.

macro 'Seek FFT';

var

average, control, input, output, fft1, fft2, running, a, b, x, y, z, m, n, correlation : integer;

begin;

SetPicName('input');

input := pidNumber;

selectWindow('average(Red)');

average := pidNumber;

selectWindow('control');

control := pidNumber;

{get rid of old input/outputs?}

a := 0;

b := 0;

m := 255;

n := 255;

{Arbitry starting values, high or low}

x := 180;{total range of rotation/2}

y := 1;{increment of rotation}

z := -x;

repeat;

{rotation in one direction}

selectPic(input);

MakeRoi(0,0,256,256);

scaleandrotate(1,1,x);

SetPicName('running');

running := pidNumber;

begin;

selectPic(running);

fft('foreward');

fft1 := pidNumber;

ImageMath('cmul', fft1, control, 1, 0, 'FFT2');

fft2 := pidNumber;

SelectPic(fft1);

Dispose;

SelectPic(fft2);

fft('Inverse');

fft('Swap Quadrants');

SetPicName('correlation');

correlation := pidNumber;

end;

selectPic(correlation);

measure;

if rMean[rCount] < m then begin

m := rMean[rCount];

a := x;

end;

Dispose;

selectPic(running);

Dispose;

{rotation in the other direction}

selectPic(input);

MakeRoi(0,0,256,256);

scaleandrotate(1,1,z);

SetPicName('running');

running := pidNumber;

begin;

selectPic(running);

fft('foreward');

fft1 := pidNumber;

ImageMath('cmul', fft1, control, 1, 0, 'FFT2');

fft2 := pidNumber;

SelectPic(fft1);

Dispose;

SelectPic(fft2);

fft('Inverse');

fft('Swap Quadrants');

SetPicName('correlation');

correlation := pidNumber;

end;

selectPic(correlation);

measure;

if rMean[rCount] < n then begin

n := rMean[rCount];

b := x;

end;

Dispose;

selectPic(running);

Dispose;

x := x - y;

until x < 0;

if n < m then begin

a := b;

end;

selectPic(input);

MakeRoi(0,0,256,256);

scaleandrotate(1,1,a);

SetPicName('output');

output := pidNumber;

begin;

selectPic(output);

multiplybyconstant(0.25);{1/number of samples}

ImageMath('add', output, average, 1, 0, average);

end;

end.

I hugely resent being called a pessimist by those that supposedly know me. The same people that theoretically know that I always take what people say at face value, that I never assume malice for what I can explain by stupidity, that I stretch benefit of the doubt beyond breaking point and usually forgive anybody anything if they only ask for it.

There's a huge difference between what I see and what I say, I learned a while ago that it was futile to try and make people understand what I love and why I love it. On the other hand I have a gift for explaining what I dislike and why, which is sometimes handy for venting any anger I might have. Venting the negative stuff is good, see; people can relate to it, or understand at least and are generally amused, plus it gets it off my chest. The good stuff however, few people understand, I'd be insulted if they laughed, and frankly I'm quite happy to have it on my chest thankyouverymuch. Unfortunately I often have to explain that I'm not being sarcastic whenever I say something nice about something. I'm not actually sarcastic in that manner very often at all; it'd be so unimaginative ;-)

Enthusing is a different kettle of fish all together, but it's not usually verbal; it involves bouncing around, much chuckling and generally trying to make the people around me laugh.

I'm really shocked that Microsoft have reshaped Hotmail into a format that is actually pretty close to being completely useless.

Why:
…Does it take you to MSN's homepage when you log out of hotmail?
…Do all the windows open with javascript? So you cannot shift-click into new windows. But don't worry, I wanted to load mail one at a time anyway >:-/
…Does it open all links in a frikking pointless frame with the helpful "You are visiting a site outside of Hotmail." Gee Wizz, you reckon? Not to mention that it fucks up all auto-reply things.
…Does it insist in logging onto Messenger to check who's online whenever, and every time you look at the inbox? If I wanted to know that, I'd log into messenger myself! Bloody redundant integration rubbish.
…IS IT SO DAMNED SLOW??

You shouldn't need a P4 and broadband to look at email.

In other news; does this mean it's crunch time for gay marriages in the US? It would be most amusing if it failed, and horrifying if it succeeded.

Also: meet Stu:

God I needed that! It's funny to think some friends of mine don't even know what I look like when I'm having a really good time…

"Igby Goes Down" is fucking fantastic. Seriously, go see it and you'll see why. One of those films when I admire the characters sooo much. Best film I've seen in a long while.

"Good Bye Lenin" was pretty damn good too, go see that as well. Arty films are great. And by arty I mean ones that make you think, not self-indulgent wank like some 60s stuff I've seen. See "Giorni" If you get the chance. And "Y tu Mama Tambien". And "My own Private Idaho". I?ll stop now.

Noah, according to the Babylonians :-) Only Noah is really called Utnapishtiml, natch.

When I found out that this evil tooth-thing that's been pissing me off so much was "just" an infection I suspected that this information would filter down into my subconscious and that my immune system would go schizoid, as is it's normal wont: the source of my asthma and arthritis and occasional 41 degree body temps. If ever I need an organ transplant it's fecking guaranteed it will be rejected in uber speed I reckon. Anyways, I forgot that this always means that my arthritis gets ridiculously bad. So now I'm limping about like a complete cripple. *Joy.*

Mutter mutter.

Pure comedy.

Today might well be a good day. Got up early, Was at the bus stop at 8:15; 20 minutes late. Ach well, ay? Read my book on the bus, I'm onto the second in the series and it's still going well. Arrived at uni, much to my pleasant surprise, 15 minutes early! Yaay half term! And it was/is really sunny too! People in my Spanish were being as dumbass as usual, their brains don't seem to kick in until midday it seems, so I compensated by zoning out for much of it, and (not) staring at the German guy sat across from me. I also have no Spanish work to do, having done it all yesterday!

I'll try and restrain my urges to hurl abuse at everyone I see today and see how it pans out, I've been like a bear with toothache for the last week :-$

People with contact lenses are MAD! How the hell you do it? It's freaky and impossible!

Oh yeah, and I did this test thing people have been going on about. If you want to see the results take a hop skip and a jump along to Laurie, as I got the exact same answers. (Aside from it said "Daniel" instead of "Laurie". (You pedantic bastards.)) Humph. Needless to say I'm not as enamored of the test as others, probably because I read what it had to say before I took the test.

1 No s? c?mo reaccionar? mi marido cuando se entere de este asunto.

2 No te preocupes. Tu hijo aprender? a leer cuando vaya a la escuela.

3 Yo te mandar? una postal cuando llege a Madrid.

4 Yo seguir? trabajando mientras Dios me d? salud.

5 Aunque ella tiene setenta a?os, dice seguir? ense?ando mientras pueda.

1 Siempre lo paso bien cuando voy a Francia.

2 Te voy a echar de menos cuando t? vaya a Francia.

3 Yo lo har? cuando tenga tiempo.

4 Cuando est? a buen humor, Pilar es una compa?era divertida.

5 Voy a comprar una coche cuando tenga dieciocho a?os.

6 Voy a buscar otro empleo cuando regrese de Espa?a.

7 Te devolver? el dinero en cuanto pueda.

8 En cuanto llega la primavera, me siento feliz.

9 Voy a tomar unas vacaciones cunado salga del hostpital.

10 Mi marido siempre se pone de mal homor cuando nosotros tenemos visita.

11 Mientras tu madre siga en esa condici?n, no podremos operar.

12 Generalmente escucho la radio mientras hago los deberes.

2

A: Los dos formas en qu? podemos ahorrar agua en el cuarto de ba?o es ducharnos en vez de ba?arnos y cerrar el grifo cuando nos cepillamos los dientes.

B: Las ventajas de la bicicleta es qu? no contamina y puedes practica deporte en viaje.

C: Debemos aprender a separar la basura dom'stica en tipos diferente para reciclando, como papel y carton, vidrio, pl'stico, y latas de bebidas.

3

Si te ducharnos en vez de ba?arnos y cerrar el grifo cuando nos cepillamos los dientes ahorrar's mucha agua.

Si pones la lavadora gastaremos unos 200 litros de agua.

Si viajes en transporte p?blico collectivo como el tren, el metro o el autobus, es mas barato y ecologico.

Si viajas en bicicleta har? deporte tambi?n.

Si consumir poco papel y siempre que sea possible utilizar papel reciclado salvar's muchos ?rboles.

Fuck me, that's ugly.

A couple of good ideas, like the "Last updated", and he's figured out a quick and easy way of getting those blue/white/blue frames. But still. OMFG. Blind monkeys on crack? I still have the codes, I could sort it out, and put some actual information on the Glitterball, like the fact it's a sit down buffet from 7:30 to 2 and that there will be games a belly dancer and a raffle etc but I have to just restrain myself.

Arrgh! I'm blind! Not that that has anything to do with anything :-)

Have been brushing my teeth muchly in anticipation of my visit to the dentist this afternoon. I'm a little freaked out by it; given they'll probably take the offending compacted wisdom tooth out, and that they will have to cut through the gum to get to it. ARGH! *Hides*

Meet Jamie:

The Reality Dysfunction is a great book, it reminds me of Stephen Donaldson's Gap series so far. It's kinda cheesey and slightly predictable in it's perfection, but I'm 1000 pages into the first in the trilogy, so I'll have to wait and see how it pans out. I do like a good epic :-)

Sorted out my Halloween *cough* I mean GlitterBall 'costume' today. Should be… Interesting. (But not that interesting, get your minds out of the gutter!)

Everybody meet Ruth:

This uber-flattering pic of Talia and I was taken with her very snazzy new digicam at bows the other night. The rest of her bows pics are here. I need to make myself 2-d so people can only see me from a certain specific angle ;-)

I just found out today that 3dfx, the people who made my Voodoo3 2000 graphics card, don't support the cards anymore. All there is is crappy amateur 3rd party software that provides compatibility the latest directx 8 and 9 but at a huge reduction in speed. So annoying!

Also, my jaw hurts terribly. And has done since Wednesday. Probably a wisdom tooth issue. So I apparently need to go see a dentist about it. So annoying!

Valentine's is a funny one isn't it? I've never celebrated it so I don't really 'get' it, though everybody and their limited-edition Choo Choo Bear Beanie Baby seems to have an Opinion on it, I mean just look at their blogs! ;-) Every high street store and supermarket is milking it for all it's worth, trying to convince the punters that it isn't "the thought that counts," when for once in the whole slew of stupidly commercial over-hyped pseudo-Christian festivals it is only the thought that counts, which is kinda nice.

Just remember nobody likes a smug bastard! I mean I don't mind what revolting pinnacles of smugness are reached as long as it's behind closed doors and between consenting adults.

Hehehehe… Besides, if you are one of the "lucky" ones you really shouldn't be reading this anyway, you should be away making someone sigh contentedly, the chances are fairly good that the world will still be there when you get back. And for those of you retro-fitted with a clue who are reading this for the first time a couple of days hence; I hope it was fun.

Get me a ticket out of here because I'm already gone… Seems everything I truly believe in, everything that I can honestly say I trust completely, is within myself. Which is at once very empowering and fucking depressing, because nobody else really has a look in, nor the prospect of one. Precious few people deserve a look in, less still want a look in, and the two fields seem sometimes to have no overlap. But ho-hum I guess, life isn't gonna stop because of it, so onwards with the grind. To be fair, I'm fairly loving the grind at the moment, so I think I'll survive.

Wes is well cool. And he is the new Welfare Officer! Be advised kids! It seems to be quite important to him anyways. Bless. He asked for the mention, natch, otherwise I doubt I'd bother ;-)

Also kudos to Milly for sending me an entirely random song at such an ungodly hour.

Pics from tonight will be up tomorrow. In the meantime I need bed.

Pronto los cient?ficos sabr?n qu? genes son responables de 4.000 enfermedades hereditarias. ?Crees que este descubrimiento es bueno o malo? ?Por qu?? 'ser? m's f?cil en el siglo XXI controlar nuestro destino?

I hate my phone. Amongst all the other lies it tells me it's now trying to convince me that it's a quarter past three in the morning. Bitch of a thing.

I get the feeling I'm some sort of traveling reluctant gun-for-hire type in an old western, and now that the baddies are finally all dead or chased out of town it's time for me to ride off into the sunset. Not that the grateful inhabitants wouldn't have me stay if I wanted to, but frankly the idea of wholesome family life and honest hard work unnerves me, so rather than let the reverence fade into novelty and finally obscurity, I'd rather go see if the next town has any baddies.

Just call me Shane I guess.

Here's a lovely drunken couple being stupidly over complimentary to each other.

OutKast:Take Off Your Cool

Baby, take off your cool

I wanna see you, I wanna see you

Baby, don't be so cool

I wanna see you, I wanna see you

Baby, take off your cool

I want to get to know you

So many of the most beautiful songs are pretty spartan on the actual lyrics :-)

I'm officially bored now! Probably because my dumbass program finally works, and now I have to think of interesting things to do with it. Blast.

Here's an unrelated picture that they probably thought I had forgotten about. Ha!

And another, because it's late and I'm bored:

Apparantly I'm "mad". I'll add that to the list of strange things people who don't know me have called me.

Happy Birthday Talia! Should be a good one tonight.

Bueno suerte tio Pepote! Brain surgery. No, really.

My head hurts. My eyes hurt. I wish I had spent the last few days working on this project thing like I had planned to; it keeps churning out problems. I kinda like how fast I churn out solutions though. My 3rd and latest will-so-obviously-work-fine (until I actually try it) overall idea to make it work is (a-b)+(b-a) tends to zero with increasing correlation. Which is a nice spot of thinking outside the box, even if it is blindingly obvious when you think about it. It certainly doesn't involve any fast fucking fourier transforms anyway. I just hope I don't end up with another pile of wank like most projects turn out to be.

PInk Lady won! So did Simon for President! Yaay! Chris didn't get FIA though :-(

The night before Valentine's is Friday the 13th :-)

Found another great webcomic that I've been working my way through, and this one is actually based in the UK!

No wonder Janet got her breast out! She had to do something, her new song is awful!

I miss garlic.

Photoshop is fun!

For the fourth night this week I've gotten home lateish from uni knackered and hungry, eaten a slap up meal of pasta washed down with water and tried to go to sleep, only to fail miserably becuase my mind won't leave my bloody project alone! So after a couple of hours in bed half-listening to music and thinking about lots of things, I've come to several bloody obvious but damn important conclusions.

For one I've realised that the project work my predecessor did - and I've been following - was going in completely the wrong direction. She got a first and her conclusion was all wank! Thankfully I think she was making it a lot more difficult that it actually is, so all is not lost.

Another that I was being wound-up. It's always funny to work out you were being made fun of well after the event :-) Well it is to me anyway.

It's just hit home how much uni stuff I have to do now:

Oh. Holy. Crap.

I need to work at Spanish and my Project, but then I was doing that anyway. But I also need to get the applications flowing out now that I have a fairly good idea what I'd like to do next year, and I need to sort out what the hell I'm going to do for this one assignment thingy, which is going to be very difficult. I also need to get the notes for all the lectures I've ever missed and start vising. All pretty much at once!

God I truly hate this feeling more than any other that life has so far had to offer me. The choking, crushing sensation like someone is standing on the back of your neck. Dammit, I am dumping Pride stuff ASAP!

…And later in the day I got blown off. Ach well, better than being stood up I guess! ;-)

People who busy themselves turning away from the bad are wasting time they should be spending looking for the good. Ignore the cloud and you ignore the silver lining. We're not dogs; we should be able to follow the rabbit without the aid of blinkers. At least that's what I think.

i had heard about this, but not noticed it myself until now.

Not that anyone will thank me for taking any of these, but I think some of them are really good. The one of Jamie (middle, of bottom row) for instance, I think it manages to capture some of his harassed-ness, plus it's the only one I didn't crop :-) The one of Richie from Five isn't very good, but hey, it's Richie from Five! He played a good set at TopBanana yesterday, but he's gone all indie rock so the crowd of cheese-lovers hated him. It was also interesting to see such a consummate professional (because if nothing else, he is that) deal with the mixed reaction and general apathy of the crowd.

Damn I spent the weekend in such a funk! Given I was high as a kite Wednesday to Friday the only thing I can put it down to is some sort of chemical imbalance, which just sounds so utterly wank. Also Other Dan suggested that it might be because I was on such a ridiculous sugar/caffeine high on Thursday that it took all of Friday to come down… In any case I clearly need to eat better!!

Glitterball tickets on sale now! Stall in Cholo weekdays 11am-3pm

I'm already planning my costume :-) Given the theme is "What's your fantasy" I'm considering the looks I've always wanted to try and pull off but have never had the chance to. So far one possibility requires a new shirt of a kind that I'm not sure I can buy, but the other only needs a spot of body paint.

It was news to me when I find out the Beatles song All you need is love has a double meaning; the first being with love you need nothing else, the second being love is the only thing you lack. Nothing is ever as optimistic as it first seems ;-)

Miguel and Javier are damn sexy names. In fact they are damn sexy words if you say them right. It's such a pity few can. And they shorten to Miggy and Habi! Bonus! Habi might well be the coolest name ever :-) Somewhere in the world there is a Miggy and a Habi that are in the process of living happily ever after, and this pleases me.

And to finish: a random arty Link. It is done. I have blogged. The world breathes a long-held collective sigh of relief. I smile benevolently but briefly, before exploding into a bright glittering shower of a trillion trillion matter/anti matter bits. Hehehehe…Tune in tomorrow for your daily dose of self serving twoddle and pointless witterings!

Para ser famoso se necesitan muchas cualidades raros, por ejemplo si quiere ser un celebridad entonces tienen que ser muy trabajador y extrovertido, creativo y original. En particular es muy importante ser ambicioso y tener confianza en si mismo. Ayuda tambi?n si tener buenos contactos en la mundo de le quieren entrar. Pero hay mucha gente que tienen todos de estos cualidades y no van a ser famoso, porque m's que esos cosas, tienen que tener mucho suerte. Aunque el dinero y la fama que son parte de la celebridad son cosas buenas, tambi?n hay lo malo como la falta de la soledad y la tentaci?n de drogas. Son muchas casos de actores o cantantes famosos que estan colgada con drogas o alcohol o ambos. Un otro problema es que cuando ser famoso con las fiestas y el encanto es muy f?cil pierda la realidad, y si ellos pierdan la fama, es muy dif?cil para ajuste.

I'm slightly worried by just how far the design of the program I'm writing for my project has progressed, especially as I have yet to actually write or test any of it. The idea of adding bits on, taking bits off, finding problems and other ways of doing things is something that greatly appeals to me, but it's still all in my head!

*Cranberries interlude*

And every time I sit down to start I find another problem/solution! *sob* So here are some pretty pictures that aren't actually as useless as they seem. They are what happens when you do funny things to a square.