Archive for the ‘General’ Category.

Predicts vs Correlated With

If I see a correlation between two variables, is it generally correct terminology to say that one “predicts” the other? For example, in this chart, should I say that hours studied predict the grade received?

I would think one shouldn’t say “predicts” because that is a one-way term. For example, it is possible that A predicts B but B does not predict A. Waking up 10 minutes before sunrise every day predicts getting to see the sunrise often, but seeing the sunrise often wouldn’t necessarily predict your wake up time, especially if you work the night-shift.

I would say “there is a correlation between A and B” but without more research on the directionality of the relationship, I shouldn’t say “A predicts B” or “B predicts A”.

I’m asking because I’ve seen a few research papers that use this terminology and I wonder if I should adopt it.

SwedishFurnitureParts.com

I just repaired two bits of Ikea furniture by buying parts from SwedishFurnitureParts.com. [update 3-2017, it’s now furnitureparts.com] That was a much better solution than spending 2 hours going to an Ikea and fishing through their spare parts box. Thanks internet!

Here’s most of the Ikea manuals, in case you are looking for part numbers. http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/customer_service/assembly_instructions.html

Abigail Jane’s First 6 Weeks Video!

Abigail Jane’s First 6 Weeks Video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHk4TOq5Mxk

Be Here Now

The most vital  message I’ve ever seen on a license plate! Hurray!

What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?

What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?

Flaming Lotus Girls and The Serpent Mother

I worked on The Serpent Mother for Burning Man 2006. I can’t tell anymore if that was a long time ago or not. Regardless, here is a little tour…

Serpent Mother PDF Promo

Serpent Mother in Servo Magazine February 2007 PDF

Serpent Mother in IEEE Spectrum Magazine November 2006 PDF

 
The Serpent Mother in 2006. Image by Tristan Savatier.

 
Before I joined the Flaming Lotus Girls, one of their first and bestest pieces was The Seven Sisters. Image by Waldamar Horwat.

 
A closeup of Alcyon, my favorite of the Seven Sisters. A spinning ball of fire! Image by Cathy Lynch.

 
The Hand of God, another piece that predates my joining FLG. It can shoot liquid methanol under high pressure! Image by David Ellsworth.

 
The Serpent Mother. I helped build her! Image by Tristan Savatier.

 
Her tail. Image by Tristan Savatier.

 
She draws a crowd. Image by Caroline Miller (mills).

 
A big crowd. Image by Caroline Miller (mills).

 
One part I worked on was her LED underbelly. Image by Eddie Codel.

 
Propane flows through her spine like blood. Image by Caroline Miller (mills).

Switched Away from GoDaddy.com DNS Hosting

As I said I would, I cancelled my Godaddy.com DNS hosting because I found out about their long string of misogynistic advertisements. See my conversation with Godaddy folks about this. While they don’t run such ads any more, it is important to not encourage any company to benefit from such practices. They got big because of their negative publicity and that is not right.

Here is the Godaddy ad that broke the camel’s back.

My web hosting is through Dreamhost so I switched to Dreamhost DNS.

Our Wedding Website

For Megan and my wedding, we created a nice website connected with our invitation.

(you may want to right-click to open these images in a new window because they are very large)

The wedding invitation was pretty rad. Lasercut and etched and cut in stainless steel by MyMetalBusinessCard.com, designed by our friend Sarahjane Bernhisel, owner of Bison Paper Company.

The Wedding of Megan Flom and Lee Sonko

At the bottom, “Visit www.MeganAndLeeWedding.com”
Here are snapshots of the site:

1 Welcome

2 Wedding Events

3 Travel Lodging - Megan and Lee

4 RSVP

5 Weather

6 Our Story

7 Registry

7b Registry - Honeyfund

8 Photo Album

9 Honeymoon

10 FAQ

Baby on the way!

Megan and I have a baby on the way in the next few weeks!

PS. A huge thanks to Shin Chang for the amazing photos!!!

Do you want to do some very part time office IT support in San Francisco?

Update 1-21-15: the position below has been taken. Thanks!

Do you want to do some very part time office IT support in San Francisco?

With grad school and a baby, I don’t have time to support the company I do IT support for. It’s just 2 computers, both Windows. About 5 hours per month. Much of the support can be done remotely.