Back from the Great Beyond

Somehow I am revisiting this blog. The last year and a half or so has been rather life changing as an amazing woman has now become part of my daily life...not to mention I am currently finishing the mountain known as a PhD. In any case, believe it or not I am still the same person, so I think it's time to get this shindig back into gear.

I have gotten back into sports in the last couple of years. Of course being from CO, I naturally root for the teams from the Rocky Mountains. It was an amazing run the Rockies had in 2007 for the World Series. Maybe if Ramirez, Ortiz, et al. weren't on steriods, the Rockies would have had a chance...probably not. The Nuggets this year in 2009 had the most recent run (and eventual disappointment). It was awesome watching them demolish the Hornets and Mavericks. I thought they had a legitimate shot at beating the Lakers...well, if it weren't for Kobe's amazing game closing ability.

My most recent sport endeavor is on the golf front. With the help of my girlfriend's grandfather, I am in the process of working out the baseball-related kinks in my golf swing. I have already seen some amazing improvements. I can't wait to see what some dedication and practice on the driving range will do for improving my game.

For some good new music, I would recommend checking out Mat Kearney's new record or the new tunes coming from The Fray (hometown shoutout).

I have to get back to some compressed sensing UWB action and mcu programming, so I bid you adieu.

Finite Element - MATH 574 - Procrastination

So, everyone knows that people abuse craigslist by selling or soliciting things outside the scope of the website, but I think offering $15,000 for marriage and a greencard might just take the cake, hehe. Also, it seems that alot of the big name 2008 political candidates have visited Google to have question and answer sessions. It should be noted that Sen. Ron Paul's video has been viewed more than any of the other candidates (e.g. Hillary, Obama, McCain, Edwards, etc.) on You Tube -- a modest 350,000 viewings. If you still have not looked at where Sen. Paul stands on the issues, please check out his official site and at least understand why he is so adamant about upholding our Constitution and why our country is in such great need of a change.

In my previous post, I gave a few links to my most recent dive into web programming....a site in the Chain of Thoughts family which uses tag clouds and XML content obtained via amazon.com's nice XML interface to create a rather user friendly and quick method for searching different people or things and then browsing any products (say DVDs, books, CDs, apparel, electronics, etc.) that are related to whatever one is searching for. There are also quick links to the wiki browser and the original Chain of Thoughts site from the new discover product browser, which allow access to related information from Wikipedia and other user-generated content from the original Chain of Thoughts. We are still trying to see if this product browser idea is at all useful to people. The Wiki Browswer has proven to be useful to many people in providing a different and quick platform for browsing the wealth of information contained in Wikipedia. So, any feedback on the new site would be greatly appreciated. Either post a comment here or email me at mtekka@hotmail.com.

Discover - Chain of Thoughts

So, it has been a while since I have made my way to this blog. This is a new site by Chain of Thoughts that allows one to browse different products and then purchase the products on Amazon. In my screenshot, you can see that for Weezer, I have found anything from DVDs to CDs to shirts to mugs, license plate covers, etc. It is a cool take on the whole tag cloud concept and how it can be applied to searching for normal products one buys day-to-day. I think it can come in handy over the holiday shopping season. In any case, check it out!!!!

Discover - Chain of Thoughts

Fall in Appalachia - No More Heat!!

So, I have to admit that I am quite happy the fall season is now upon us here in Knoxville. Although I seem to be more acclimated to summers here in TN, there is something about the cooler weather that seems to make it clearer to me that I am still alive, with all of my senses and brain power intact. The summer heat really does, at least in my mind, produce a haze on both my physical activity and my thought processes. In any case, it has been far too long since I posted on this blog, so I definitely felt the need to revive it from the dead. I'll admit that I had rather grandiose schemes about what this blog would be, but somehow burned myself out after a week or so of "hard-core blogging". I am currently looking for a happier medium that will lend itself better for the long haul, as I am so inclined to refer to the journey of my life.

That being said, I have decided to make this more of an introspective blog posting (at least in my mind). I am currently trying to showcase some of the beauty that so conspicuously reveals itself time and time again here in the hills of Appalachia. I feel confident in saying that Tennessee really is God's country, so it should be of little surprise that the landscape here is rich, lush, and mysterious...in a slightly melancholy way. First off, I think it is worth looking at which portion of the US is considered to be Appalachia:

US Map - obtained from Wikipedia entry for Appalachia

Remember that this geographically defines Appalachia...there are still some cultural differences of course as one goes from the southern portion up into the north. In any case, this region covers the northern portions of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, eastern TN and western NC, eastern KY and western VA, all of WV, a smidgen of Maryland, south-eastern OH, the central portion of Pennsylvania, and finally a small southern portion of NY state. I didn't even realize how far this region extends northward. In any case, here are some photos of the region starting south and moving north. Please enjoy this more nostalgic of blog postings...

Tiger, GA - obtained from Flickr user beardenb

Noccalula Falls, Gadsden, AL - obtained from Flickr user Toni Travels

Smoky Mountain National Park, TN - obtained from Flickr user carl_r_grant

Big Stone Gap, VA - obtained from Flickr user Radio Rover

Fayette County, PA - obtained from Flickr user shadysidelantern

Upstate NY - obtained from Flickr user Lance and Erin

Appalachian Trail Logo - obtained from Flickr user Abandoned In Place

Oh Canada!

So...I recently had the chance to visit Canada, Ottawa to be exact. I must admit that I had a really good time. It is warm up there this time of year, and they have tons of restaurants with outdoor seating, plus the scenery around the Ottawa River is really nice (see above pic). The people I met up in Canada (during this trip and previously...also while traveling) are genuinely nice people, which can definitely be a nice change from city life in the US. I'll admit that I have made a disparaging comment or two about the country up north (after all, there are more people in California than all of Canada), but I really think they get more flak than they deserve. Despite being a socialist country, their culture is about as similar to the US as any country I can think of. Plus, they have some excellent cities up there that add alot to the North American scene. Anyway, I just wanted to make a small comparison of Calgary, Alberta to Denver, Colorado. Both cities reside between the plains and the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Being from Denver, I would really like to check out Calgary...with a day trip to Banff of course. It just seems like I will be at home up there. Instead of looking at what Canada is not (i.e. the US), why don't ya'll look at the bright side o' things and focus on what we have in common.

Denver - obtained from Flickr user compujeramey

Calgary - obtained from Flickr user Nautical9

Ron Paul versus Neoconservatives

So...from my previous post regarding the movie SiCKO, I am guessing a majority of people are ready to write me off as a bleeding heart liberal who should pry just move to Europe and embrace a socialist form of government. While there is significant truth to this statement, I actually don't feel a socialist government is right for the US, mainly because of how our country was founded on the Constitution and also how our country has advanced over the last 230+ years. America is a big experiment...a departure from the socialistic societies which make up the bulk of governments in other developed countries. People come here to try and make their fortune and live the American dream at the expense of giving up a stronger social safety net they might have in other developed countries (e.g. Europe). With that being a fundamental ideal on which our country is built, I am opposed to trying to be something we're not. As Ron Paul discusses in this interview with Google, it is more efficient and safer (in terms of power held by the federal government) to have alot of the public/social services needed in towns, cities, and states dealt with by local and state governments. Our nation was founded on a system where the federal government should be afraid of the people both at the local and state levels...in its current state, our federal government wields far too much power.

With the recent rise of neoconservatives , which are currently headed by our president George W. Bush, we have seen a trend reversal concerning the Republican party and small government. The neoconservatives actually stem from the post WWII liberal-side and have ties to FDR and the New Deal. Although they maintain the conservative viewpoint on certain issues (e.g. gun control, abortion), it is a much more socialist mindset and should be understood as such. The large amount of power granted to the US government under the Patriot Act is indeed disconcerting. Equally scary is the imperialistic mindset held by neoconservatives. As stated by Ron Paul, we spend close to $1 trillion to fund all of our military bases worldwide (this doesn't include the massive debt we have taken on for the Gulf wars/Iraq). Our country is going bankrupt: the social security system and its imminent collapse, the current health care crisis, etc. This is all happening while we continue to spend tons of money on military and defense to maintain USA presence across the globe. Ron Paul discusses all of these issues....even though his chances of winning the Republican primary are small, it is about damn time that Americans wake up from our watered down national news, consumer driven, materialistic, suburbia filled lives (yes, I live in a suburb...let the finger pointing begin) and look at where our country is headed.

If you understand and appreciate the founding of this country and appreciate what it really means to live in a free society...where the federal government's power is limited and defense is maintained only for legitimate threats on our own soil (focusing on state militias and limiting the power of a national army), then I would advise taking a long, clear look at Ron Paul's campaign...go back and read the Constitution if you need to...this is what America was meant to be and where it needs to return....a free capitalist society with minimal government interference and a largely isolationist foreign policy. Cheers...

A Lazy Saturday

So...some people are blaming the i-phone for crashing Duke's wireless network. At this point it may be a bit of a stretch, but it does seem funny to me that could be the case. They put so much time and effort into its amazing touch screen and other multimedia-related features, maybe at the expense of well thought out wireless networking. Of course anyone who can appreciate the whole Mac versus PC debate really needs to check out this music video at macorpc.org. Another random story regarding cell phone networks comes from hackers being able to tap the phones of 100 of the biggest names on Greece's Vodafone network. If you have access to IEEE Spectrum, they have an excellent article outlining how this hacking operation went down. This includes a discussion of the Ericsson AXE switches used at Vodafone's switching centers and how they used a piece of software known as a rootkit, which was installed as a patch on the AXE switches needed by the hackers. This piece of software was used to store the 100 phone numbers, hide its own memory space when routine software updates were installed on the AXE switches, and allow the hackers to remotely change which phone numbers were being tapped. They still have no suspects in the case, which is pretty remarkable since this grandiose scheme was discovered over 2 years ago. Finally, for a refreshing new type of Web 2.0, check out Chain of Thoughts. It's a bit abstract, but there is still alot of cool interrelation between the words and images (plus it was created by one my good buddies, so yes I'm a little biased).

In other unrelated news, I am all for Barry Bonds getting the homerun record. Steroids or not, he has been one of the best all-around hitters in the major leagues year after year after year. It's unfortunate that he is getting pinned with the whole steroids fiasco since it's really a MLB-wide problem...players trying to make it in the majors have consistently been pressured into taking the pill to not be at a competitive disadvantage. The problem will not go away until it is cracked down league wide. The last piece of legislation passed by congress concerning this issue (that I could find) was the Anabolic Steroid Control Act. This was passed in 2004 and is largely aimed at people who manufacture or distribute steroids rather than at the players who take them. Rafael Palmiero was suspended for 10 days in 2005 for failing a steroids test, but that still doesn't seem like enough of a penalty. So...with that being said, I am still rooting for Bonds and hoping Major League Baseball and our federal government will be able to fix this prevalent problem.

Finally, getting back to the health care situation, this new study shows that whites may get better health care treatment than african-americans just when looking at how they are treated by doctors. I'm not sure how much I buy into this one since doctors deal with lots of different people all the time, but it's still interesting. Finally, in local news here, Knoxville is having a film festival. Since this town does lack a little when it comes to the arts, all movements and events need as much support as possible, so anyone in k-town this weekend, go check it out!!