Yesterday found us at the Greenbelt mall. Kathy wanted to watch Buffalo Soldiers - she heard it was a comedy. My dad hadn't watched LOTR yet, but tickets were impossible to get, so we all settled for Buffalo Soldiers instead.

Fifteen minutes into the film, I leaned over and asked my parents if they minded me going off to Timezone or Powerbooks, as I'd probably enjoy myself better there.

Got up and left.

After I met up with my family again, my father told me I'd made a good choice. I told him I'd learned how to cut my losses and run. ;)

I guess that means I'm getting to know myself pretty well. I know what movies I like and don't like. I'm not afraid to miss out on a surprisingly cool movie by walking out on it. I figured that if it was _really_ good, then they wouldn't mind seeing it again.

Glad I followed my instincts.

Note to self: It would be really cool if I could rig up a weekly script to scrape the movie titles from http://www.sureseats.com and look up reviews in the Internet Movie Database. This script could run every Wednesday - that's when they change movies. If I brought my computer along, then I could just flip it open, check the plot summary and the ratings... Hmmm. Ideas, ideas.

About my father

Perhaps he and I are more similar than we thought. I know I am cross and irritable when my computer malfunctions, particularly when I need it most, and profoundly grateful to those who help me restore it to a working state. Yesterday it was my turn to rescue a computer, and at no time have I been more grateful for the opportunity to be of help. I saw my father's face light up when the Vaio slept and woke at his touch. I heard him laugh appreciatively as the Vaio chimed to indicate an increase or decrease in volume. I felt the life flowing back into him, the accustomed excitement returning to his voice. He lived, loved, _was_ - and I was no longer afraid.

About passions

It is important to me to find a friend with similar dreams. I need someone I can compete and cooperate with, someone who will help spur me to heights of greatness. Hacking on Emacs is so much more fun when I can tell stories about it - another reason why open source community is so important to me. Trying to improve my teaching is easier when there's someone who'll be ecstatic when I have great class days and sympathetic when I wonder if we really make a difference.

I want international prominence, and by that I mean I want to contribute to major projects and get to meet people who are really, really into working with technology. I want to help people mix. I want to promote technology. I want to promote _social_ technology, technology that helps makes people's lives better.

I thought about crossing fields and helping Eric out, but my heart's not really into graphics. I am, however, into funky devices, so am exploring gesture-based Linux. wayv looks potentially useful, although still a little raw. Last active development was 2001. Might go into alternative input and output devices; close enough to my wearables interest.

A little note about gadgets

I am not into gadgets for gadgets' sake, and personally I find it hard to understand why people are into the latest phones "just because". I don't see technology as a way of separating myself from other people. In fact, I prefer to see it as a way of connecting me to others. I guess that's why I prefer my unassuming headphones+audio getup to that visually impressive but technologically aloof head-mounted display that people like focusing on so much. With a HMD, other people focus on technology. When technology disappears into the background, they can focus on me - and I like that. ;) That's why I take notes with my computer under the table. My focus is on the other person, not on the computer.

I suspect my computer does _not_ keep time in GMT, annoying as heck.

Oh, it does that on suspend.

The proper thing to do when C-x v v is called and files are modified depends on whether or not multiple files had been changed. If multiple files would be committed in a single patchset, one should bring up a dired buffer containing the modified files, allowing the user to unmark a few. When the files have been selected, a log window should appear. C-c C-c in this window should commit the patchset.

../../notebook/emacs/vc-arch/vc-arch.el

(defun sacha/reverse-line ()
  (interactive)
  (let ((string (buffer-substring (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position))))
    (delete-region (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position))
    (insert (apply 'string (reverse (string-to-list string))))))

<blockquote> Carmakers and suppliers expect head-up display (HUD) technology to get a new lease on life with the advent of multicolor light-emitting diodes (LEDs), smaller liquid-crystal displays, and windshield optics innovations. Steven Stringfellow of General Motors' Electrical Center reports that ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2004-6/0107w.html#item4 </blockquote>

E-Mail from technews@hq.acm.org

http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/research/techreports.html

E-Mail from ThadV Starner

- http://www.comicspage.com/comicspage/main.jsp?custid=69&catid=1242&file=20040111cshln-s-p.jpg&dir=/helen - http://www.comicspage.com/comicspage/main.jsp?custid=69&catid=1242&file=20031220cshln-a-p.jpg&dir=/helen

More to come as I browse

E-Mail to Sandra Jean Chua